Richmond Speed Skating Oval – WoodWave Timber Panels

The humble 2x4: dimensional lumber common throughout the world. Was there a way to use this most basic and inexpensive of structural materials to span a significant distance efficiently, be arrayed to allow acoustical absorption, satisfy stringent fire requirements, contain services, and create a beautiful aesthetic which the world would be viewing? This was the challenge the designer and builder of the “WoodWave” took on for a 2010 Olympic facility in British Columbia. The client wanted to showcase the use of common lumber taken from BC forests, particularly because a huge portion of these forests were dying from insect infestation, and needed harvesting. The challenge was fulfilled in the creation of an entirely new structural product made of an array of 2x4’s strategically placed for both acoustical and structural efficiency. The panel developed for this project creates a precedent which has a broad variety of potential applications.