Structurae

The crown of Vancouver - Revitalisation of the BC Place Stadium.
The BC Place Stadium is situated in the city centre of Vancouver directly next to False Creek. The old stadium, with a capacity for 60,000 people, was opened in 1983 until its demolition. It was the world’s largest air dome. With time, massive operational constraints appeared due to the fully inflated inner space of the air dome. Emergency evacuation of the stadium was complicated due to required air locks on spectator and access routes. The high energy consumption for the inflation units and the snow melting system were not practical anymore and were an economical problem for the user. In addition one of the two main users, the Vancouver Whitecaps, always wanted to have the possibility to play open air. Furthermore, the complete stadium complex had to be renovated and - with regard to the massive seismic demands on the structure - updated to the state of the art. With the new design a very complex task has been solved: A state of the art roof structure with a retractable inner roof was added onto an existing concrete bowl structure.