So the redevelopment of BC Place is officially finished - although apparently there will be crews on site after the opening games are over, finishing things up. There seems to be universal approval for the space inside the building, and apart from needing to get the beer flowing and the burgers flipped faster it all worked. Until there’s a game in the rain (Whitecaps perhaps?) there’s no way they can test the roof seam welds, but the lighting was working as well. Here’s a shot of the orange lighting.
We’ll leaving our list of what was done here- there’s the 18,000+ ton roof – effectively 18 suspension bridges, each 47 metres tall, with bigger concrete columns to support them. There is new blue/green glazing with vertical glazed panels that replace reinforced concrete panels – so both the inside and outside is much brighter. The infill ETFE panels between the rim and the new roof, (the same material as China’s Olympic ‘birdsnest’ stadium) were installed, and while normally they are a reflective silver-grey to complement the metal panels around the rim of the stadium, they can be coloured when events are taking place (and the tests showed some fancy effects too). The roof can also be lit with colour. There’s a new artificial turf on the ground, and a huge video screen overhead (and there are 3 more outside, including a new one at the end of Robson Street that has led to a lot of complaints).
The building makes a huge difference to the appearance of the city (although it might disappear behind new towers along the waterfront!). The Telus naming deal finally fell through. Anybody have a uase for a 17 foot high ‘Telus Park’ sign?
