Evolution of Melbourne Park

A visionary Melbourne Park, originally named the National Tennis Centre, was planned to reward the people of the state as a matter of ‘social equity’. This positioned the city at an advantage - one which continues to allow it to thrive and grow today.

Melbourne-based architectural firm Cox Architecture was engaged in association with Peddle Thorp Learmonth.

Their brief, to design a venue that can transform...

...from a tennis court which hosts the Australian Open Grand Slam...

...to a stage for the world's biggest superstars and shows.

Completion was only a matter of weeks before the first ball of the Australian Open would be served on January 11, 1988.

The venue was hailed as a ‘triumph’ with facilities that the three other Grand Slam venues could not match.

This made it an Australian Open of ‘firsts’.

The arena featured a 700-tonne retractable roof. No top-level sporting venue had ever had such a feature before - it's innovative design took 20 minutes to open or close.

And for the first time ever, matches were played at night.

The naming of the venue had been the subject of some debate, with possible suggestions including 'The Nipperdrome' - after Neil Trezise, the Minister of Sport and Recreation (and Chair of the NTC Trust) - Flinders Park or The National Tennis Centre.

The introduction of a synthetic surface called Rebound Ace heralded the end of an era, with courts being grass since 1905. It caused controversy in the tennis world, however this was key to ensuring financial viability...

... allowing the centre to operate beyond one purpose – tennis - and justify the long-term investment.

The National Tennis Centre was awarded first prize by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in its ‘New Institutional’ category.

The new home of the Australian Open attracted far greater numbers of spectators to the event. While the 1987 Ford Australian Open at Kooyong had set a record with 140,000 spectators over the course of the tournament, 245,000 people attended the 1988 event.

Just two weeks after the finals of the 1988 Australian Open, the Centre Court debuted as a concert venue when AC/DC played the first of five nights of the Melbourne leg of their Blow up your Video tour.

This was followed almost immediately by British band, Pink Floyd.

The precinct began to set a precedent for the infinite variety of events which would be staged over the coming decades.

In the early 1990s, the number of concerts slowly rose to 59 staged per year.

The first basketball game when the Australian Boomers played host to a touring All-Star team. A record-breaking 15,000 fans attended.

In 1997 1,000 tonnes of sand were brought into Show Court One for the world women’s beach volleyball championships.

With the precinct outgrowing itself rapidly and exceeding original expectations, a decision was made to double the size of the National Tennis Centre.

In 1995, the Kennett government renamed the complex ‘Melbourne Park’. This, according to one writer, illustrated Kennett’s desire to ‘brand’ Melbourne to a global audience.

When the new and expanded facilities opened, they included two new show courts, a function centre seating up to 1500, eight additional match courts, additional car parking for 500 cars and Garden Square public space.

Originally named ‘Centre Court’, the hero venue’s title was changed in 2000 to recognise Rod Laver's remarkable tennis career – twice claiming a Grand Slam and cementing himself as Australia's and one of the world's greatest ever male tennis champions.

This arena features the ability to transform into a cycling velodrome, designed by world-renowned track builder Ron Webb - one of only two such experts in the world.

The new venue was simply opened as Melbourne’s Multi-Purpose Venue. It uniquely included dynamic and raiseable seating, allowing it to change formats and host many different events including music artists, stage shows, basketball, wrestling, ice hockey, netball, tennis, boxing, gymnastics, dance sports and cycling.

The Commonwealth Games are welcomed to Melbourne Park with Melbourne Arena hosting the cycling, netball and basketball events and Rod Laver Arena home to the gymnastics competitions.

One of the most remarkable events at Rod Laver Arena was the 2007 FINA World Swimming Championships. A temporary Olympic-size swimming pool was constructed in the arena.

It was the first time a temporary competition swimming pool had been installed in an existing stadium in the southern hemisphere. Structures called ‘sky pools’ were brought in from Barcelona, Spain. These were joined together to hold 6 million litres of water. The competition pool was held suspended above the ground by a complex system of cross-hatched cables.

Justin Timberlake's 'in-the-round' stage mode, the record crowd for Rod Laver Arena is 16,183 for the concert on 18 November 2007.

In 2008 the green Rebound courts were resurfaced with blue Plexicushion, giving Melbourne Park a fresh new look.

In the 21st century, Rod Laver Arena began to rank as one of the top entertainment venues in the world in terms of ticket sales, rising to number three in terms of ticket sales in 2010.

P!NK set a record for the centre in 2009, presenting 17 consecutive shows. She broke her own record in 2013, when she played 18 shows and has since returned again in 2018 with another phenomenal string of 11 concerts.

In 2012 Rod Laver Arena became Australia’s highest selling venue and the fourth-highest in the world, based on the prior 12-months ticket-sales.

Industry magazine Billboard awarded Rod Laver Arena the International Top Boxscore category for P!NK's 18 concert run that sold 250,000 tickets. The venue was also a finalist in Pollstar's 2013 International Venue of the Year.

In 2014 Margaret Court Arena became a third multi-purpose venue.

Margaret Court Arena was transformed to hold an increased capacity and state-of-the-art retractable roof, the fastest of its kind in the world.

Opening or closing in just five minutes, it too can transform from concert-mode to sports including a netball court for the Melbourne Vixens.

The same year, Melbourne's Multi-purpose Venue enjoyed record sporting and music crowds: 10,300 when Melbourne United v Brisbane Bullets (basketball) on December 26 and 11,293 for RNB Fridays Live on November 15.

In 2017 Margaret Court Arena achieved record ticket sales of 7,359 for Tash Sultana’s concert on the December 11.

Many generations have visited and grown up coming to make memories here, welcoming events from the Wiggles...

...to superstar pop-stars...

Melbourne's Multi Purpose Arena continues to celebrate triumphs in playing the home to tenant clubs, Melbourne Vixens and Collingwood Magpies netball teams.

Along with Melbourne United, the most recent National Basketball League champions.