Richmond Olympic Oval
Encyclopedia
The Richmond Olympic Oval , or the Richmond Oval is a facility in Richmond
, British Columbia
, Canada
. It was the venue of the speed skating events
and the official Olympic anti-doping lab of the 2010 Winter Olympics
. The total cost of the project was $178 million.
, a few blocks away from Lansdowne Station on the Canada Line
. From the air, it is the first Olympic venue many visitors will see flying into Vancouver, and the roof takes the stylized native shape of a heron
's wing, a tribute to the Salish First Nation and the large wading bird that cohabited the riverbank at first European contact 230 years ago. It is a 33,750 m² facility, including a 20,000 m² main floor that includes a 400 m refrigerated track. It can accommodate 8,000 spectators. The Oval was built to qualify the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Scale (LEED) Silver certification; for example, the Oval's refrigeration plant is designed to heat other areas of the building through the utilization of what is otherwise waste heat from cooling the ice surface.
A distinctive feature of the Richmond Oval is its unique "wood wave" roof. This roof, which is one of the longest clear spans in North America, includes one million board feet of B.C. pine-beetle
kill wood linked together in undulating sections to create a rippled effect. These one of a kind wood panels were designed by structural engineers Fast + Epp and constructed at the design build firm StructureCraft Builders Inc. in Delta, B.C. As a result, the Oval was given an award of excellence in architectural innovation by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada specifically for the innovative use of pine beetle-killed wood in its ceiling.
Outside, there is a sculptural environment designed by artist Janet Echelman
with a pond filled with water that is collected from rain water falling on the roof, that will serve as a gathering space and water supply for irrigating surrounding landscapes, and for flushing toilets. A 91 metre (300 foot) boardwalk weaves through the pond and two 16 metre (52 foot) pedestrian bridges cross the pond to reach the Olympic Oval. Above the pond hangs the artist's "sky lantern" sculpture, Water Sky Garden
. The sculpture is made of Tenara architectural fibre, supported by painted galvanized steel rings. The entire garden is approximately 7,000 m² (75,000 sq ft). A fountain designed as part of the public art program, which will include pieces designed that was created by local Musqueam artist, Susan Point, will re-oxygenate the pond. All hardwood trees that were cut during site preparation were salvaged and are currently stored, awaiting milling for building re-use in the panelling, flooring, furnishings or additional landscaping features.
The remainder of the building structure was designed by structural engineers Glotman.Simpson Consulting Engineers. Some items of interest included the design for a flat ice surface and the architectural piers used to support the roof structure.
The principal and lead project architect was Bob Johnston of Cannon Design, who was involved in the design of both the Calgary
and Salt Lake City
tracks. The Building Envelope
consultant for this innovative project was Morrison Hershfield
who worked closely with Cannon Design. Part of Morrison Hershfield’s role in the building envelope of this facility was the use of inventive cladding materials. Polycarbonate cladding (similar to a translucent plastic) was employed to cover very large wall areas. Traditional materials such as curtain wall, metal siding and composite metal cladding were also used.
, and the 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships.
* = Ireen Wüst
also skated 1:56.89 at the 2010 Winter Olympics
on February 21, 2010, winning a gold medal.
s malfunctioned and a third was apparently not properly prepared. To prevent further problems, a working ice resurfacer was brought in from Calgary before the men's 1.000 m.
Richmond, British Columbia
Richmond is a coastal city, incorporated in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Part of Metro Vancouver, its neighbouring communities are Vancouver and Burnaby to the north, New Westminster to the east, and Delta to the south, while the Strait of Georgia forms its western border...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It was the venue of the speed skating events
Speed skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics
The speed skating competition of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics was held at Richmond Olympic Oval between 13 and 27 February 2010.- Notes :Haralds Silovs became the first athlete in Olympic history to participate in both short track and long track speed skating, and the first to compete in two...
and the official Olympic anti-doping lab of the 2010 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
. The total cost of the project was $178 million.
Design
It has been built on a site beside the Fraser RiverFraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
, a few blocks away from Lansdowne Station on the Canada Line
Canada Line
Canada Line is a rapid transit line in the Metro Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada. Opened in August 2009, it is the third line in TransLink's SkyTrain metro network, servicing Vancouver, Richmond, and the Vancouver International Airport...
. From the air, it is the first Olympic venue many visitors will see flying into Vancouver, and the roof takes the stylized native shape of a heron
Heron
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....
's wing, a tribute to the Salish First Nation and the large wading bird that cohabited the riverbank at first European contact 230 years ago. It is a 33,750 m² facility, including a 20,000 m² main floor that includes a 400 m refrigerated track. It can accommodate 8,000 spectators. The Oval was built to qualify the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....
Scale (LEED) Silver certification; for example, the Oval's refrigeration plant is designed to heat other areas of the building through the utilization of what is otherwise waste heat from cooling the ice surface.
