Palasport Oval Lingotto

Located in the southern part of Turin in the Lingotto district, the venue, features a 400m oval ice track and is the work of Buro Happold, HOK SVE and Studio Zoppini Associati, winners of an international tender for the project.

The design of the ice rink had to meet three key criteria:

• To provide a world class skating venue that will allow athletes to achieve outstanding performances and speed records
• To provide a flexible dual use venue for the local community that offers skating in winter, a training venue for the national team and additional exhibition space for the summer months
• To improve the local environment as an integral part of the urban redevelopment.

Originally used for the 2006 Winter Olympics, the venue is now used as an exhibition space for eight months of the year. The auditorium can be converted into three exhibition halls through the provision within the roof structure for sliding screens and acoustic curtains.

One of the most challenging aspects facing the design team was the arena’s soaring roof structure. Spanning over 100m and curving from east to west, it has to be capable of carrying substantial snow loads, yet have a lightweight appearance.

The Oval is the winner of the 2007 Gold IOC/IAKS AWARD, which is the only international architecture prize for sports and leisure facilities already in operation.

• Originally used for 2006 Winter Olympics
• 100m curving roof structure

Related Disciplines

• Building services engineering
• Structural engineering
• Computational analysis