Avant-garde architectural design
Now known as the Holden Centre, the iconic Olympic Swimming Stadium was built in line with innovative design principles.
The venue for the swimming, diving and water polo competitions at Melbourne 1956, the Olympic Swimming Stadium was home to the first enclosed diving pool in Olympic history.
With its striking inverted-pyramid design, the Olympic Swimming Stadium was an early and influential landmark in the development of Structuralist architecture in post-war Australia. It received great acclaim for its brilliance and originality and won many awards when it opened.
An early example of a pre-tensioned steel frame construction, it is also of significant scientific interest and was built using the most modern construction materials and engineering technology of the time. It remains an architecturally, historically and symbolically important building to this day, a fact reflected by its listing in the Victorian Heritage Register.