S P O R T I N G FA C I L I T I E S T H AT R A D I AT E S U C C E S S
THOR VALD ELLEGAARD ARENA
ODENSE, DENMARK
The Ministry of Transport named Odense
Denmark’s National Cycle City. There
are 350 miles of bike lanes that weave
through the heart of town, to support a
population of just over 175,000 residents.
City planners are dedicated to making
Odense one of Europe’s most ‘liveable
cities’ through their commitment to get
the whole city cycling.
Opened in 1948, the original Odense Cycle
Run was an open-air outdoor concrete
track. Over time the track broke down
and needed refurbishment. It took years
to raise funding for the project so civic
planners were concerned the new arena
was cost efficient in both construction
and maintenance. The final approved
design was inspired by the idea of a simple
sheltered arena with a semi-transparent
feather-weight roof, to blur the boundaries
between the indoors and open air.
The structure was made possible by
deriving its geometry on the section
of a torus, a revolving 3-dimensional
doughnut-like surface.
Copyright © 1976-2017 BuroHappold Engineering. All Rights Reserved
Steel trusses were placed up to 15 meters CLI EN T
apart along the 100m length of the arena Odense Kommune
to create a gently curved domed structure.
AR CH I T EC T
We stretched a PVC-polyester membrane
Mikkelsen Arkitekter/ Populous
over the curved steel arches of the roof,
which enables diffused daylight to flood SERV I CE S PR OV I D ED BY
the velodrome, providing high quality BU R O HAPP O LD
natural light. An artificial lighting provision Structural engineering, building services
was designed to work alongside the engineering (MEP), civil engineering, lighting
levels of natural light, making it possible design
to increase or decrease the level of light
inside the arena depending on the hour,
time of year or weather conditions outside.
It was important to avoid adding costly
insulation to the roof, so our engineers
used a radiant heating system that warms
surfaces within the space without heating
the air in between. This provides the
perfect environment for the athletes using
the facility without wasting energy heating
large expanses of unused space.
In 2016, the Architizer Awards gave a
special mention to the Thorvald Ellegaard
Arena as being among the absolute best
built examples in the Sports & Recreation
Stadium/Arena category. Image © BuroHappold Engineering