Designed by Pacific Environments, Auckland Council’s $6.4 million Ngāti Ōtara Park Multi-sport Centre forms a new landmark to inspire local participation in sport and community. Steel & Tube's ST900 roofing profile in COLORSTEEL Dridex caps off this world-class facility.

Replacing an ageing facility, this new sports centre has been designed to reflect the many cultures of South Auckland and to revitalise the Ōtara cultural and sports community.

"Home to Ōtara Scorpions Rugby League Club, also netball, tag, kilikiti and rugby — in all over 100 teams use the grounds," explains lead architect Phillip Howard, of Pacific Environments. "The new buildings have been purpose-built, with the capacity to grow as the sporting community grows."

"The clubrooms include spaces for community meetings and education, hospitality spaces and changing rooms, as well as rooms for small enterprises — such as a laundromat — to help the centre be self-sustaining."

The design brief was for a fit for purpose, highly secure building that was responsive to the area’s cultural roots and neighbouring marae. The architects have detailed a robust yet poetic concrete building, protected by a tidy roofing profile for ease of construction, long-term durability, low maintenance, and sound reduction in the rain.

Cultural and natural design motifs are cast into the fabric of the building. The long, low pitch roofing profile in Steel & Tube's T900 forms the backdrop for a roof-top sculpture made of woven aluminium Tukutuku panels, defining a recognisable silhouette for the neighbourhood. Backlit at night, it is a beacon for sports players and supporters, and reflects the visual language of the nearby marae to unite the large public greenspace.

The ST900 roofing profile for long-term performance

The team at Pacific Environments was very familiar with Steel & Tube’s roofing profiles, having used them on multiple previous projects. A presentation on COLORSTEEL Dridex led to its consideration for the sports centre project. Dridex combines a thin layer of absorbent fleece to the underside of the COLORSTEEL sheet, ruling out the need for traditional underlay roofing and cladding paper, for cost and programme efficiencies.

To meet the minimum falls of this low-profile building, the architects specified the medium height rib. This was better suited for the open, breezeway spaces in the building where there was no interior ceiling to dampen noise.

Featuring a subtle swage pan, ST900 is stronger than other trough profiles, minimising canning and purlin line marking. The medium rib profile was developed for commercial/industrial roofing and cladding, but equally at home in residential designs that suit a bold and characterful look.

Roofing colour and aluminium colour-matched

Pacific Environments selected an earth-coloured tone for the roof and Tukutuku sculpture — COLORSTEEL’s Scoria, which the architects then colour matched on the aluminium panel powder coating. The sculpture was attached via steel members, bolted onto the edge of the main roof, to sit weightlessly off the main building.

Opened in May 2021, the building was immediately praised for transforming the local area. Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board chair, Apulu Reece Autagavaia, summed up community feeling: "We’re proud to have enabled its delivery because providing quality sporting services in the community will help retain the sporting talent of Ōtara and the wider South Auckland area. I grew up playing on these fields. It feels incredible to be able to provide a beautiful, brand new building to the community we can all enjoy and be proud of."