Glulam Trusses for Olympic Arenas, Norway

In 1988, the city of Lillehammer, Norway, was chosen to host the 1994 Winter Olympics. In order to meet the needs of this event, several large halls had to be built, including facilities for ice hockey, figure skating and speed skating. A basic aim of the organisers was an environmentally friendly Olympics, with buildings that emphasised natural Norwegian wood products. The Norwegian wood products industry, its engineers and producers saw the Olympics as a unique opportunity to demonstrate the possibilities of timber construction techniques. At an early stage, the glued-laminated (glulam) truss was chosen as the principal load-carrying element for the new structures. The structures for the 1994 Lillehammer Olympic Games will provide a strong demonstration of the advantages of glued-laminated timber trusses in structures with large clear spans. Glulam trusses allow for interesting architectural design and create structures that are resource- and environment-friendly.