Top facts about Beijing National Stadium, The Stunning Bird's Nest

The National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, is a Beijing stadium with an 80,000-seat capacity. Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron of the Basel-based architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, project architect Stefan Marbach, artist Ai Weiwei, and CADG, headed by chief architect Li Xinggang, collaborated on the stadium's design.

The stadium was built to host the

and Paralympics in 2008, as well as the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in 2022. The Bird's Nest has temporary large screens mounted at the stands from time to time. The stadium, which is located on the Olympic Green, cost $428 million to build. After a bidding procedure that comprised 13 final bids, the design was given to a submission from the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron in April 2003.

Steel beams were used to hide supports for the retractable roof, giving the stadium the appearance of a bird's nest, according to the design, which was inspired by Chinese ceramics. Ai Weiwei, a well-known Chinese artist, served as the project's artistic consultant. After influencing the stadium's most iconic feature, the retractable roof was later removed from the design.

The stadium was officially opened on June 28, 2008, after the ground was broken on December 24, 2003. To expand the utilization of the stadium, which has struggled to attract events, football and otherwise, since the Olympics, a shopping complex and a hotel are being built.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) confirmed on November 1, 2010, that the 2015 World Championships in Athletics would be held at Beijing National Stadium. The stadium hosted Monster Jam and the Stadium Super Trucks for the first time on July 29, 2017, marking the first Chinese race for both racing series. The Stadium Super Truck event included ten drivers, including Chinese racer Li Ya Tao. The League of Legends World Championship 2017 Finals were held in the stadium on November 4, 2017.

Top facts about Beijing National Stadium you need to know

Stay tuned to know all there to know about the architectural beauty.

Beijing National Stadium Bidding & Design

Before the games were awarded to Beijing in 2001, the city ran a bidding process to choose the finest arena design. Each design had to meet a number of criteria, including the potential to be used beyond the Olympics, a retractable roof, and low maintenance costs.

The entries were shrunk down to thirteen final designs. After placing the model of the "nest" proposal at the exhibition hall and seeing the rival entries, Li Xinggang of China Architecture Design and Research Group (CADG) thought to himself, "We will win this."

A professional panel selected the model as the best design, and it was then displayed to the public. It was chosen as the best design once more. In April 2003, the "nest scheme" design became official, one of the Top facts about Beijing National Stadium.

The Beijing National Stadium (BNS) was a collaboration between Herzog & de Meuron architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, project architect Stefan Marbach, and CADG, directed by chief architect Li Xinggang. The group agreed to do something different than Herzog and de Meuron had normally created during their first meeting in Basel in 2003.

"China wanted to have something new for this very important stadium," Li explained. The team studied Chinese ceramics in order to construct a stadium that was "porous" while still being "a collective building, a public vessel."

The team came up with the "nest scheme" as a result of this line of reasoning. The stadium is made up of two separate constructions that stand 50 feet apart: a red concrete seating bowl and a steel frame that surrounds it.

The team devised the "random-looking additional steel" to blend the retractable roof supports with the rest of the stadium in an attempt to hide steel supports for the retractable roof, which were necessary for the bidding process.

The inner bowl is encased by 24 trussed columns, each weighing 1,000 tonnes, another one of the Top facts about Beijing National Stadium. Despite the Stadium's chaotic appearance, each side is almost symmetrical. Beijing investigated all big projects after a roof at the Charles de Gaulle Airport collapsed.

The retractable roof, which was the original inspiration for the "nest" design, as well as 9,000 seats, were determined to be removed from the design. The removal of the features helped drop the project's construction budget down to $290 million, from a previous estimate of $500 million, one of the

Top facts about Beijing National Stadium.

The structure was lightened by removing the retractable roof, which helped it withstand seismic activity; however, the upper section of the roof was redesigned to shelter fans from the weather. As part of the construction procedure, Enerpac was given the contract to undertake stage lifting and lowering of the stadium roof.

The steel structure was lifted and welded by China National Electric Engineering Co. Ltd. (CNEEC) and China National Mechanical Engineering Co. Ltd. The stadium was dubbed "The Bird's Nest" because of its external look.

Herzog & de Meuron coined the concept, and they still think "there should be many ways of perceiving a building." The use is a compliment, Li explained; "In China, a bird's nest is very expensive, something you eat on special occasions."

Beijing National Stadium Construction

The stadium was built in several phases, the first of which involved the construction of a concrete supporting structure on top of the concrete foundations erected for the project.

Following that, the curved steel frame surrounding the stadium, which is mainly self-supporting, was phased in.

The connecting of pieces of the curving steel frame that were built in Shanghai and transferred to Beijing for assembly and welding was part of this phased installation.

