GIANTS STADIUM | QMS MEDIA

Client: QMS Sport

Venue: Giants Stadium, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW

Scope: Design, manufacture, installation, and certification of perimeter LED signage across 6 stands and the Video Board section

Scale: 375 LED panels, 375 metres of perimeter coverage

Timeline: 6 weeks, scheduled around AFL season fixtures

Live: Hours after completion, the ground hosted a nationally broadcast AFL fixture

The project

In 2019, QMS Sport expanded their portfolio of digital assets at Giants Stadium in Sydney Olympic Park, home to the GWS Giants (AFL) and Sydney Thunder (cricket), and a regular host of concerts, festivals, and major events. The project involved installing 375 metres of LED signage across 6 stands and the Video Board section.

Concept Evolution was brought in for the full scope: not just installation, but design and engineering of custom mounting brackets for every stand, manufacture and pre-assembly of all custom components, and project management across the full six-week installation program.

Project management under fixture pressure

Installation works ran during the 2019 AFL season. That meant every phase had to be timed around the GWS Giants' home fixture schedule. A delay in one phase could close the window for the next one.

Concept Evolution managed supply chain logistics, subcontractor coordination, and stakeholder liaison across the project. All 375 panels, the custom bracket systems, and the large support structure under the Video Board were installed, certified, and commissioned within the six-week program.

Getting six weeks' worth of complex installation work done on a schedule that moves around live sporting events requires a level of planning that goes well beyond the installation itself. The sequencing of each phase, the pre-fabrication schedule, the delivery of materials, the on-site workforce, all of it has to be mapped against a fixture calendar that doesn't shift to accommodate delays.

Custom bracket design: one stand at a time

The same principle that applied at the SCG applied here: no two stands are the same. The age of the structure, the parapet geometry, the surface condition, the access available , all of these vary between stands and, in some cases, within a single stand.

The engineering team conducted a thorough review of all 6 stands before commencing with design. Each bracket solution was drawn in 3D CAD to allow structural analysis before engineering drawings were drafted. Those drawings went through formal sign-off before any parts went into production.

Concept Evolution's structural engineer was involved from the site survey phase through to the final on-site inspection. Rigorous simulations were run on each bracket variation in the 3D CAD models before production was approved.

The Video Board solution

The brief included a 40-metre section of LED signage to be installed underneath the large Video Board, however the external cladding wasn't structurally adequate to carry the weight of the LED panels.

The solution was a custom steel frame, fabricated and welded on site. The process required cutting penetrations through the external cladding at the right locations to allow access for welding to the main structural members underneath. Once the welds were complete, the penetrations were patched, and the LED panels were installed over the top.

This was a problem that required a considered design and engineering approach tailored to the existing fixtures and the fabrication expertise to execute it on site. The team had both.

Getting it done: pre-fabrication and custom tooling

The six-week timeline worked because of the meticulous design and planning done well before any installation crew arrived on site.

Bracket components were prefabricated and pre-assembled at Concept Evolution's Taren Point facility. This reduced the time each technician spent on elevated equipment doing work that could safely be done at ground level. Custom installation tools were designed to help our technicians work safely and efficiently at height.

This approach — preparing as much as possible off site to reduce the time and complexity of works on site — is consistent across all Concept Evolution's large installation projects.

The result

Installation was completed on schedule. Hours after the last panel was commissioned, Giants Stadium hosted an AFL fixture between the GWS Giants and Sydney Swans, broadcast nationally. The LED signage was visible throughout the broadcast.

The perimeter signage has since been in use across AFL home games, Sheffield Shield and BBL cricket fixtures, and various concerts and events at the ground.