A distinctive feature of the Richmond Oval is its unique "wood wave" roof. This roof, which is one of the longest clear spans in North America, includes one million board feet of B.C. pine-beetle
Mountain pine beetle
The mountain pine beetle Dendroctonus ponderosae, is a species of bark beetle native to the forests of western North America from Mexico to central British Columbia. It has a hard black exoskeleton, and measures about 5 millimeters, about the size of a grain of rice.Mountain pine beetles inhabit...
kill wood linked together in undulating sections to create a rippled effect. These one of a kind wood panels were designed by structural engineers Fast + Epp and constructed at the design build firm StructureCraft Builders Inc. in Delta, B.C. As a result, the Oval was given an award of excellence in architectural innovation by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada specifically for the innovative use of pine beetle-killed wood in its ceiling.
Outside, there is a sculptural environment designed by artist Janet Echelman
Janet Echelman
Janet Echelman is an American artist specializing in public art installations and sculpture. She graduated from Harvard University in 1987 with Highest Honors in Visual Studies. From 1988-1993 Echelman lived and worked in Bali, Indonesia before returning to America. She created her first permanent...
with a pond filled with water that is collected from rain water falling on the roof, that will serve as a gathering space and water supply for irrigating surrounding landscapes, and for flushing toilets. A 91 metre (300 foot) boardwalk weaves through the pond and two 16 metre (52 foot) pedestrian bridges cross the pond to reach the Olympic Oval. Above the pond hangs the artist's "sky lantern" sculpture, Water Sky Garden
Water Sky Garden
Water Sky Garden is a sculptural environment designed by artist Janet Echelman. The garden is located outside the Richmond Olympic Oval, an official venue for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. The installation consists of a wetland treatment pond, 300 ft. boardwalk, two 52 ft...
. The sculpture is made of Tenara architectural fibre, supported by painted galvanized steel rings. The entire garden is approximately 7,000 m² (75,000 sq ft). A fountain designed as part of the public art program, which will include pieces designed that was created by local Musqueam artist, Susan Point, will re-oxygenate the pond. All hardwood trees that were cut during site preparation were salvaged and are currently stored, awaiting milling for building re-use in the panelling, flooring, furnishings or additional landscaping features.
The remainder of the building structure was designed by structural engineers Glotman.Simpson Consulting Engineers. Some items of interest included the design for a flat ice surface and the architectural piers used to support the roof structure.
Olympic Oval
The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a covered speed skating oval built for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It is the official designated training center for Speed Skate Canada and the Canadian National Speed Skating team. It is located on the University of Calgary campus...
and Salt Lake City
Utah Olympic Oval
The Utah Olympic Oval, an indoor speed skating oval built for the 2002 Winter Olympics, is located southwest of Salt Lake City, in Kearns, Utah. The Oval hosted the long track speed skating events for the 2002 games. Inside the facility the 400-meter skating track surrounds two international sized...
tracks. The Building Envelope
Building envelope
The building envelope is the physical separator between the interior and the exterior environments of a building. Another emerging term is "Building Enclosure". It serves as the outer shell to help maintain the indoor environment and facilitate its climate control...
consultant for this innovative project was Morrison Hershfield
Morrison Hershfield
Morrison Hershfield is an employee-owned professional services firm providing engineering and management consulting services in the areas of energy and...
who worked closely with Cannon Design. Part of Morrison Hershfield’s role in the building envelope of this facility was the use of inventive cladding materials. Polycarbonate cladding (similar to a translucent plastic) was employed to cover very large wall areas. Traditional materials such as curtain wall, metal siding and composite metal cladding were also used.
Construction
After site preparation on November 17, 2006, the construction of the oval began. The Richmond Oval officially opened on December 12, 2008, with Pre-games events at the Oval being the 2008 and 2009 Canadian Single Distance Championships, the 2009 ISU World Single Distance ChampionshipsWorld Single Distance Championships
The World Single Distance Championships are a series of speed skating competitions organised by the International Skating Union.-History:Since the late 19th century, speed skating championships were always decided by racing multiple distances – four different distances for the allround...
, and the 2010 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships.
