The National Aquatic Centre Beijing incorporates a steel space frame and is currently the largest ETFE clad structure in the world with over 100,000 m² of ETFE pillows that are only 0.2 mm (1/125 of an inch) in total thickness. Due to the ETFE, the cladding structure allows more light and heat to penetrate through than traditional glass, resulting in a 30% decrease in energy costs.

The ETFE was supplied to the National Aquatic Centre Beijing by us and the building is now one of the greatest FTFE constructions to date. During the Olympic games, the structure had a capacity of 17,000 but this is due to be reduced to 6,000 now that the games are over. The National Aquatic Centre Beijing has a total land surface of 65,000 square meters and covers a total of 32,000 square metres (7.9 acres). Although called the Water Cube, the aquatic centre is really a rectangular box shape,178 meters (584 feet) square and 31 meters (102 feet) high.

The National Aquatics Centre Beijing hosted the Swimming, Diving and Synchronized Swimming events during the Olympics. Many people believe that the Water Cube has the fastest Olympic pool in the world. This is down to the fact it is one meter deeper than most Olympic pools used in the past. Up to a certain limit, beyond which swimmers will lose their sense of vision, deeper pools allow the waves to dissipate down to the bottom, leading to less water disturbance for the swimmers. The pool also has perforated gutters on both sides to absorb the waves.

For more information about the technology we supplied for use at the National Aquatic Centre Beijing, please feel free to contact us.