A Sino-Australian joint plan was chosen as the design for the
National Swimming Center, a major venue for the 2008 Beijing
Olympic Games, according to an announcement Monday by the Beijing
State-owned Asset Management Co. Ltd, which owns the center's
rights.
The winning plan, which was designed by the China State
Construction Engineering Corporation jointly with Australia's PTW
Architects and Ove Arup Pty Ltd, garnered the "excellent" prize in
the international design competition last month, together with two
other designs in the contest.
The deal for the venue will be officially signed Tuesday at the
Beijing Hotel between the designers and the State-owned Assets
Management Company.
This will be the first venue among the 18 planned sports centers
for the 2008 Games to have officially signed a design contract,
sources said.
"The Sino-Australian design fully meets the requirements for
swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo competitions
of the 2008 Games that are expected to be held at the aquatics
center," said a press release by the State-owned assents management
company.
Sources also said the winning design will be an attractive venue
after the Olympics as well, capable of being adapted to a
large-scale water entertainment and sports center for local
residents.
Meanwhile, experts said the shape of the joint design, a
box-like shape using transparent Teflon as the roof with "bubbles"
inside, is in tune with the National Stadium, also located at the
Olympic Green, whose design resembles a bird's nest.
With investment of 830 million yuan (US$100 million), the
swimming center is scheduled to start construction by the end of
this year and should be completed by 2006.
"We will do our utmost to build the center into a first-class
Olympic venue after further optimizing the design," sources with
the State-owned Assents Management Company reported.
Part of the center's investment was donated by overseas Chinese
and compatriots in Taiwan and the Hong Kong and Macao special
administrative regions.
Over 320 million yuan (US$39 million) worth of donations have
been promised, but not all of it has been received.
(China Daily July 29, 2003)