Photo Credit : Nic Lehoux, Derek Lepper, via Archdaily
Architectural Credit : Cannon Design

Built as an indoor Olympic long-track speed-skating venue for the Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2010, but now repurposed as a multisport and wellness centre, the Richmond Olympic Oval is a successful example of a legacy project which has adapted to serve its surrounding community. The Oval currently holds two ice hockey rinks, two running tracks, a climbing wall, a rowing tank and a flexible area which can be used for basketball, volleyball, indoor soccer and table tennis. The Oval’s most distinctive features is its ceiling, made of salvaged pine-beetle-killed wood and 15 composite wood glulam beams spanning 100 meters. The glulam beams are made of local BC Douglas Fir, while the ceiling’s use of pine-beetle-killed wood directly addressed the pine-beetle epidemic which has devastated BC’s pine forests. The roof is believed to be the largest surface ever covered in the once-discarded wood. For a complete set of drawings and text from the architects, please visit: http://www.archdaily.com/49705/winter-olympics-2010-vancouver-skating-richmond-olympic-oval-cannon-design