Now that’s a roof: the updated BC Place in Vancouver, Canada.
BC Place has always been known for its roof, its totemic dome leering into Vancouver’s skyline since 1983 until earlier this year, at the time the largest air-supported stadium in the world.
That roof has now been deflated (its last hurrah was as the venue for the 2010 Winter Olympics opening and closing ceremonies, giving us the unusual scenario of a massive stadium development after a major event – though some of the structural reinforcing necessary for the new roof had taken place before then), and has been replaced by the world’s largest cable-supported retractable roof, bringing blue sky to British Columbia’s soccer and American football fans.
Such a transformation isn’t cheap, coming in at $563 million Canadian (the stadium’s owners – the Province of British Columbia – claim that an entirely new multipurpose structure would have cost over $1 billion). The 55,000 capacity stadium will be home to the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League and the Vancouver Whitecaps of Major League Soccer, both of whom are temporarily playing at Empire Field. They will play their opening games on September 30th and October 2nd 2011 respectively, with the roof construction now complete.
The 76,000 square roof fabric – inspired by previous developments in Durban, Frankfurt and Busan – retracts to the center in just 20 minutes, inside housing that also holds up a huge 68′x38′ four-sided video board that rises to the ceiling when the roof opens. 36 masts, which each weigh 240 tons, rise 165ft to support the 36 outer and 36 inner (retractable) roof panels. The roof’s opening is 100 metres by 85 metres, matching the field below it precisely – a field that is (unfortunately) artificial turf. According to Hightex, the German company contracted to create the roof, “The retractable roof is made of a highly translucent fabric, which will allow the fabric to be folded without damage.”
This video gives a glimpse of how the retracting roof works:
The new roof’s energy efficiency has been highly touted by its operators, who claim a 25% savings on the previous dome: reducing costs by $350,000 annually. Here is a superb timelapse video of BC Place’s old dome deflating in May 2010:
Soon, the new stadium’s 165ft masts began to rise above Vancouver’s skyline (January 2011):
Photo by Dave Ru
And at night (May 2011):
Photo by Basedigital / David Brookfield
The construction of the roof was not for the faint of heart:
Photo by DC38, www.dc38.ca
Construction is close to complete on the interior of the stadium, as well (August 18 2011):
Photo by John Bollwitt (johnbollwitt.com)
Here’s the construction from August 1st to 18th in another timelapse from the BC Place stadium webcam:
And a stadium tour from earlier this month, which gives a good sense of how ‘open’ the new BC Place must feel compared to its domed predecessor. There’s a good explanation in there of the how the roof functions as well:
Finally, the lights are shining on the stadium’s new facade – 6,000m² of transparent membrane panels made of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) - and the new BC Place is almost complete just weeks from its opening games.
Photo by BCPlace2011
Photo by nobase2010
Update 18 September 2011
New video of the lights being tested at BC Place on 15 September 2011:
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Looks awesome. I really hope the Whitecaps open up the whole stadium at least once this season (opener maybe?)
Canadian football is played at BC Place, not American Football. They may seem the same from the outside looking in, but they have in common about as much as GT1 and Formula 1 racing have in common. Same premise, different methods.
Looks great.
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Thanks for uploading all these links. By far the best and most concise yet fully informative gathering-together of all the info one might need on the new roof/refurb. Cheers!