The 26th Summer Universiade games recently took place in August this year. The games were hosted by the city of Shenzhen, located on the southern tip of China and on Hong Kong border. Shenzhen, populated by approximately 13 million people, has been considered the most rapidly growing city in China for the past 30 years.
Shanghai Taiyo Kogyo is responsible for the design, fabrication and construction of the membrane structures for the Main Stadium, the Gymnasium, and the Swimming Pool, a massive feat and one with beautiful results. Each stadium is fitted with a glass exterior and PTFE membrane internal facades, or ceilings. The venues are referred to by locals as three “large shining crystals” for their appearance.
These three structures join the Baoan Stadium, which was also completed by Shanghai Taiyo Kogyo earlier this year for the Universiade games.
Main Stadium:
The Main Stadium is built to accommodate 60,000 spectators. The roof on this massive stadium is comprised of a single layer steel lattice structure with internal PTFE panels of fabric. Thirteen individual panel designs make up the covers over the latticed steel frame, these panels are repeated to create the overall shape totalling 260 pieces of membrane. 140 of these panels are used on the façade with another 120 panels make up the roofing membrane. All fabric used in the structure is high tensile PTFE. The saddle-shaped steel roof is composed of outer ring and inner ring cables for structural stability.
Gymnasium:
The membrane structure for the Gymnasium is composed of 16 repeatable diamond shaped membranes; each design is repeated 10. The fabric panels mirror the outer glass panel work. A ring shaped steel truss structure provides structural support. The outer glass an internal PTFE panels are illuminated with LED lighting, the opaque nature of the PTFE is ideal for lighting effect, catching light and distributing it evenly across the membrane.
Swimming Pool:
Similar to the Main Stadium, the Swimming Pool is also designed to incorporate a single layer lattice structure made of steel. The roof is composed primarily of glass with 7 similar membrane structure modules, each are symmetrical to the longer and shorter axis. Each membrane unit consists of an upper and lower curved members and 3 differently shaped membrane pieces. The outer membrane consists of in inner and outer layer, both layers are modularized, a theme that runs through all three of the mega-structures’ roofing designs.
