The eyes of the world will soon turn to the new Populous-designed National Speed Skating Oval as the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics prepare to kick off in Beijing. 

As the only new permanent venue at this year’s games, the 'Ice Ribbon' takes its place in line with the National Aquatics Center and Ai Weiwei and Herzog & de Meuron-designed Bird’s Nest on a central corridor called the Olympic Green. The design is meant to symbolize speed and dynamism associated with the sport of speed skating. 

The 12,000-seat venue will host the speed skating events and later be transformed into the long-term home for China’s newIce and Snow Sports Development Plan, which aims to get an impressive 300 million people involved in winter sports by the year 2025. 

“Much of the inspiration for the conceptual design of the ‘Ice Ribbon’ came from a traditional ice game played in old Beijing which involved a high-speed spinning ice top,” explains Populous China Principal Tiric Chang. “The ribbons of the design make reference to the floating silk ribbons of the artwork my family had dedicated their time to — which was the study and preservation of the Dunhuang Grottoes, a significant collection of Buddhist art from the Tang dynasty. It guided the design team to boldly extend the concept of a high-speed rotating ice top to create 22 rotating light bands for the façade, which not only represent the ice surface and the shape of the oval but also perfectly demonstrated the high-speed movement of [the] skaters.” 

The stadium was completed in 2021 at a cost of around $260 million (fairly cheap for a showcase Olympics venue) and is reminiscent of the form and purpose seen in Studio Libeskind’s Nokia Arena that premiered last month in Finland. The soon-to-be inaugurated building constitutes the firm’s 14th overall Olympics venue. Its co-project director Andrew James says the design process, spread throughout Populous’ 21 global offices, perfectly encapsulated the spirit of international competition and collaboration.

“It became a global effort with our team in Beijing, Brisbane, India, London, and America drawing on our experience from Oval Lingotto in Turin, Italy and our design of Fisht Stadium in Russia, home of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games,” he said. “It was an extraordinary project, the key building for the 2022 Winter Olympics and continues to receive accolades from all walks of life.”