The competition held for the Civic Sports Center and National Games Arena for the 2013 National Games of the People’s Republic of China was won by an architectural firm called ‘EMERGENT’, a design studio based in Los Angeles. The site for this project is located at the heart of downtown, Shenyang which has a relative position among the rapidly expanding cities of China. The arena will be situated adjacent to Zhongshan Park that will eventually connect the natural beauty as well as urban life of the city. The location is therefore completely perfect for a sports complex and National sports arena.
The sports arena designed by EMERGENT, constitutes of three distinctive entities, they are – The Sports Center, National Games Arena and a Swimming Arena. The Civic Recreation Center and the Swimming arena have interconnected roofs. While the Swimming Arena is located in the west side underneath a cascading sports field. There are different pools of various shapes and sizes in an open-plan venue, which has a contemporary swimming environment. There are also a football ground, basketball, tennis, badminton and volleyball courts, all in the same landscape.
The project is designed to symbolize both the Games and the status of Shenyang as one of the top ten Chinese provincial as well as international city. The structure has been designed with membrane bubble windows to view the beauty of the city. The window patterns spread out towards the metal panel facades with PV solar panels on the roof. The interior spaces are enlightened by natural skylight which also let people view sportspersons playing inside. Galleries and restaurants are open for public at the ground floor of the four level building, making the community center much like the sports center.
Reinforced concrete, concrete walls, and steel frame are used for the construction of the building. The parking garage is located at the basement of the structure. The lightening system is composed of ETFE or (Ethylene Tetra Fluoro Ethylene) bubbles which are pressurized with air. When compared to the usual glazing systems, this entire system is lightweight requiring only a small structure for supporting it.
The main entry to the National Games Arena building is from the Civic Square, but one can also enter via bridges from the sports landscape on various levels. The arena is designed for 2,000 fixed seats above the mezzanine level and 2,000 removable seats below.
