Posted: 2024-07-09 05:17:01

One of the key features of the official concept design of the $715 million Macquarie Point stadium is a 'big plastic roof'.

The roof would be an Australian first, and is a non-negotiable feature for the stadium imposed by the AFL in order to give Tasmania a license for a team in the national league.

Using timber support, the ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) roofing has been likened to a giant "backyard shade sail".

Concept art showing interior of sports stadium with cricket match underway.

An expert in EFTE technology says a big cricket shot poses "no risk" of penetrating the roof.(Supplied: Tasmanian government)

Hobart will join Munich, Beijing, Dunedin and 2024 Super Bowl host Las Vegas which all have roofed stadiums using the plastic material.

It's economical, light-weight and durable according to an engineer who specialises in rolling it out.

What is ETFE?

Night time exterior view of skylight using ETFE technology.

An expert says EFTE is "pretty transparent" to sound waves, while conceding in heavy rain or hail there may be "a little drumminess".(Supplied: Makmax)

Martin Eddleston is the principal engineer with a construction company called Makmax Australia which specialises in 'tension membrane' materials like ETFE.

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Mr Eddleston said companies like his purchased the fluoro polymer plastic on a roll and it comes like a ream of paper or carpet.

It is then transformed from a flat sheet of plastic into a 3D shape, seen on stadiums, arenas and structures around the world.

"It was developed by a couple of companies and there's only probably two or three places in the world that manufacture the performance plastic," Mr Eddleston told ABC Radio Hobart.

He said it was about a quarter of a millimetre thick and weighed less than one kilogram per square metre.

"It's incredibly lightweight," he said.

"It's one of the only things you could put on a roof this scale and get an economical structure."

Photo of a stadium lit up with rainbow colours

Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany also utilises ETFE technology.(Reuters: Andreas Gebert )

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