Boutique stadium redevelopment sets the benchmark

Those who take an interest in any sporting code would have heard the phrase ‘home ground advantage’ used at one stage or another. In essence, it references the benefit that a home team is said to gain over a visiting team whether that be the fans, the ground itself or the general atmosphere. 

Well, one stadium in particular has recently set the benchmark for boutique stadiums in Australia that not only provides the ultimate home ground setting for resident AFL club the Geelong Cats, but also services a range of other sporting, entertainment and cultural events. 

That stadium is GMHBA Stadium in Geelong (west of Melbourne, Victoria) and NHP were proud to team up with local switchboard builder and electrical contractor, Butler Electrical Victoria when it came to the Stage 4 development of this iconic site. 

Known for their ‘can do’ attitude that has been built up over their 50 plus years of operation, Butler Electrical is a privately owned business with mechanical services at the core of their offering. 

While that continues today, over the past seven years the company has taken significant strides in diversifying their offering into main switchboards and their awarding of the contract for the main distribution switchboards at the GMHBA Stadium project was no exception. 

“Some time ago we identified an opportunity to expand our offering to industry and through our relationship with NHP, saw that the CUBIC system was a system that could take us there,” said Allan Sultana, Managing Director of Butler Electrical.

“When there’s short build times it’s easy to erode profits but through the quick turn-around that NHP were able to offer, the off the shelf CUBIC product was a great advantage ensuring that the boards were completed and delivered on time,” said Alan Mihovil, NHP’s Technology Specialist - Switchboard Solutions.

Offering increased convenience and ensuring profitability was as high as it could be, when the CUBIC switchboards were delivered to Butler Electrical all the equipment and switchgear as per the drawings were packed together which made for a seamless build and installation. 

“What began as quite a niche operation has been able to broaden its offering to service larger commercial scale projects and the CUBIC product was the platform that enabled us to do so. As well as simplifying our design, all CUBIC boards are type-tested which means we save both money and time by not having to undertake this process ourselves,” Mr. Sultana continued. 

Like Butler Electrical, NHP is a locally owned and operated company with 50 years’ experience and were proud to partner with another local leader to deliver an exceptional result. With Stage 4 works now successfully completed, attention turns to Stage 5 which will focus on the refurbishment of a number of existing stands. 

The completed project will see the venue not only provide the necessary infrastructure to attract multipurpose events but also provide significant benefits that will be experienced by the local community, local businesses and the local economy.