Designed by global sports architecture firm Populous after winning an international design competition, the ‘Ice Ribbon’ or National Speed Skating Oval (NSSO) was created as a symbol of Chinese cultural heritage that celebrates the elegance, precision, pace and dynamic of speed skating.
Completed last year, the 12,000-seat venue will host the speed skating events at the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games in Beijing and will award 14 gold medals.
From its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Brisbane, Populous managed a multitude of stakeholders across five countries and three offices to win the rigorous design competition over 60 other entrants.
The win recognised Populous’ unparalleled Olympic experience and the firm’s involvement in its 14th Olympic Games, both summer and winter.
Populous senior principal and co-project director on NSSO Andrew James said to be selected as the chief designer of an Olympic sports venue was a huge honour.
He continued: “The winning design for the ‘Ice Ribbon’ was created in an intense time frame and was forged through several concepts and many iterations to develop a spinning concept into its final form.
“It became a global effort with our team in Beijing, Brisbane, India, London, and America drawing on our experience from Oval Lingotto in Turin, Italy, and our design of Fisht Stadium in Russia, home of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
The client, Beijing National Speed Skating Oval Operation Co., said the ‘Ice Ribbon’ demonstrates the excellence of Populous’ design and justified their international reputation in sports architecture.
They said: “The NSSO is not only a world-class sports facility designed to be among the best in the world, but it also brings an international landmark for Beijing and enhances the landscape and urban fabric of the area.”
When reflecting on the characteristics of Olympic speed skating, principal of Populous in China and the co-project director of the NSSO Tiric Chang drew on childhood memories of growing up in Beijing to create an interpretation of Chinese culture and heritage.
Chang explained: “Much of the inspiration for the conceptual design of the ‘Ice Ribbon’ came from the traditional ice game played in old Beijing which involved a high-speed spinning ‘ice top’.
“The ribbons of the design make reference to the floating silk ribbons of the artwork my family had dedicated their time to – which was the study and preservation of the Dunhuang Grottoes, a significant collection of Buddhist art from the Tang dynasty.
“It 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 demonstrated the high-speed movement of speed skaters.”
The design process was thoroughly considered in terms of its practical functions to meet the requirements of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Skating Union.
Importantly, the design also 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.
In the lead up to, and during the Games, the NSSO will be the home of training for speed skating events and Olympic competition.
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, to hold Winter festivals, public ice skating, ice hockey, or private ice-based shows and events.
The legacy design will support the Chinese central government’s Ice and Snow Sports Development Plan which aims to involve 300 million people in ice and snow sports by 2025 and the IOC’s Agenda 2020 to ensure there is real cost-benefit associated with hosting the Games.