A global leader in stadiums and multiuse arenas, gmp Architects has announced the fast-tracked construction of a highly sustainable new Olympic sports complex in Wuxi, China, a major city just west of Shanghai.
Now substantially underway on a large wetland site, the Wuxi Olympic Sports Center includes a stadium for 60,000 spectators, a multipurpose arena with a capacity of 18,000 and a competition pool with 2,000 spectator seats. The structures are embedded in a 140-acre landscaped park that also accommodates a new fitness centre, a hotel, an apartment building for the competitors and commercial facilities.
“This sports centre stands out internationally as one of Wuxi City’s pilot projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the region’s climate resilience,” says architect Magdalena Weiss, Executive Partner of gmp Architects and a leader of the firm’s stadium and arena work across Asia and Europe. “We have worked with engineers from sbp schlaich, bergermann partner on the elegant, efficient structures and from Arup Group Ltd., on the holistic overall sustainability concept for the sports park.”
The ecological concept includes an urban design optimised with respect to solar radiation and the effects of wind, natural ventilation, as well as the utilisation of solar, geothermal and wind energy, says Weiss. Another important element of the design is the “sponge city” concept for the landscape park. Natural waterways are carved into the landscape design, which – with the help of modern rainwater management combining a flood control basin and natural swales – will stand capable of absorbing large quantities of rainwater and of releasing it again slowly over time.
