Legislative Council, Thursday 20 June 2024

With regard to the reported engagement of Cox Architecture as lead design consultant for the Macquarie Point stadium, noting the media have suggested the contracted amount for the contract with Cox Architecture is in the region of $38 million:

(1) Is this a correct estimate of the value of the contract?

(2) Who are the parties to any contract(s) that have been signed in respect of this arrangement?

(3) What are the terms of engagement for the parties including the estimated timelines for delivery of all project milestones, excluding commercial and in confidence terms?

(4) Does the design fee form part of the $715 million budget for the stadium?

(5) Why was it necessary to replace the design consultants who have been engaged to date in formulating designs for the stadium?

(6) How much has been paid to date for Macquarie Point stadium design work?

ANSWER:
The Macquarie Point Development Corporation appointed COX Architecture as the Lead Design Consultant following a market testing process.

The value of the contract is $37.9 million, which is included in the project budget of $715 million. The inclusion of statutory approval costs, consultancies and related costs in project budgets is standard practice.

The work has been commissioned over 5 phases:
• Concept design $2.1M
• Schematic design $5.5M
• Furthering designs to prepare plans to issue for construction $19.1M
• Preparation of construction documentation $2.8M
• Construction (35 months) $8.0M
• Defects and liability period (12 months) $0.4M

The progression through these phases will be overseen and coordinated by the Corporation and will be in line with the relevant approval processes. The current estimated timelines will see the construction phase be in the period of approximately January 2026 to December 2028.

There were no existing design consultants working with the Corporation on the multipurpose stadium project prior to this appointment.

The market testing process that led to this appointment was undertaken to identify suitable experts for this specialised work.

Previous block-and-stack style work undertaken during the business case was indicative only. The various artist interpretations that have been shared in the media were not produced or commissioned by the Government.