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watercube - beijing 2008:
national aquatic center

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environmental water cube for 2008 chinese olympics - interesting facts - xavier
There is an interesting video of the building, site and activities at the bottom of the linked page.

“Arup based the structural design on Weaire and Phelan’s (Irish Professors of Physics at Trinity College) proposed solution to the problem of “What shape would soap bubbles in a continuous array of soap bubbles be?” This problem was both initially posed and tentatively answered by Lord Kelvin at the end of the 18th century but it was 100 years before the Irish Professors proposed a better one.” [Quoted from arup.com]
Name:
National Aquatics Center [NAC]

The Water Cube lit up at night. Credit: Huashang newspaper
The Water Cube lit up at night. Credit: Huashang newspaper
Nickname:
Water Cube
First public event:
31 January 2008, the NAC will host its first “Good Luck Beijing” sports event - the 2008 Swimming China Open.
Site area:
79,532 square metres
Building size:
177x177x31 metres
Seating:
6,000 permanent seats and 11,000 temporary ones.

The Water Cube partially constructed, showing the steel frame with some membrane foils in place. Credit: vector-foiltec.com
The Water Cube partially constructed, showing the steel frame with some membrane foils in place. Credit: vector-foiltec.com
Structure:
steel spaceframe, covered by ETFE membrane
Weight of steel used:
approx. 6500 tonnes
Number of steel tubes/beams:
22,000. End to end, they would stretch for 90km
Number of nodes:
11,000

The steel frame structure, from the interior before each space is filled with membrane. Credit: xiaming
The steel frame structure, from the interior before each space is filled with membrane. Credit: xiaming

Putting the membrane on the outer surface of the Water Cube. Credit: dans
Putting the membrane on the outer surface of the Water Cube. Credit: dans
Membrane structure:
Largest membrane covering in the world
Only public building that is fully made of a membrane structure
Covering material:
ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene) membrane made into over 3,000 pneumatic die cushions or bubbles.
Qualities include
• good ductility
• good crushing resistance. After aeration, every piece of membrane can resist the weight of a car
• good resistance against fire and intense heat
• self-cleaning. Since the friction coefficient of the material is small, dust does not easily attach to the surface. Providing there is rain, any settled dust should be washed off.
Membrane thickness:
0.008 inches
Layers of air cushions:
2, separated by a further insulating air gap.
“The cushions are restrained around their perimeter by aluminium extrusions, which are in turn fastened to a supporting primary structure. The cushions are inflated with low-pressure air to provide insulation and to resist wind loads.” [Quoted from Vectorfoiltec]
Number of ‘foils’ on outer layer:
634
Coverage area of ETFE ‘foils’:
100,000 sq m
The Water Cube at night, giving an idea of the building's scale. Credit: beijing2008.cn
The Water Cube at night, giving an idea of the building’s scale. Credit: beijing2008.cn

Environmental features include:
strict temperature and humidity control system, using
recycled hot water in air-conditioning system;
outdoor and indoor air recycling systems, solar energy and double-deck ventilation devices for cooling
Cost:
$US200 million ($227.47 million), with donations of $US110 million ($125.11 million) from people in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan
Amazingly, this is less than one-twentieth of the cost for the Millenum Dome, built in London for the 2000 celebrations, and that after another seven years of inflation. [Further information on the Millenium Dome cost and other comparative costs.]
Water savings:
The Water Cube can recover, per annum
•rain water: 10,000 tons
•clean water: 70,000 tons
•swimming pool water: 60,000 tons annually
•total recycled water: 140,000 tons a year
Beijing 2008 Olympics logoSports:
Swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water-polo
To be awarded during Olympics:
42 gold medals in swimming, diving and synchronized swimming
Future uses:
To be converted into a shopping area and leisure centre with tennis courts, retail outlets, nightclubs and restaurants.
Location:
Olympic Green, North Fourth Ring Road, Beijing.
Designers:
PTW Architects [Adobe Flash site - click on Welcome, then News: January 2008 item], CSCEC International Design and Arup
Structural designer:
Arup [Search on ‘Water Cube’]
Structure builders:
China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC)
Membrane manufacturer:
Vector Foiltec
The swimming pool inside the Water Cube. Credit: beijing2008.cn
The swimming pool inside the Water Cube. Credit: beijing2008.cn

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