Track records
| Distance | Skater | Country | Time | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500m | Jenny Wolf Jenny Wolf Jenny Wolf is a German ice speed skater who is the current world record holder, at 37.00 seconds, for the women's 500 m and, 74.42 seconds for women's 500 m x 2 in long track speed skating... |
37.72 | 2009-03-15 | ||
| 1000m | Christine Nesbitt Christine Nesbitt Christine Nesbitt is a Canadian long track speed skater who currently resides in Calgary, Alberta. Her personal best in the 1000m is the second fastest of all time, right after Cindy Klassen's world record. Nesbitt won the Gold Medal in the 1000 m event at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics... |
1:16.28 | 2009-03-14 | ||
| 1500m | Christine Nesbitt Christine Nesbitt Christine Nesbitt is a Canadian long track speed skater who currently resides in Calgary, Alberta. Her personal best in the 1000m is the second fastest of all time, right after Cindy Klassen's world record. Nesbitt won the Gold Medal in the 1000 m event at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics... |
1:56.89* | 2009-10-18 | ||
| 3000m | Martina Sáblíková Martina Sáblíková Martina Sáblíková is a Czech speedskater, specializing in long distance races. She is an Olympic gold medal winner and a multiple World champion. She is the elder sister of fellow speedskater Milan Sáblík.-Career:As a junior, Sáblíková already achieved some notable results during international... |
4:02.53 | 2010-02-14 | ||
| 5000m | Martina Sáblíková Martina Sáblíková Martina Sáblíková is a Czech speedskater, specializing in long distance races. She is an Olympic gold medal winner and a multiple World champion. She is the elder sister of fellow speedskater Milan Sáblík.-Career:As a junior, Sáblíková already achieved some notable results during international... |
6:50.92 | 2010-02-24 | ||
| Team Pursuit 6 laps |
Kristina Groves Kristina Groves Kristina Groves is a Canadian speedskater. She is Canada’s most decorated skater in the World Single Distances Championships with 13 career medals in this event. She won four Olympic medals: She won two silver medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, in the 1,500 meters and team pursuit.... Christine Nesbitt Christine Nesbitt Christine Nesbitt is a Canadian long track speed skater who currently resides in Calgary, Alberta. Her personal best in the 1000m is the second fastest of all time, right after Cindy Klassen's world record. Nesbitt won the Gold Medal in the 1000 m event at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics... Brittany Schussler Brittany Schussler Brittany Schussler is a Canadian speed skater. Since 2002 she has been a member of the national High Performance Long Track Team.... |
2:58.25 | 2009-03-15 |
* = Ireen Wüst
Ireen Wüst
Ireen Wüst is a Dutch long track allround speed skater. At the age of 19, on February 12, 2006, Wüst won the gold medal in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games 3000-meter event...
also skated 1:56.89 at the 2010 Winter Olympics
Speed skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Women's 1500 metres
The women's 1500 metres speed skating competition of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver was held at the Richmond Olympic Oval on .-Records:Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows....
on February 21, 2010, winning a gold medal.
| Distance | Skater | Country | Time | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500m | Lee Kang-seok Lee Kang-Seok Lee Kang-Seok is a speed skater from South Korea. He is the 2007 and 2009 World Champion for 500m. At the 2006 Winter Olympics, he won a bronze medal in the 500 m... |
34.80 | 2009-03-15 | ||
| 1000m | Shani Davis Shani Davis Shani Davis is an Olympic Champion speed skater from the United States.At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Davis became the first Black athlete to win a gold medal in an individual sport at the Olympic Winter Games . He also won the silver in the 1,500 m... |
1:08.94 | 2010-02-17 | ||
| 1500m | Mark Tuitert Mark Tuitert Mark Tuitert ; born April 4, 1980 in Holten, Overijssel) is a Dutch speed skater. He won gold at the 1500m sprint at the 2010 Winter Olympics.-Personal life:Tuitert married fellow Dutch speed skater Helen van Goozen in 2009... |
1:45.57 | 2010-02-20 | ||
| 3000m | Sven Kramer Sven Kramer Sven Kramer is a Dutch long track speed skater. He is the Olympic champion of the 5000 meter in Vancouver 2010, and four-time European and World Allround Champion. He is also three-time world champion and world record holder in the 5,000 m, 10,000 m, and the team pursuit... |
3:40.51 | 2010-02-06 | ||
| 5000m | Sven Kramer Sven Kramer Sven Kramer is a Dutch long track speed skater. He is the Olympic champion of the 5000 meter in Vancouver 2010, and four-time European and World Allround Champion. He is also three-time world champion and world record holder in the 5,000 m, 10,000 m, and the team pursuit... |
6:14.60 | 2010-02-13 | OR | |
| 10000m | Sven Kramer Sven Kramer Sven Kramer is a Dutch long track speed skater. He is the Olympic champion of the 5000 meter in Vancouver 2010, and four-time European and World Allround Champion. He is also three-time world champion and world record holder in the 5,000 m, 10,000 m, and the team pursuit... |
12:55.32 | 2009-03-15 | ||
| Team Pursuit 8 laps |
Jan Blokhuijsen Jan Blokhuijsen Jan Blokhuijsen is Dutch long track speed skater who skates for the commercial VPZ speedskating team.In 2007, he got his VWO degree at school... Sven Kramer Sven Kramer Sven Kramer is a Dutch long track speed skater. He is the Olympic champion of the 5000 meter in Vancouver 2010, and four-time European and World Allround Champion. He is also three-time world champion and world record holder in the 5,000 m, 10,000 m, and the team pursuit... Mark Tuitert Mark Tuitert Mark Tuitert ; born April 4, 1980 in Holten, Overijssel) is a Dutch speed skater. He won gold at the 1500m sprint at the 2010 Winter Olympics.-Personal life:Tuitert married fellow Dutch speed skater Helen van Goozen in 2009... |
3:39.95 | 2010-02-27 | OR |
Olympics
The Oval has had problems maintaining a competition-level ice surface during the Games. Two of the ice resurfacerIce resurfacer
An ice resurfacer is a truck-like vehicle or smaller device used to clean and smooth the surface of an ice rink. The first ice resurfacer was developed by Frank J. Zamboni in 1949 in the city of Paramount, California...
s malfunctioned and a third was apparently not properly prepared. To prevent further problems, a working ice resurfacer was brought in from Calgary before the men's 1.000 m.