The next Commonwealth Games is coming to Queensland, Australia in 2018 and with this a lot of great developments offering world-class competition venues. In this post, we wanted to share with you some buildings and roofs that have already caught our eye and are sure to get you excited not just about the coming games but what this means for innovation in Australia today.

Queensland State Velodrome

Scheduled to be completed sometime this year, this gorgeous building (not to mention innovative roof) will house Queensland’s very first indoor velodrome. This venue will host the Track cycling competitions. As of June 2016, the roof and wall cladding is in its final stages of installation.

Coomera Indoor Sports Centre

Set to host the gymnastics competition and netball finals, construction on this venue commenced early last year and is scheduled for completion later this year. The roof spans over 13,750 square metres and there will be 8 mechanical exhaust fans (each weighing up to 850kgs) that will be built into the roof top.

Carrara Sports Precinct Redevelopment

Revitalisation of this sports precinct means not only state of the art venues for the games but also for locals on the Gold Coast. Schedule for completion early next year, the venues will boast new roofs - imagine a whopping 15,000 square metres of steel roof sheeting will cover these areas.

Gold Coast Aquatic Centre

There are several other developments all in the works simultaneously. To find out more, click here to read about some of these the upcoming games and their venues.

But before we end this post, we had to mention the redevelopment of the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre. There has been much debate over roofing. While many believe that there should be a permanent roof over the venue, it will remain open air. Despite seeing previous situations where a roof was indeed needed, such as the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships when spectators were forced to sit through days of pelting rain leading to swimming’s governing body FINA saying that it would unlikely hold any future events at the Southport site, this venue too will also have no roof. Advisors on the project have mixed reviews, but in the end it was assured that weather is great during this time and having a permanent structure would only impede on the spectator’s experience. However, Games Minister Stirling Hinchcliffe, says there will be a temporary roof to cover spectator seating but again, ruled out any permanent structure.