SteelOrbis Shanghai
On August 8 last, television viewers across the world became familiar with the Beijing National Stadium when it acted as the venue for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics, which was crowned by a spectacular fireworks display. The stadium, known as the "Bird's Nest" on account of its external appearance, also hosted the main track and field competitions for the Games as well as the closing ceremony.
Construction of the Beijing National Stadium, located at Olympic Green in Beijing, east of the Beijing National Aquatics Center, was completed in March of the current year. In 2002, China engaged architects worldwide in a competition to design the new stadium. Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron collaborated with ArupSport and China Architecture Design & Research Group to win the competition with their 'Bird's Nest' design plan, thanks to its novel design and unique structure.
Construction work began on 23 December, 2003 and was finished in early 2008. Beijing Mechanical Construction Company won the bid for earthwork and foundation treatment in November 2003 and work began almost immediately. CITIC Internationals Contracting Inc. was the major construction contractor. Structural engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, fire safety engineering, acoustic design were the responsibility of Ove Arup & Partners. Beijing Urban Construction Group Co. Ltd (BUCG) managed the project along with China Architecture Design & Research Group.
The stadium is 330 metres (1,082 ft) long by 220 metres (721 ft) wide, and is 69.2 metres (227 ft) high. It was built with 36 km (22.4 miles) of unwrapped steel, with a combined weight of 42,000 mt. The stands in the stadium consist of a seven-storey shear wall system with a concrete framework. The upper part of the stands and the stadium's steel structure are actually separated from one another, but both are based on a common foundation. The roof is covered with a double-layer membrane structure, with a transparent ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) membrane fixed on the upper part of the roofing structure and a translucent PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) membrane fixed on its lower part. A PTFE acoustic ceiling is also attached to the side walls of the inner ring of the roof.