Stadium for the people

The National Stadium will be the Beijing's Olympic centrepiece in 2008. Its chief architect discusses the key features of the structure

By Li Xinggang, chief architect of the National Stadium Beijing

Situated in the Central Zone of Beijing Olympic Green, the National Stadium is the main arena for the 29th Olympic Games in 2008. The seating capacity is approximately 91,000, including around 11,000 temporary seats. It will host the track and field events, football matches, and Opening and Closing Ceremonies during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

An artist's impression of Beijing's National Stadium
Photo: with kind permission of the design consortium

After the Games, the seating capacity will be reduced to around 80,000, to hold international and national track and field events, football matches, and provide comprehensive services covering sports, recreation, fitness and commercial operations.

The National Stadium is located on a gentle rise in the centre of the Olympic complex. The gently raised plinth moderates the bulk of the vessel and gives it a dramatic sweeping form. The stadiums appearance is pure structure. Façade and structure are the same thing. The structural elements mutually support each other and converge into a grid-like formation – almost like a bird's nest with its interwoven twigs. The design meets all the functional and technical requirements of an Olympic Stadium, but without communicating the insistent sameness of technocratic architecture dominated by large spans and digital screens. The spatial effect of the stadium is novel and radical and yet simple and of an almost archaic immediacy, thus creating a unique historical landmark for the 2008 Olympics.

The plinth
The geometries of the plinth and stadium merge into one element, like a tree and its roots. The surface of plinth is designed to be a pedestrian area, except for necessary emergency vehicle access points. Pedestrians flow on a lattice of smooth slate walkways that extend from the structure of the stadium. The spaces between walkways provide amenities for the stadium visitor: sunken gardens, stone squares, bamboo groves, mineral hillscapes, and openings into the plinth itself. Gently, almost imperceptibly, the ground of the city rises and forms a plinth for the stadium. The entrance to the stadium is therefore slightly raised, providing a panorama of the entire Olympic complex.

The foyer: the structure of the stadium also acts as its striking
facade. Photo: with kind permission of the design consortium

Beneath the plinth, there are reception/ service facilities including internal parking, preparation area for the Games, and dedicated facilities for athletes, VIPs, media, venue operations, security, etc. The main entrances – 12 gates for general spectators – surround the stadium on top of the plinth, while entrances for others and vehicles are lower than the main entrances. It is a vertical separation for pedestrians and vehicles. These distinct areas are known as front-yard/ back-yard.

The roof
The roof structure is a grid-like spatial structure consisting of two layers of steel beams at a distance of about 12m. The roof beams are twisted and turned at the shoulders to reach the ground, and a pure steel façade is formed by the extension of roof beams in this way. The structural elements mutually support each other and converge into the huge, grid-like spatial structure, in which façades, stairs, the bowl structure and the roof are integrated.

Just as birds stuff the spaces between the woven twigs of their nests with soft filler, two layers of membrane are equipped to the roof to make the it weatherproof, translucent, and give the expected acoustic performance. The spaces between the top trusses are covered by a transparent ETFE membrane, and a translucent PTFE membrane is hung below the bottom trusses.

The bowl: the human crowd itself is the architectural highlight
Photo: with kind permission of the design consortium

The bowl
The stadium is conceived as a large collective vessel, with most of the tiers in three layers, which makes a distinctive and unmistakable impression, both when it is seen from a distance and from close up. Inside the stadium, an evenly constructed bowl-like shape serves to generate crowd excitement and drive athletes to outstanding performances. To create a smooth and homogeneous appearance, the stands have minimal interruption and the acoustic ceiling hides the structure in order to focus attention on the spectators and the events on the field. The human crowd itself forms the architecture.

The concourse
Various kinds of service facilities to benefit different spectators are grouped in concourse areas behind the tier. Besides the necessary facilities such as circulation and restrooms, there are food and beverage services, souvenir shops, VIP lounges, restaurants and boxes. Since all of the facilities – restaurants, boxes, shops and restrooms – are self-contained units, it is largely possible to do without a solid, enclosed façade. This allows natural ventilation of the stadium, which is the most important aspect of the stadium’s sustainable design. The profile of each layer of concourse is designed as petal-like in shape, and these petals overlap to create interesting space.

The design consortium
Herzog & de Meuron from Switzerland, China Architecture Design & Research Group from China, and Ove Arup & Partners from the UK make up the three parties allied to form the design consortium. They won the international competition on concept design together, and later successfully signed the design contract with the client of the National Stadium. At the present time the consortium has finished schematic design, preliminary design, and construction design. Their current work is primarily construction management as the stadium takes shape.