The London Aquatics Center has a spectacular wave-like roof that is 160 meters long and up to 80 meters wide, spanning the column-free space above the venue's two swimming pools. It is supported at only three points. A series of long span steel trusses up to 40 meters long and weighing up to 70 tons form the fan-shaped roof structure. Over 2,800 tons of steel were used to create the floating look. The roof proved to be one of the most complex engineering challenges of the Olympic Park due to its large spans supported at only a few points.
5. Some of the steel trusses of the roof are 40 meters long and
weigh 70 tones. Spanning from north to south, they cover the
generously sized main area without any in-between supports.
Just two slim concrete supports and a concrete wall located
opposite these at the southern end suffice to conduct the
forces of the hidden steel-space framework construction into
the ground.
As much as 2,800 tonnes of steel were
needed to give the 160-metre-long and
80-metre-wide roof its light and floating
look.
6. With a capacity of 17 500, the Aquatics Centre’s spectacular
wave-like roof is 160m long and up to 80m wide – giving it a
longer single span than Heathrow Terminal 5.
The venue’s roof proved to be one of the most complex
engineering challenges of the Olympic Park's big structures.
This steel framework was initially constructed on temporary
supports, before the entire 3 000-ton structure was lifted up in
a single movement and successfully
placed back down on to its permanent concrete supports.
The large steel roof structure is only supported
at three points and spans the column-free space for the
venues’ two swimming pools
8. ? A series of long span trusses forms the roof. They were erected in a fan arrangement to create the plan
geometry of the structure.
? The middle truss has a span of approximately 120m to a primary truss, which in turn spans 54m in a
transverse direction between two concrete cores.
? These center fan trusses cantilever beyond the primary truss to form a 30m overhanging canopy at the
northern end.
15. The steel fan trusses of the roof are supported by a concrete wall to the south and two concrete cores to the north.