Sprawling around the waters of the same name, West Lakes is a suburb to the north-west of Adelaide, wedged between Royal Park, Grange, Tennyson and West Lakes Shore. Its modern design combines leafy green spaces and lakes with an extensive shopping complex and is a sought-after residential area for is waterfront mansions.
The suburb centres around the West Lakes shopping centre, owned and operated by Westfield. It houses large department stores and chain brands, numerous cafes and eateries, together with an on-site cinema complex, banks and other service facilities. To the east stands the 50,000 seat capacity Football Park, currently named AAMI Stadium in honour of its sponsor, built for the South Australian National Football League and home to both the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power AFL teams until 2013. It also hosts big-name music artists, with the likes of Alice Cooper, the Rolling Stones and One Direction having performed to sellout crowds here. To the north is the Riverside Golf Club, an 18-hole par 70 course with a sophisticated club and function venues, as well as the residential area of Delfin Island within what is known as Boating Lake. Luxurious waterfront properties with private jetties boast commanding positions here, while an interior lake is ringed by walking trails and lush greenery.
West Lakes is connected to Adelaide’s city centre and its surrounding suburbs by public buses which ply West Lakes Boulevard and access the residential streets of Delfin Island. There is a major bus interchange at the Westfield West Lakes shopping centre, from where it’s just a short walk to the football stadium.
West Lakes is one of Adelaide’s more recent suburbs, with excavations of the lake beginning in 1970 on the site of a tidal swamp and the West Lakes Mall and stadium opening in 1974. The property developers marketed the area as offering an enviable suburban lifestyle, with plenty of recreational activities and all the commercial services residents needed right on their doorstep.