Shortly, the Olympic Cauldron will be lit in Vancouver-Whistler for the 2010 Winter Olympics. The opening ceremony takes place on 12 February, and the next day the speed skating events begin at the Richmond Olympic Oval. Altogether, there will be 12 medal events here at this spectacular venue. Seating 7600 spectators, it will also be seen on TV screens world-wide.

The huge timber-roofed arena sits by the estuary of the Fraser River, about 14 km from downtown Vancouver, and the roof has been designed for a rippled appearance, to reflect the watery landscape. The magnificent structure advances still further the environmental design credentials of this eminently sustainable material.

The roof is about 100 metres span by 200 metres in length. The primary structure comprises 15 V-sectioned Douglas fir glulam arches, braced and tied back over their upper chord-ends. This is a similar system to that employed in 2001 for a previous speed skating arena at Erfurt, in Germany.

Spanning between the arches is a feature unique to Richmond, which is a series of roof panels formed from timber that has been salvaged in British Colombia from trees killed by an infestation of Pine Beetle. The epidemic caused severe hardship to logging and milling communities in the district, and it is believed that this demonstration will support others to consider using such material, which structurally can be perfectly sound.


At Olympic events, timber roofs are fast returning as the preferred choice. Features that commend it to architects and clients alike include its wide-spanning capabilities, its accurate factory-based prefabrication combined with lightness, as well as of course its aesthetic appeal and sustainability. For structures including ice arenas and Olympic swimming pools, its natural insulating properties offer further technical advantages in avoiding surface condensation.

Praise for the recent impetus for Olympics structures is also due to Norway. There, for the 1994 Winter Olympics, not only did the spectacular arenas at Hamar and Lillehamer both span more than 80 metres, but an international airport, a railway terminus, and many smaller sports halls all appeared - every single one covered in glued laminated timber.

Now there is great news that at last wide-span open-framed timber structures are making a breakthrough here in the UK. So often the domain of structural steel, laminated timber is now muscling up directly to its major competitor. The advantages mentioned above are being realised through the efforts of a relatively small timber engineering community, who are passing on their knowledge to mainstream professionals. In this we are encouraged by peers from elsewhere in the European Standards community, where ten or twenty times greater volumes of this "green" material are being made and consumed.

For the London 2012 Olympics, the location at Eton Manor is to be framed and roofed in a series of prefabricated timber structures designed by the leading Stanton Williams Partnership, based in London with offices also in Germany.

This site will host the Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis, and it will also provide Olympic and Paralympic training in the immediate lead-up to events. For legacy, the high-sustainability Eton Manor venue will be owned and operated by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, creating a variety of sporting facilities for local and regional users.

Members of the UK Glued Laminated Timber Association – GLTA – provide similar structures for the whole range of sports facilities, and these already include a number of completed UK Olympic-standard swimming pools. In collaboration with TRADA Technology, one of its members, we are available for independent consultations on all applications of glulam, to professional practices, supported by publications and talks.