Services
SARO's services are structured around the facility development lifecycle, from initial strategy through to construction oversight. Each service draws on demonstrated project experience across three firms and 15 years of delivery.
Strategic Facility Planning
Needs analysis, demand assessment, and spatial strategies that define what a club or federation actually requires before any design work begins. Includes site assessment, program definition, staging strategies, and stakeholder consultation frameworks.
Government Funding and Grant Applications
End-to-end grant writing for state and federal sports infrastructure programs. Includes funding landscape analysis, eligibility assessment, application drafting, supporting documentation, and submission coordination.
Feasibility Studies and Business Cases
Technical and financial feasibility for proposed facilities. Covers spatial requirements, regulatory constraints, construction cost parameters, operational modelling inputs, and risk identification, producing documents suitable for board approval and funding submissions.
Procurement Advisory
Guidance on delivery method selection (D&C, traditional, superintendent models), architect and consultant appointment, tender evaluation, and contract administration principles.
Event Overlay and Temporary Infrastructure
Specialist advisory on temporary venue infrastructure for major sporting events. Covers overlay planning, federation compliance (IAAF, FIFA, World Athletics), temporary seating, hospitality infrastructure, and event operations.
Sustainability and Green Star Advisory
Strategic sustainability advice for sports facilities targeting Green Star ratings or equivalent. Covers energy systems, building fabric performance, operational sustainability, and whole-of-life assessment. Particular expertise in aquatic facilities.
Stakeholder Engagement and Briefing
Structuring and facilitating stakeholder consultation for facility projects: user group needs analysis, community consultation frameworks, federation and code requirements, and multi-tenant coordination.
How an engagement runs
SARO engages on a fee-for-service basis: fixed-fee packages aligned to project milestones. Not every client needs every phase. Engagements are scoped to the specific situation.
Understand the organisation, its facility needs, and the funding landscape.
Document the case: what is needed, what it costs, how it gets funded. Board-ready and funder-ready.
Draft and submit grant applications with supporting documentation, budgets, and compliance statements.
Write design briefs, evaluate consultant tenders, manage architect appointments.
Independent review of design development, documentation, and construction progress.
Who I work with
Clubs with facility ambitions but no in-house development capability. SARO provides the strategic and technical bridge between aspiration and funded project.
Councils planning community sports infrastructure who need specialist expertise beyond their general architectural panel.
Organisations planning major sporting events requiring temporary infrastructure overlay. SARO's Super Bowl, NCAA, and Commonwealth Games experience is effectively unique in the Australian market.
Ready to start?
Every engagement begins with a scoping conversation. No obligation, no jargon.
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