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Beijing Nest Stadium

The Beijing National Stadium - more often referred to as the


Bird's Nest Stadium - took five years to complete and was
constructed using 42,000 tons of steel, making it the largest
steel structure in the world.

Bird's Nest Stadium Facts

 Height: 69.2m (227 feet)


 Length: 330m (1082 feet)
 Width: 220m (721 feet)
 Steel Used to Construct the Outer Shell: ~42,000 tons
 Total Weight of Construction Materials (including concrete
seating bowl): ~110,000 tons
 Seating Capacity: 80,000-91,000
 Design Life: 100 years
 Architecture Firm: Herzog & de Meuron

Design

Measuring 330 meters long, 220 meters wide and 69.2 meters
tall, the design of the Bird's Nest stadium design is based on 24
trussed columns, weighing 1000 tons each. Due to their weight,
no crane was strong enough to lift the columns into place when
construction of the stadium's steel outer shell began in 2005.
As a result, the columns were shipped in parts to Beijing and
assembled in position. After all 24 columns were in place,
smaller beams were welded between to give the structure
greater strength and enhance the unique, elliptical crosshatch
appearance. Finally, the third set of beams was added in order
to hang the transparent, polymer membrane, which provides
roofing between the steel beams.
During the design stage of the project, the Swiss architecture
firm Herzog & de Meuron, along with their partners Arup and
China Architecture Design & Research Group, had numerous
issues to address beyond the aesthetic appeal of the stadium.
One crucial problem was whether, once in place, the 42,000
tons of steel required to build the structure would be able to
support its own weight, or whether it would crumble once the 78
support pillars used during construction were removed.

The local government also required that the stadium design be


able to withstand an 8.0 magnitude earthquake.

As if these issues were not complicated enough, the architects


and engineers also had to keep in mind the effects of thermal
expansion, that is the tendency for steel to expand and contract
as the temperature changes. In Beijing, where the temperature
can range from over 30°C in the summer to -20°C in the winter,
this is no small consideration. To address these three
engineering issues the design team worked with Chinese steel
producers Baosteel and Wuhan Iron & Steel to develop new
steel grades that would meet the strength and flexibility
requirements of the project.

According to Lin Shuguang, General Manager of Baosteel,


three months of research led to the production of a new steel
with low phosphor and low sulfur content, which they termed
Q35. Q35 is a high-hardness steel able to bear stress up to 35
x 106 pascals. This would be critical in the construction of the
24 trussed columns, each of which were 300 meters in length
and expected to help bare a load of 11,200 tons. Wuhan Iron
and Steel group designed a second grade of steel that would
make-up the remaining portion of the stadium's shell, referred
to as Q460.
Q460 provided a high strength, but flexible, steel to support the
trusses and ensure that stadium's shell would not become a
42,000-ton steel heap.

Construction

The new, high strength steels, however, presented their own


problems during construction, as higher than normal welding
temperatures were required, often in very precarious and high
locations. Welding, moreover, could only be conducted in
temperatures of 15-16°C, which meant that workers had to
weld during evening hours. In August of 2006, over 400
welders worked for three straight nights to weld the 320
kilometers of welding seams required to assemble the
stadium's iconic, latticed steel frame.

By September of 2006, the structure was deemed ready to


stand on its own and the 78 support pillars were removed one-
by-one in front of a nervous design and construction team,
leaving the entire structure standing on its own.

Like the Eiffel Tower, the Bird's Nest has not been without its
share of criticism, particularly for its non-traditional style and
appearance. Nevertheless, it has become a poignant symbol of
modern China and the engineering ability of mankind.

Architecture

The team wanted an optimum balance between making sure


every spectator had a good view, creating a good atmosphere
and designing an elegant building. It also needed to be aware
of the different uses of the stadium; for example, when used as
an athletics stadium, the most important view is at the finish line
of the running track but when used for football, the best views
are at the centre line.
Getting everyone close enough in such a big venue was a real
challenge and getting the calculations right was an immense
task. For example, changing the height of the first row of
seating by just 100mm would make the stadium significantly
larger and higher and increase the cost by several million
pounds.

To achieve the optimum design, the team relied heavily on


parametric design software. This helped to work out the
sightlines, the bowl geometry, airflow to keep the grass in good
condition, seismic studies and the design of the external
envelope.

While the surface of the structure is simple, the geometry is


complex – the calculations were so numerous and complicated
that they could not be solved manually. Software was needed
to make sure that the web of twisting steel sections fitted
together, as they have to twist and bend to follow the surface
accurately.

The main elements support each other and converge into a grid
formation. The stand of the stadium is a seven-storey shear
wall system with a concrete framework. The upper part of the
stand and the stadium steel structure are actually separated
from one another, but both of these are based on a joint
foundation.

The "nest" structure, however random it might look, follows the


rules of geometry and contains 36km of unwrapped steel. The
shape of the roof was inspired by yin yang, the Chinese
philosophy of balance and harmony.

