OREANDA-NEWS. A key feature of the Winter Olympic Games at Sochi, in Russia, has been the brand new sports stadiums covering 150,000m2 that have housed many of the main events. Tata Steel subsidiary Kalzip, the leading manufacturer of tailored metal building envelopes, was involved in the complex designs of two of the six arenas built at the Olympic Park - the Bolshoy Ice Dome and the Adler Skating Arena - as well as the swan-neck construction of the Olympic flame on the Medals Plaza, delivering aluminium-profile panels for the iconic sporting event. The sports complexes are in the Olympic Park on the Imeretinskaya lowland, surrounded by magnificent panoramas - the Caucasus mountains on the one side and the Black Sea on the other. Oleg Kharchenko, chief architect at SC Olympstroy, said of the venue:

“The Olympic Park is a showcase, an architectural ensemble incorporating a diverse array of facades, colours and textures, intended to create a distinctive and impressive image of the 2014 Winter Olympics.”

All the Kalzip sheets were manufactured on-site using state-of-the-art mobile roll-forming technology. “The timely delivery of these complex and demanding construction projects in challenging conditions is pure testament to the commitment of our dedicated and highly experienced team,” explained Jorg Schwall, general manager of Kalzip GmbH.

Adler Arena Skating Center

The Adler Arena Skating Center, which was a project planned by Kuban Universal and opened in 2012, is an 8,000-seat, speed-skating oval structure.

The defining feature of the grey and white building is its transparent crystalline surface. The outer wall of the skating track features Kalzip 65 perforated and tapered sheets. The underside is made using a similarly perforated Kalzip FC facade profile in RAL 7035. From the inside, this gives spectators an unobstructed view of the Olympic Park. A total of 11,000m2 of Kalzip aluminium profiled sheets were used in its construction.

Bolshoy Ice Dome

The second complex is the Bolshoy Ice Dome, the design of which was inspired by a frozen drop of water. Its outer skin is made from composite panels pierced by LED lights to give it the changing colours of a chameleon. Planned by MC Mortovik, the sophisticated building envelope of this domed structure was realised using a total of 22,000m2 of Kalzip aluminium-tapered and profiled sheets. The multi-purpose arena, which seats 12,000, is one of the most spectacular projects of the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Olympic flame

The third project, the swan-neck construction on the circular Medals Plaza, soars 46 metres into the air. Rising from the highest point of this monument is the Olympic flame. This central plaza, the circular architecture of which opens onto the six sporting venues, is the location for the medal ceremonies for winners at the 2014 Olympic Games. Kalzip cladding gives this exceptionally complex construction its form and consists of 4,800m2 of tapered profiled sheets and 800m2 of Kalzip XT 'freeform' profiled sheets, which were roll-formed on site. The outer skin is made up of composite plates in RAL 9010, which are fixed to the seams of the Kalzip profiled sheets using non-penetrating flange clamps.

Sanki Sliding Center

Another project, the Sanki Sliding Center near Krasnaja Poljana, high up in the Caucasus mountains above Sochi, hosted the 1,500-metre Olympic bob run, which was developed by IBG with a total of 18 bends. The roof of the starting point and other parts of the run are clad with 4,800m2 of Kalzip 65 tapered and profiled sheets.