Beijing's Olympic icon is not only unique but 'green'

Aquatic centre's pro-environment features will help city to score points
Chua Chin Hon, Straits Times 29 Jan 08;

BEIJING - BEIJING yesterday unveiled one of two architectural icons for the 2008 Olympic Games - the bubble-wrapped National Aquatic Centre, or what locals affectionately call the 'Water Cube'.

The nickname comes from the futuristic stadium's unconventional physical appearance, which simulates the look of a rectangular cube of soap bubbles. The Water Cube will host all 42 swimming and diving events during the Beijing Olympics.

China, with its top-notch diving team, expects a substantial medal haul at this venue.

But officials are also hoping the Water Cube's pro-environment features would help score points for the city's efforts to deliver a 'Green Olympics'.

The Water Cube's bubble- like 'plastic skin'' is a high- tech membrane called ethylene-tetra-fluoro-ethylene, or ETFE for short. This is not only sturdy but also allows the stadium to trap sunlight for indoor lighting and heating.

This will reportedly help the structure cut down its energy usage by up to 30 per cent. Many of the 37 sporting venues for this year's Olympics are designed with such energy-saving features in mind, including the National Indoor Stadium, which is a stone's throw from the Water Cube.

'The ETFE outer membrane structure will allow 90 per cent of sunlight into the venue, so that natural light will be available inside for up to nine hours a day,'' according to a statement from the games' organisers.

However, it is unclear whether the energy saved during the day would eventually be negated by the amount of electricity needed to light the stadium at night, when an elaborate LED (light-emitting diodes) system turns the Water Cube into an amazing kaleidoscope of colours.

Four years in the making and costing 1.03 billion yuan (S$200 million), the Water Cube has also been in the news for being the only Olympic stadium built with donations from overseas Chinese.

About 80 per cent of the construction cost, or about US$110.7 million (S$157 million), came from donors in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, including US$25 million from the late Hong Kong billionaire Henry Fok.

The Water Cube will undergo about two weeks of testing beginning on Friday, when a swimming meet and diving competition are scheduled.

The organisers of the Olympics have been conducting sports trials since last August to iron out any potential kinks at the various newly-built as well as refurbished stadiums.

Most of these sports facilities have been praised by visiting athletes and coaches, with Beijing appearing unlikely to witness the construction delays that plagued Athens during the 2004 Games.

The Chinese capital's architectural piece de resistance for the 2008 Games - the 'Bird's Nest' main Olympic stadium - is expected to be ready by March, months ahead of the opening ceremony on Aug 8.

The Bird's Nest, which will host the all-important opening and closing ceremonies, ran into controversy last week when a British newspaper, The Sunday Times, reported that Beijing had covered up the death of 10 workers involved in the building of the US$400 million showpiece stadium.

Chinese officials initially denied any cover-up, but admitted yesterday that two workers had died while constructing the stadium, while four others were injured.

Four other workers died while working at other Olympic worksites, according to Mr Ding Zhenkuan, deputy chief of the Beijing Bureau of Work Safety.

He did not give further details, and did not indicate if anyone would be punished for covering up news of the deaths and injuries.