Melbourne’s AAMI Stadium wins at World Stadium Awards

June 5, 2012 - PRLog -- The World Stadium Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner took place last night as part of the World Stadium Congress 2012 – Hosted in Qatar, at the Sheraton Hotel Doha. The prestigious awards ceremony celebrated key industry achievements such as engineering excellence in stadium development, the most sustainable design concept, the most innovative use of technology in stadium design, the best multifunctional stadium design and the world’s most iconic and culturally significant stadium.

These awards were judged by an independent judging panel consisting of Eugene Van Vuuren, Former Technical Advisor, FIFA 2010 South Africa World Cup, Ahmad Al Jolo, Chairman, Qatar Society of Engineers and Kate Bidwell, AFC Match Commissioner - Asian Football Confederation, Match Manager (Venue Manager) - Rugby World Cup 2011 New Zealand and Cluster Venue Manager, Glasgow 2014 Ltd.

The winner of the world’s most iconic and culturally significant stadium was awarded to a newer venue in the industry which has demonstrated its ability to celebrate cultural significance and iconic status in Australia – the Melbourne AAMI stadium, nominated by Arup and Cox Architecture.

“The AAMI Stadium is a fantastic achievement for our organisation and for the Victorian Government. It is the first truly rectangular stadium in the city of Melbourne”, said Russell Lee of Cox Architecture, who accepted the Award.

Scooping 2 awards at the ceremony, Poland’s National Stadium was celebrated as demonstrating not only the best multifunctional stadium design but also the most innovative use of technology in stadium design, a major win for nominating companies, GMP and Skidata. The London Olympic Stadium was crowned the most sustainable design concept thanks to an impressive entry by Populous and engineering excellence in stadium development was recognised for BKS’s entry for the Moses Mabhida Stadium which shone during the last FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Melbourne-born Symon Rubens, Managing Director of the International Quality & Productivity Center which organised the Awards, said ‘The World Stadium Awards is a showcase for the world’s foremost stadiums, whether in design, technology, sustainability or iconic symbology. The winners and runners-up of the Awards deserve all the applause for their commitment to innovation and the environment, and finally to sport itself. IQPC is proud to have been a part of this grand evening.”

An honourary award for outstanding contribution to sporting development in Qatar was presented to the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee for putting Qatar on the map as a booming sporting hub.