On the day that athletes from around the world began competing in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, the first ever ice sports and entertainment venue in Australia was opened to the public.
The Icehouse at Waterfront City, in Melbourne’s Docklands, is a AU$58m world class facility that includes two Olympic-size ice skating rinks (60m x 30m), winter sports gym, stadium seating, sports medicine clinic, cafe and bar and much more.
Tight deadlines, world class design
The timescale for the Icehouse represents a lightning-fast turnaround for a project that covers 9,500m2 and was given the go-ahead in November 2008. Construction officially began on 22 December 2008 and was completed, due to remarkable levels of cooperation between the engineers, architects and contractors, as scheduled, on 12 February 2010.
The Icehouse is home to four of the world’s most popular Olympic winter sports: ice hockey, ice skating, curling and speed skating. It is also the new home of Australia’s Olympic Winter Institute, and provides the unique opportunity for public skaters to watch Olympic-level elite athletes train.
As a testimony to the venue’s world-class design and construction, the Icehouse has already achieved a ‘Docklands Award of Excellence for Sustainability’.
Energy efficiency, innovative engineering
The building uses 40% less energy than a typical ice skating rink, and its environmentally friendly features include rainwater collection, reuse of heat from the cooling system and high-performance insulation around all four sides and roof.
Ice facilities are a novelty for Australia and several subcontractors were required to perfect new methods and consult overseas experts. Arup's experience on similar venues in Utah, USA and Torino, Italy proved invaluable in delivering this project.
One major engineering feat involved successfully pouring a concrete slab, without cracks or joints, for each ice rink. Each slab was over 60m long and deviated by only millimetres in height from one side to the other.
Arup’s participation in the Icehouse project started with feasibility studies in 2003. Once the project was given the go-ahead in November 2008, Arup was involved in all stages of design, construction and commissioning. The firm provided structural, electrical and mechanical engineering, along with fire protection and hydraulics services.