Beijing's National Stadium in the Olympic Park, also known as the "Bird's Nest", hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of China's Summer and Winter Olympic Games in August 2008 and February 2022. The stadium has a total capacity of 91,000 seats. Tekla Structures software was used for the detailing and workshop design of the most complex and challenging parts of the steel structure.
Precise modeling makes architects' dreams come true
The structural shape of the Beijing Olympic Stadium is described as reminiscent of a bird's nest. The highly irregular nature of the structure required new and advanced methods to design and detail the structural steel sections to minimize weight. To reduce construction costs, the designers eliminated the upper roof and enlarged the surface area of the roof opening, reducing the total weight of the steel from 45,000 to 42,000 tonnes...
The interwoven structural elements of the façade produce a single surface, on which other elements are arranged in a quasi-chaotic manner to blur the distinction between primary and secondary structure. The roof is saddle-shaped, its geometry created from a basic ellipse. The outer surface of the façade is inclined at around 13 degrees to the vertical. The longest span of the steel structure is over 343 metres.
It took a year to model and detail the most complex and difficult parts of the steel roof. Chinese steel company Jinggong worked on the roof to produce symmetrical 3D views of its elements and connections. This was achieved by using the mirror function in Tekla Structures software. A very large number of sections and views were required for this irregular assembly to represent all the relationships of each steel part.
Bird's Nest: Facts and figures
Size :
332.3 metres long, 297.3 wide, 69.2 high.
Total site area :
204,278 m2
Gross floor area :
258,000 m2
Structure :
36 km length of unpackaged steel
The longest span of any steel truss :
343 m/375 yards.
Architectural design :
Herzog & de Meuron (Switzerland)
Sports engineering and architecture :
China Architectural Design & Research Group, Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd, Arup Sports, London.
Steel detail :
Shanghai Haorong Technology Co. Ltd and Zhejiang Jinggong Steel Co. Ltd Steel fabrication: Jiangsu HNGJ Steel Co. Ltd
