Olympic Park Hockey Field

Olympic Park Hockey Field

Three competition venues within the Olympic Forest Park — the Olympic Park Tennis Center, Olympic Park Hockey Field, and Olympic Park Archery Field. Among them, the hockey and archery fields are temporary venues. After 2008, parts such as the artificial turf will be repurposed for other uses.

[Location and Area]

This hockey field, located in the southern part of the Olympic Forest Park, has a total construction area of 15,546 square meters. It mainly consists of the finals venue, preliminary venue, 14 auxiliary buildings, stands, and various auxiliary parking lots and road facilities. The finals venue is situated to the west of the central area of the site and accommodates 12,000 spectators; the preliminary venue is located to the east of the central area and has 5,000 seats. Among the 14 temporary auxiliary buildings around the venue, six serve as backstage functional rooms during the event, and eight are used as front-of-house spectator service facilities.

[Related Information]

1. High water permeability and retention requirements for the hockey field

Both the hockey field and the archery field are built within the Olympic Park, with the two venues positioned to complement the tennis center in the park. The construction of the hockey field required developing turf in Beijing’s dry soil environment that could effectively drain while also retaining an appropriate amount of water — a technical challenge. Currently, the turf for the hockey field has been selected, and the overall grass layer design will finalize the optimal solution next month.

The person in charge of the hockey field construction explained: “As an Olympic hockey competition venue, the field has clear requirements in many aspects, including water infiltration, water retention, ball bounce, ground friction, ball rolling performance, and rolling direction. Among these, the dual requirement of both drainage and water retention posed a new challenge for construction. According to the requirements, 35 minutes after watering, the surface must retain an average of 3 millimeters of water, with no area having less than 2 millimeters. To achieve this, the construction team employed a five-layer system: lime-soil base, coarse asphalt, medium asphalt, shock-absorbing turf layer, and artificial turf. This passed the assessment by the International Hockey Federation and met the highest certification standards. It is reported that once completed, this venue will become the highest-level hockey field in China.”

2. Green Olympics:

Green before, during, and after the Games. The Olympic Park Hockey Field, with a construction scale of 15,546 square meters, mainly consists of Hockey Field A, Hockey Field B, 14 auxiliary buildings, stands, various auxiliary parking lots, roads, and facilities. Hockey Field A, located to the west of the central area, serves as the finals venue with a capacity of 12,000 spectators; Hockey Field B, located to the east of the central area, is the preliminary venue with a capacity of 5,000 spectators. During the Olympics, it hosts men's (12 teams) and women's (10 teams) hockey competitions; during the Paralympics, it is used for 5-a-side and 7-a-side football matches. As the hockey venue for the 29th Olympic Games in 2008, it will see the awarding of two gold medals — one each for men's and women's hockey.

3. The pre-Games garden-like construction site embodies the "Green Olympics" concept

During construction, the builders paid close attention to keeping the site tidy. The blue fencing was neat and uniform, and informational boards were thoughtfully arranged. The roads were clean, and materials, finished and semi-finished products, and waste were all sorted, stacked, and labeled. Throughout the site, material signs, floor passage indicators, and safety warning signs were visible everywhere. In the workers’ living area, facilities such as clothes-drying zones, reading rooms, and shower rooms were set up.

Subsequently, following the principle of “first clarifying roles and responsibilities, then implementing assessments,” the garden-like site was maintained: “Fines for littering cigarette butts; fines for not wearing helmets; the site is cleaned daily by designated personnel, three times a day without fail; no dust on firefighting equipment; no pebble-sized lumps left on the construction site…”

Over time, “clean up after work, use up materials, leave the site clear” gradually became the final step of each day’s construction. Workers voluntarily disposed of garbage and waste in designated areas. Gradually, it became second nature, and the site turned into a green construction zone.

4. Temporary site becomes green space in the Olympic Forest Park after the Games

Both the Olympic Park Hockey Field and Archery Field are temporary venues and will be restored to green space in the Olympic Forest Park after the Games.

