The interior view of the National Aquatics Center

(BEIJING, January 29) -- The National Aquatics Center, the venue for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games aquatics events, was to be like a water wave in the preliminary design jointly launched by the consortium of Arup, architectural firm PTW, the China State Construction and Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) and the CSCEC Shenzhen Design Institute.

Zheng Fang, a designer with the CSCEC Shenzhen Design Institute, revealed the common sense decision reached by the successful bidders in the preliminary period: that the venue must underline the theme of water.

"But we didn't have a clear idea."

A designer from Australia was obsessed with the water-wave concept. "Just imagine my children are running on the beach with waves splashing. What a great picture." But the design of the Bird's Nest was unveiled, and the team started to contemplate a new design concept.

The "Water Cube" stands west of the Bird's Nest, and the two landmark venues are on either side of the city's central axis. After the oval-shaped Bird's Nest was made public, designers from the Water Cube team began to take into consideration the overall environment. "The water can be flat and not be confined to a wave shape."

The box-shaped design was approved by designers from Australia. PTW designers added Olympic elements to the design, and their counterparts from ARUP creatively put a steel structure and membrane concept into the design.

The Water Cube reduced in size with concerns over the construction and operating fees. It was originally to be 35 meters high and 194 meters wide, but now it is 31 meters high and 177 meters wide. The practice reduced the construction and operating fees and cut energy consumption.