Albert Park pit building: timber roof first stage reported done

Austadiums names Woods Bagot as architect and Icon as head contractor. The timber for the structure is being made by Australian Sustainable Hardwoods, which is producing Plantation Oak MASSLAM components at its Heyfield facility in Gippsland, the report says.

The numbers

The Austadiums report gives these figures for the build:

• Almost 2,000 cubic metres of engineered timber
• 2,150 individual beams and columns
• 344 prefabricated timber cassettes, typically 12 metres by 2.3 metres
• 14 garages, made up of 12 team garages and two for officials
• Permanent hospitality for about 5,000 guests
• Seven indoor multipurpose courts, two more than the previous facility

During construction, the report says a temporary Melbourne Podium Club with a capacity of 2,500 will operate. It also gives an estimated cumulative attendance of 483,934 over four days for the 2026 event.

What’s next

Austadiums says demolition of the original building began in late March 2026, after the 2026 race. The report says the original building dates from 1995, the year before Melbourne’s first Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix in 1996.

The 2027 Grand Prix runs from 1 to 4 April and includes Australia’s first F1 Sprint, the report says. Full completion is scheduled ahead of the 2028 Grand Prix. The report links the redevelopment to Melbourne’s long-term F1 hosting agreement, which runs to 2037.

The Development Victoria update behind the report was not available to us, so the figures above are Austadiums’ own.

The 14 garages comprise 12 team garages and two garages for officials, and the report lists the temporary Podium Club as running for the length of the construction period.

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