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About Kooky and Shaka →The first design for the National Aquatic Centre was released on Thursday 23 July 2026 by the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority, GIICA. It shows three new covered competition pools under a rippled, floating roof, set into the southern ridge of Victoria Park at Spring Hill and joined to the three outdoor pools of the heritage-listed Centenary Pool complex.
GIICA's release also sets the dates that matter locally. The authority takes possession of the site on 1 September 2026, early works follow late in the year, and construction is to begin in 2027. The venue will stage swimming, diving, water polo and artistic swimming at the 2032 Games.
GIICA release of 23 July 2026 for the pools; 2032 Delivery Plan and GIICA venue page for the two capacities.
What the design shows
The architects are ARM Architecture and NH Architecture, two national practices, working with the Queensland firm Arkhefield. A Delivering 2032 update of 24 July says the team was selected by GIICA after a six-month evaluation.
According to GIICA, the building is a multi-storey structure tiered into the ridge on the southern side of the park, an arrangement intended to preserve parkland by building into the slope instead of spreading across it. An open central concourse runs through it, and the roof is lifted clear of the walls to let in daylight and air. Besides the pools, the release lists a gym, high-performance rooms and administration space.
GIICA chairman Stephen Conry said the roof and base reflect the movement of water but that "the design is ultimately about place". Premier David Crisafulli framed the project in terms of what remains after 2032, saying it was "about delivering legacy benefits".
Related readThe Wave: station designs for Beerwah, Bells Creek and Caloundra go publicThe images are a concept. They show form and siting, and they do not yet settle materials, final heights or the layout of the temporary seating that will lift the venue to its Games capacity.
What happens to Centenary Pool
The design keeps the existing complex. GIICA says the three new covered pools will be integrated with the three existing outdoor pools at Centenary Pool, and the Delivering 2032 update refers to the restoration of the heritage-listed complex as part of the project.
That is a notable choice. The 2032 Delivery Plan of March 2025 named the Centenary Pool site for the new centre, which left open how much of the old complex would survive. The released design answers that the outdoor pools stay and are refurbished, with the new halls built alongside. Arkhefield founding director Andrew Gutteridge said of the result that "Centenary Pool will be better".
For swimmers, clubs and schools that use the pool, the date to note is 1 September, when the site passes to a construction authority. GIICA's release gives that possession date; it does not set out public access arrangements after it, or a reopening date for the refurbished outdoor pools, which will depend on how the works are staged.
The heritage listing of the complex helps explain why keeping it carried weight in the design. GIICA's venue page notes that the new centre stands on Turrbal and Yagara Country at the Spring Hill edge of the park, and the authority's release presents the heritage pools and the new halls as a single venue, with the open concourse linking the two.
Related readWorld equestrian chiefs inspect Toowoomba Showgrounds for 2032Why the capacity has two numbers
The centre is designed to be two different sizes. The Delivery Plan gives a Games-time capacity of more than 25,000 with temporary seating and a permanent capacity of 8,000 afterwards. GIICA's venue page describes a main and a secondary arena, each with a large indoor pool.
The gap is deliberate. An Olympic swimming final draws one of the largest crowds of the Games, but no city fills 25,000 seats around a pool in an ordinary year. Building 8,000 permanent seats and adding the remainder as temporary stands is the approach taken to avoid leaving an oversized hall behind.
Queensland Government 2032 Delivery Plan, March 2025; the Games figure is "more than 25,000" with temporary seating.
The plan describes the legacy role as a national hub for Australia's four peak aquatic sports. GIICA lists the future owner as Stadiums Queensland, and says the venue will be supported during the Games by the existing Brisbane Aquatic Centre at Chandler.
It was not the only option considered. The independent 100 Day Review recommended in March 2025 a new high-performance aquatic centre at the Chandler sports precinct. The Government did not accept that recommendation, and its published response says the Delivery Plan instead includes the National Aquatic Centre at Spring Hill, consistent with a submission by Swimming Australia.
Who pays and who builds
The aquatic centre is funded from the $7.1 billion Games Venues Infrastructure Program, shared by the Australian and Queensland governments. GIICA's release describes it as one of the 17 venues in that program. No separate budget for the centre has been published. The ministerial statement that accompanied the State Budget on 23 June 2026 described the venue as in its planning and design phase, and GIICA's venue page shows design continuing from 2026 to 2028.
Related readTransport projects tied to Brisbane 2032 and the suburbs they serveA builder has not been named. In its progress note of 26 March 2026, GIICA listed among its coming milestones the appointment of a principal architect for the aquatic centre, now done, and the award of early contractor involvement arrangements for both the Brisbane Stadium and the aquatic centre. Under that approach, used for the stadium since April, builders work alongside the designers before a final contract is signed.
The architects presented the design as a public building first. ARM Architecture director Andrew Hayne said the place "should feel welcoming", and NH Architecture director Emily Kilvington spoke of respect for the site's history. Olympic champion Emma McKeon, quoted by AAP on the day of the release, looked at it from the pool deck: "In a stadium you want huge crowds, loud crowds, which Australia will definitely bring."
How it fits the Victoria Park precinct
The aquatic centre is the second major venue in the same park. The 63,000-seat Brisbane Stadium is being built on the Herston side, where GIICA took possession on 1 June and where, on 17 July, it appointed BMD Constructions to begin bulk earthworks in early August.
With the aquatic centre following on 1 September, both ends of the park will be under construction by spring. The Government has said, in a Delivering 2032 update of 12 May 2026, that around two thirds of the park will remain green space and that a master plan for the precinct is being prepared by Arup, with public consultation to come.
The decision to tier the building into the ridge is the design team's contribution to that balance. How well it works will be easier to judge once the master plan shows the pool, the stadium and the remaining parkland on one drawing.
Related readVictoria Park draft legacy plan opens for eight weeks of public commentGIICA's venue page places the site within reach of Cross River Rail, Brisbane Metro, the busway network and cycle paths, which is the basis for moving Games crowds without large car parks.
What Spring Hill and the inner north can expect
The suburbs closest to the works are Spring Hill, on the southern side of the park, and Herston and Kelvin Grove to the north and west. The dates announced so far give residents and owners a simple calendar: possession on 1 September 2026, early works in late 2026, construction from 2027 and completion before the Games.
What early works will involve at this site has not been detailed. At the stadium they consist of earthworks, drainage, haul roads and retaining walls, and a building cut into a ridge suggests excavation here too, but GIICA has not published a scope or named a contractor for the pool.
The design also carries a longer-term point for the neighbourhood. An 8,000-seat aquatic venue with a gym and public pools, run by Stadiums Queensland beside a refurbished Centenary Pool, is a permanent facility at the edge of Spring Hill, in daily use and not only on event days. The Delivering 2032 update describes the post-Games use as community fitness, recreation and family activities alongside competition.
Where the wider program stands
The design was released on the day Brisbane marked six years to the opening ceremony. An AAP report carried by the Canberra Times on 23 July counted seven new venues to build and ten to upgrade, with only one major construction contract awarded so far. The ABC's stocktake two days earlier found that only the stadium at Victoria Park had reached early works.
The same AAP report quoted the organising committee president, Andrew Liveris, as saying of the time remaining: "I think six years is perfectly fine."
For the aquatic centre, the next fixed point is 1 September, when the site becomes the authority's. After that, the things to look for are the early works scope, the contractor and the consultation on the precinct plan that will show how the pool sits in what remains of the park.
Kooky, from Shaka
Kooky edits Queensland Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for Queensland property professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.
