National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing

Location Beijing, China Client Beijing State Asset Management Operator Beijing National Speed Skating Oval Management Architects Populous - APAC HQ AU – Brisbane QLD 4000 www.populous.com

Author Populous Photos Populous NSSO

OLYMPIC ICON

NATIONAL SPEED SKATING OVAL (NSSO) IN BEIJING

The only new permanent 12,000-seat venue built for Beijing 2022 is the National Speed Skating Oval (NSSO), which was the main venue for the speed skating competition and will become a community sport and training venue after the Games. The “Ice Ribbon“ was designed by global sports architecture firm Populous as a symbol of cultural heritage that celebrates the elegance, precision, pace and dynamic of speed skating.

Sitting together as iconic buildings along the central axis of the Beijing Olympics’ Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube venues, the Ice Ribbon brings an international landmark to Beijing and enhances the landscape and urban fabric of the area. Following the Games, the design’s legacy allows the transformation of the facility to serve its long-term purpose as a real hub for the community, for the holding of winter festivals, public ice skating, ice hockey or private ice-based shows and events. From the memories of an “old Beijinger” A childhood memory of a traditional winter game in Beijing provided much of the inspiration for the conceptual design for the NSSO’s Ice Ribbon. The game was “ice tops” and the memory was that to Tiric Chang, Principal of Populous in China and the co-project director of NSSO.

The traditional ice game in old Beijing involved a high-speed spinning and leaping ice top that seemed to have infinite energy and possibilities.

“That’s what I thought of when reflecting on the characteristics of Olympic speed skating. So, the ice tops became part of the design inspiration, injecting a strong Chinese memory into the venue,” Chang said.

Evolution from ice top to ice ribbon Another childhood memory evolved the ice top concept into the final ice ribbon design. In the Dunhuang Grottoes, an important collection of Buddhist art from the Tang dynasty, paintings showed apsaras flying not with wings, but with their stunning, colourful silk ribbons through the sky.

This image guided the design team to boldly extend the concept of a high-speed rotating ice top to creating 22 rotating light bands for the façade, which not only represent the ice surface and the shape of the oval, but also perfectly demonstrate the high-speed movement of speed skaters. The light strands (or ribbons) flow up and around the oval, cocooning it to a height of some 33.8 metres. At night, the façade creates an exciting spectacle, with each of the strands becoming dynamic ribbons of light, able to change in an endless array of lighting programs.

The design adds to the intense and exciting atmosphere where every movement and sound of the speed skating blades can be seen and heard by everyone in the oval.

The Ice Ribbon is one of the first venues in the world to use carbon dioxide transcritical direct cooling ice technology for ice-making, which is a more advanced technology and one that consumes less energy. The effect in reducing carbon emissions is equivalent to planting over 1.2 million trees. The system can achieve a temperature difference of 0.5 degrees Celsius or less across the ice surface, which provides strong support for top-level ice performances and a faster competition track.