The principal form of interconnection used to assemble the entire surrounding nest structure was welded together.

The completed nest structure as a whole settled approximately 27 cm to achieve full stability before the interior design and construction of the stadium could be installed and completed after the supporting columns were removed for the purpose of expediting the assembly of the interconnecting sections.

On December 24, 2003, the foundation for Beijing National Stadium was laid at the Olympic Green. The stadium employed 17,000 construction workers at its peak.

Artist Helen Couchman's book Workers (Gong Ren) included portraits of 143 migrant workers at the construction site.

Despite the Chinese government's denials, The Times claimed on January 1, 2008, that ten employees had perished during the construction.

However, Reuters, with the cooperation of the Chinese government, reported the next week that only two workers had died, one of the Top facts about Beijing National Stadium.

China produced all 121,000 tonnes of steel. The grass field of 7,811 square meters was laid in 24 hours on May 14, 2008.

The field has a GreenTech ITM modular turf system. The Beijing National Stadium was officially opened on June 28, 2008, following the completion of the Beijing Olympic Field.

Beijing National Stadium Uses & Events

In order to improve sightlines, the eastern and western stands of Beijing National Stadium are higher than the northern and southern stands. Near the stadium, a 24-hour rainwater collector gathers rainwater, which is then filtered and used throughout and around the stadium.

Under the playing surface, pipes collect heat in the winter to warm the stadium and disperse heat in the summer to cool it, one of the Top facts about Beijing National Stadium. The stadium's initial design called for a capacity of 100,000 people, however, 9,000 seats were removed during a design simplification.

The expanded capacity of 91,000 was further reduced after the 2008 Olympics when 11,000 temporary seats were demolished, reducing the stadium's capacity to 80,000. The farthest seat from the center field is 460 feet (140 meters). Every surface's temperature and airflow were adjusted to improve ventilation.

From August 8 to 24, 2008, Beijing National Stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, sporting events, and the football final of the

. From September 6 to 17, 2008, the stadium hosted the 2008 Summer Paralympics' Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as sporting competitions.

Despite being built for Olympic track and field events, the stadium continues to host sporting activities such as football too. After the Olympics, a shopping mall and a hotel with rooms overlooking the field are planned to help increase use. "This will become Beijing's most important public space," Li said.

Despite being disregarded by the Chinese media, Ai Weiwei, a design consultant, has expressed his anti-Olympic views and distanced himself from the project, saying, "I've already forgotten about it. I turn down all the demands to have photographs with it," adding that it is part of a "pretend smile" of bad taste

The stadium held a performance of Turandot and the 2009 Supercoppa Italiana (Italian Super Cup) final on its first anniversary, August 8, 2009, the traditional curtain-raiser to the Italian football league season. The Bird's Nest hosted the Supercoppa Italiana for the second time in three years in August 2011 and again in 2012.

The

had agreed to play in the stadium but later backed out, citing the shame of using an 80,000-seat venue for games that often draw only a few thousand people, another one of the

Top facts about Beijing National Stadium.

The stadium held a friendly football match between Birmingham City and Beijing Guoan in July 2010 as part of Birmingham's pre-season trip to China, the home country of the club's owner Carson Yeung. The game ended in a 1–0 victory for

.

Arsenal and Manchester City played in the first 'China Cup,' a one-off encounter played in Beijing on July 27, 2012. The match ended in a 2–0 victory for Manchester City.

The stadium was also utilized for international matches by the

during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, however, Team Dragon hasn't played any matches since the stadium's opening.

Manchester City was set to face Manchester United in the 2016 International Champions Cup on July 25, 2016.

The game was canceled, however, due to heavy rain soaking the pitch, fungal disease pitch conditions, and the pitch being resurfaced with turf, one of the Top facts about Beijing National Stadium. In a friendly match on July 22, 2017,

and Chelsea faced off against each other.

Another one of the Top facts about Beijing National Stadium is that on April 2, 2009, Jackie Chan became the first artist to perform a pop concert in the stadium.

Leehom Wang, an American-Chinese pop artist, performed the stadium's first solo pop concert on April 14, 2012. Mayday, a Taiwanese band, played two nights at the stadium as part of their Mayday No Where Tour on April 29 and 30, 2012.

They were the first band to perform at the stadium over two days. In August 2013, they returned for a single event as part of their Mayday Now Here Tour. 

They returned to the stadium in August 2016 for three shows as part of their Just Rock It!!! World Tour and five shows as part of their Mayday Life Tour in August 2017 and 2018.

