Design
It has been built on a site beside the Fraser River, a few blocks away from Lansdowne Station on the Canada Line. From the air, it is the first Olympic venue many visitors will see flying into Vancouver, and the roof takes the stylized native shape of a heron's wing, a tribute to the Salish First Nation and the large wading bird that cohabited the riverbank at first European contact 230 years ago. It is a 33,750 m2 facility, including a 20,000 m2 main floor that includes a 400 m refrigerated track. It can accommodate 8,000 spectators. The Oval was built to qualify for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Scale (LEED) Silver certification; for example, the refrigeration plant is designed to heat other areas of the building through the utilization of what is otherwise waste heat from cooling the ice surface.
A distinctive feature of the Richmond Oval is its unique "wood wave" roof. This roof, which is one of the longest clear spans in North America, includes one million board feet of B.C. pine-beetle kill wood linked together in undulating sections to create a rippled effect. These one of a kind wood panels were designed by structural engineers Fast + Epp and constructed at the design build firm StructureCraft Builders Inc. in Delta, B.C. As a result, the Oval was given an award of excellence in architectural innovation by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada specifically for the innovative use of pine beetle-killed wood in its ceiling.
Outside, there is a sculptural environment designed by artist Janet Echelman with a pond filled with water that is collected from rain water falling on the roof, that will serve as a gathering space and water supply for irrigating surrounding landscapes, and for flushing toilets. A 91 metre (300 foot) boardwalk weaves through the pond and two 16 metre (52 foot) pedestrian bridges cross the pond to reach the Olympic Oval. Above the pond hangs the artist's "sky lantern" sculpture, Water Sky Garden. The sculpture is made of Tenara architectural fibre, supported by painted galvanized steel rings. The entire garden is approximately 7,000 m2 (75,000 sq ft). A fountain designed as part of the public art program, which will include pieces designed that was created by local Musqueam artist, Susan Point, will re-oxygenate the pond. All hardwood trees that were cut during site preparation were salvaged and are currently stored, awaiting milling for building re-use in the panelling, flooring, furnishings or additional landscaping features.
The remainder of the building structure was designed by structural engineers Glotman.Simpson Consulting Engineers. Some items of interest included the design for a flat ice surface and the architectural piers used to support the roof structure.
The principal and lead project architect was Bob Johnston of Cannon Design, who was involved in the design of both the Calgary and Salt Lake City tracks. The lead project manager was principal, Marion LaRue, of Cannon Design, who lead the entire design and consultant team as well as being the key client contact. The Building Envelope consultant for this innovative project was Morrison Hershfield who worked closely with Cannon Design. Part of Morrison Hershfield’s role in the building envelope of this facility was the use of inventive cladding materials. Polycarbonate cladding (similar to a translucent plastic) was employed to cover very large wall areas. Traditional materials such as curtain wall, metal siding and composite metal cladding were also used.
Read more about this topic: Richmond Olympic Oval
Famous quotes containing the word design:
“If I commit suicide, it will not be to destroy myself but to put myself back together again. Suicide will be for me only one means of violently reconquering myself, of brutally invading my being, of anticipating the unpredictable approaches of God. By suicide, I reintroduce my design in nature, I shall for the first time give things the shape of my will.”
—Antonin Artaud (1896–1948)
“We find that Good and Evil happen alike to all Men on this Side of the Grave; and as the principle Design of Tragedy is to raise Commiseration and Terror in the Minds of the Audience, we shall defeat this great End, if we always make Virtue and Innocence happy and successful.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)
“For I choose that my remembrances of him should be pleasing, affecting, religious. I will love him as a glorified friend, after the free way of friendship, and not pay him a stiff sign of respect, as men do to those whom they fear. A passage read from his discourses, a moving provocation to works like his, any act or meeting which tends to awaken a pure thought, a flow of love, an original design of virtue, I call a worthy, a true commemoration.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)