The roof is covered with a double-layer membrane structure,


with a transparent ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene)
membrane fixed on the upper part of the roofing structure and a
translucent PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) membrane fixed on
its lower part. A PTFE acoustic ceiling is also attached to the
side walls of the inner ring.
The spaces in the structure of the stadium are filled with
inflated ETFE cushions. On the façade, the inflated cushions
are mounted on the inside of the structure where necessary, to
provide wind protection.

Since all of the facilities – restaurants, suites, shops and


restrooms – are all self-contained units, it is possible to do
largely without a solid, enclosed façade. This allows natural
ventilation of the stadium, which is the most important aspect of
the stadium’s sustainable design.

To keep costs down, all the structural elements of the stadium


are contained within it, so there are no towers or cable nets.
The bowl of the structure is split into eight zones, each with its
own stability system, making each zone effectively as its own
building.

Entrance to the stadium is controlled by tripod barriers supplied


and fabricated by Kaba Gallenschütz of Germany. The project
involved the installation of 138 of these units at the 12
entrances to the stadium.
Eastgate Building, Harare

Architect Mick Pearce’s vision for the Eastgate centre in Harare,


Zimbabwe, was sparked while watching termites construct their nests on
the BBC television series Life.

Inspired by the way the insects use very limited resources to create
ventilated mounds, permeating them with holes over the surface, Pearce
set out to construct a building also peppered with holes all over the
building’s “skin”.

The result stands as a pioneering example of “passive ventilation” – the


idea that buildings use renewable energy from the environment around
them in place of normal air conditioning and heating systems. The
Eastgate building uses less energy and is comparatively cheaper to run,
according to its makers.

The tower’s “skin” takes heat from outside air during the day and
absorbs it into the structure’s body. The air is cool when it reaches the
middle of the building. And at night the heat that’s been absorbed during
the day warms this cool air, creating comfortable cool or warm
conditions for people inside.

Eastgate is probably the best example of the word 'biomimicry' that’s out
there at the moment.

Designing for thermal control


The Eastgate Centre's design is a deliberate move away from the "big
glass block". Glass office blocks are typically expensive to maintain at a
comfortable temperature, needing substantial heating in the winter and
cooling in the summer. They tend to recycle air, in an attempt to keep
the expensively conditioned atmosphere inside, leading to high levels of
air pollution in the building. Artificial air-conditioning systems are high-
maintenance, and Zimbabwe has the additional problem that the original
system and most spare parts have to be imported, squandering foreign
exchange reserves.

Mick Pearce, the architect, therefore took an alternative approach.


Because of its altitude, Harare has a temperate climate despite being in
the tropics, and the typical daily temperature swing is 10 to 14 °C.This
makes a mechanical or passive cooling system a viable alternative to
artificial air-conditioning.

Passive cooling
Passive cooling works by storing heat in the day and venting it at night
as temperatures drop.

Start of day: the building is cool.


During day: machines and people generate heat, and the sun shines.
Heat is absorbed by the fabric of the building, which has a high heat
capacity, so that the temperature inside increases but not greatly.
Evening: temperatures outside drop. The warm internal air is vented
through chimneys, assisted by fans but also rising naturally because it is
less dense, and drawing in denser cool air at the bottom of the building.
Night: this process continues, cold air flowing through cavities in the floor
slabs until the building's fabric has reached the ideal temperature to start
the next day.
Passively cooled, Eastgate uses only 10% of the energy needed by a
similar conventionally cooled building.

Modern use of traditional solutions


To work well, the building must be very carefully designed. After
computer simulation and analysis, the engineering firm Ove Arup, gave
Pearce a set of rules.
They said that no direct sunlight must fall on the external walls at all and
the north façade [direction of summer sun] window-to-wall area must not
exceed 25%. They asked for a balance between artificial and external
light to minimise energy consumption and heat gain. They said all
windows must be sealed because of noise pollution and unpredictable
wind pressures and temperatures, relying on ducted ventilation. Above
all, windows must be light filters, controlling glare, noise and security.

To help with this last, the windows have adjustable blinds, but Pearce
also used deep overhangs to keep direct sun off windows and walls.
Deep eaves are a traditional solution in Africa, shading the walls
completely from the high summer sun, while allowing the lower winter
sun to warm the building in the morning.

Further, passive cooling systems are particularly appropriate for this part
of Africa because, long before humans thought of it, passive cooling was
being used by the local termites. Termite mounds include flues which
vent through the top and sides, and the mound itself is designed to catch
the breeze. As the wind blows, hot air from the main chambers below
ground is drawn out of the structure, helped by termites opening or
blocking tunnels to control air flow.

Pearce's practice is in Harare, and he specialises in buildings which are


low cost, low maintenance, and have low environmental impact. His
projects try to make best use of locally available resources, and include
Harare International School Arts Centre, Harare Hindoo Temple and
Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital, Zimbabwe. In 2003 Pearce was awarded
the Prince Claus Award for culture and development, for his work on
Eastgate.

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