They returned in August 2019 for three gigs as part of their Just Rock It!!! World Tour to mark the 20th anniversary of their debut album's release in 1999.

Kangta, BoA, TVXQ, Super Junior (Super Junior-M), Girls' Generation, SHINee, f(x), EXO, Zhang Liyin, and Tasty, all of whom are affiliated to S.M. Entertainment, performed in the stadium for the first time on October 19, 2013, as part of the SMTown Live World Tour III.

On August 11, 2018, the stadium hosted the Future Live event by Chinese pop artist Jason Zhang. Hua Chenyu, a Chinese pop, and rock singer was the first solo artist under 30 to hold a concert, let alone two, on September 8th and 9th, 2018.

Since 2014, the stadium has hosted the finals of the Chinese singing competitions The Voice of China and Sing! China, which are modeled on the popular international singing competition The Voice.

To commemorate the event, the finals were usually held on 7 October on a Sunday during Golden Week. In the 4th quarter of 2017, this stadium was also open for both local & international pageant events.

Beijing National Stadium Future Plans and Other Events

The stadium's owners revealed plans for the stadium to anchor a shopping and entertainment complex on January 12, 2009.

These plans, devised by operator Citic Group, were expected to take three to five years to implement. In addition to holding sports and entertainment events, the stadium serves as a tourist destination.

However, by 2013, the stadium had fallen into disrepair and was criticized by visitors to Beijing for seeming rusty and abandoned, one of the

Top facts about Beijing National Stadium.

The stadium hosted a Pit Stop on the 14th season of The Amazing Race's double-length last leg in 2009.

In the fifth leg of The Amazing Race: China Rush's first season, an Olympic-themed Detour was staged here in 2010.

Later that year, on the first leg of the third season of The Amazing Race China, a team member reenacted a dancing segment from the opening ceremony as a Roadblock.

The National Stadium was designed to be a New China Monument that would be visited by millions of tourists and featured in a variety of media outlets.

Despite the lack of major events, the stadium appears to be profitable, attracting 20,000 to 30,000 people every day for a 50 yuan admission fee.

It was used as a snow theme park in 2010. The venue's annual maintenance requirements are estimated to be around $9 million.

The 2017 League of Legends World Championship finals were held at the venue. Jay Chou gave a performance as part of the event.

On July 1, 2021, the stadium hosted "The Great Journey," an art performance commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China's founding.

The opening and closing ceremonies of the 2022 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics were held in the stadium.

It is the only stadium to hold the opening ceremonies of both the Summer and Winter Olympics, as well as the Paralympics, another one of the Top facts about Beijing National Stadium.

Beijing National Stadium, More about the Structure

The Beijing National Stadium took five years to build, requiring more than 40,000 tonnes of steel and 110,000 tonnes of concrete.

It is expected to last for roughly 100 years. This makes it one of, if not the, largest steel structures in the world. Construction on the building began in December 2003 and was finished in March 2008.

Pile foundations were dug to a depth of roughly 37 meters below ground level to accommodate the eventual structure's massive weight.

After that was finished, the stadium's inner structure was built utilizing 14,700 precast concrete slabs with 2mm tolerances to build the main seating areas.

According to designbuild-network.com, "The stadium has two independent structures, a red concrete seating bowl and the outer steel frame around it at a 50ft distance.

As this was an Olympic venue, there were many standards that the design consortium had to conform to.

Everything from the width of the track to the size and location of the long and high jump pits needed to satisfy the requirements set out by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF)."

The Beijing National Stadium contains 24 trussed columns weighing a total of 1000 tonnes. They were built in parts onsite due to their size, as they were too large to be moved into place using cranes.

The exterior shell's construction began in 2005. Smaller beams were welded between the columns after they were all built and in place to provide strength and improve the structure's unusual, elliptical crosshatch appearance.

The designers were also able to meet the Chinese government's requirement that the stadium should be able to survive an earthquake of 8.0 magnitude.

The stadium's transparent, polymer membrane, which provides roofing between the steel beams, was stretched from the third set of beams during the final stage of construction.

"The stadium is not just a remarkable piece of architecture and structural engineering, but also sets global standards for spectator experience.

It was designed around people – ensuring optimum view, comfortable seats, and maximum enjoyment of sporting events.

To maintain the atmosphere and provide a superb stadium experience, the roof was clad with ethyl tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) panels on the upper surface and an acoustic membrane on the lower surface." - ARUP. 

A retractable roof was originally planned, but it was discarded due to an internal steel shortage at the time. Instead, a new particularly constructed roof was created, which was first supported by temporary pillars.

When the engineers were confident that the Bird's Nest's outer frame could carry the weight on their own, they were removed.

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