In addition, to reflect the "Green Olympics" philosophy, the sewage from the functional and auxiliary buildings of the archery field enters a self-built wastewater treatment station, producing reclaimed water for landscaping and irrigation, achieving zero sewage discharge. The air conditioning system uses entirely fluorine-free, eco-friendly refrigerants that do not harm the ozone layer, fulfilling environmental commitments to the Beijing Organizing Committee. Energy-efficient solar water heaters are used for athlete showers, saving electricity and allowing for later recycling. Meanwhile, permeable bricks are laid on the walkways and plazas of the venue, allowing rainwater to seep underground and be directly recycled.

5. Technology Olympics: Emphasis on technology application and independent innovation

In the design and construction of the Olympic hockey and archery venues, the relevant parties actively implemented the "Technology Olympics" philosophy. In addition to designs involving steel structures and solar energy, the construction team from Beijing Urban Construction Group Second Company assembled a technology task force. Combining practical conditions, they successfully adopted new materials and technologies such as “integrated thermal insulation and decorative panels,” “external wall insulation technology,” “stand waterproofing technology,” and “artificial turf technology for outdoor training fields.” These innovations not only increased the technological content of the project but also accelerated construction progress, ensuring high-quality results in the expansion and renovation of the Olympic hockey training venue.

The project team cooperated closely with designers to promote the use of new materials and techniques. “Weather-resistant sealant” was used to seal steel plate joints, and Bayer’s “single-component polyurethane” was applied for indoor waterproofing, solving the technical difficulty of waterproofing at the junction between the sloped stand and functional rooms. To reduce vibration and noise from the stand boards, the project team innovatively changed the original long-edge overlap design of the original grid boards and stand boards to a short-edge overlap. Testing showed that this small change reduced weld points, saved costs, and effectively lowered noise. The steel structure construction of the hockey field won the Beijing Municipal Government’s Great Wall Cup Award.

Although the hockey field is a temporary venue, the Urban Construction Group required it to meet the standards of a permanent venue to ensure functionality and timely completion. There was a conflict between the installation of electrical switches, hand-washing basins, mirrors, and other items on the corrugated steel panels of the auxiliary building’s color-coated steel maintenance and plumbing systems — drilling holes was difficult, untidy, and affected aesthetics. The technical team brainstormed and cleverly installed stainless steel gaskets at the junction holes, effectively solving the aesthetic issue.

The environmentally friendly solar-powered shower equipment was originally designed as a centralized supply system for the entire site, which involved long pipelines and poor heat retention. Technicians adopted the suggestion of Qin Yunshan, chairman of Urban Construction Group Second Company, to redesign the system by decentralizing the solar installations. This solved the heat retention issue and saved on piping. Fireproof boards were chosen over fireproof paint to meet fire safety requirements. The boards are recyclable, fully embodying the principle of hosting the Olympics in a thrifty manner.

Additionally, the hockey field selected artificial turf from an Australian international brand, featuring three key properties — flatness, water retention, and water permeability — effectively reflecting the Technology Olympics philosophy.

6. From design to construction, the hockey field embodies the Humanistic Olympics

During the initial design phase, features such as bidirectional disabled-access ramps at every stand, uniquely designed shower rooms, and 110 restrooms were incorporated into the hockey field. During construction, despite tight deadlines, the builder modified the 1.2-meter-wide spectator evacuation exits to 1.8 meters, effectively demonstrating the construction philosophy of the "Humanistic Olympics."

Moreover, due to the multi-disciplinary, multi-trade, and multi-team working approach of the hockey field project — with overlapping tasks — this increased the difficulty of on-site overall coordination and posed serious challenges to logistical support. As the saying goes, “An army marches on its stomach.” The Olympic Project Department of Urban Construction Group Second Company strictly enforced regulations, maintaining high standards and strict requirements for the accommodation and meals of migrant workers, significantly improving their living conditions and providing solid support for the front-line efforts. First, a standardized living area was established, including a clinic, activity room, and solar-powered showers, all cleaned daily by designated staff. Restrooms were disinfected daily. Second, workers’ health was prioritized through large-scale free medical clinics. Third, a night school for migrant workers was set up, offering bi-monthly training sessions. Fourth, the “Management Measures for Migrant Worker Living Areas,” “Waste Management Measures,” and “Food Safety and Food Poisoning Prevention Guidelines” were formulated and implemented. Fifth, all migrant workers were registered under a real-name system, issued ID badges, residence permits, and worker classification certificates, ensuring standardization and institutionalization.