The name Waurn Ponds comes from a Wadawurrung word for camp or settlement – a place where people have gathered for tens of thousands of years. The new sporting complex under construction at Mount Duneed is the latest chapter in that story.

Originally earmarked for Victoria's now-cancelled 2026 Commonwealth Games, the project is one of five in the Geelong and Surf Coast regions to proceed under the Victorian Government's Regional Sports Infrastructure Package. The Games fell over; the facilities didn't. What remains is something more useful – infrastructure designed not for a fortnight of international competition but for the daily life of a fast-growing regional city.

The facility includes six indoor multi-sport courts with retractable seating, a regional-level gymnastics centre, a dance hall and studio, and community rooms. A parents' room, sensory room, Changing Places facility and multi-faith room signal a building that takes inclusion seriously from the brief up, not the fit-out down.

The design's most distinctive work is cultural. The Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation provided the Narrative of Place – Yuroyuroke – which has guided the project's design and cultural expression. The colour palette, materials, facade, artwork and landscaping have all been informed by Wadawurrung people, with a facade celebrating local timbers that connects the building to the character of this country. The facility is targeting a 5-star Green Star certification – fossil fuel-free and solar-powered.

Due for completion in early 2027, Waurn Ponds Sporting Complex is being built for people who are already here, on country that has always mattered.