The world’s largest free-span roof, built from timber, is being constructed arch by arch, with Ellis Don and Revery Architecture providing updated pictures from the site of the PNE Amphitheatre in Vancouver last week.
“The canopy is incredibly challenging, and the installation is equally rewarding,” according to Brendon Vining, Ellis Don’s senior project manager for the CA$115 million project, who spoke about the project last month. “Watching the first structures rise to support the canopy is exciting (but) no small task,” said Vining, who confirmed that the renamed Freedom Mobile Arch is on track to open next year, right in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Pre-assembled and spliced on a custom truss rack, Walters, a subcontractor to EllisDone, installed the first of 27 pieces – each measuring 20 metres long and weighing 16,000 kilograms – with the arches connecting to three concrete buttresses. Eventually, Walters, working with EllisDon and the EllisDon Forming division, will supply and install more than 800 tons of structural steel and 900 tons of glulam and cross-laminated timber, chosen for its superior strength, acoustic performance, weather resilience and fire safety.
One of the World’s Longest Clear-Span Roofs Uses Starburst Design
Designed by Revery, the new 105 metre-long curved roof is “supported at just three points, with sizable openings that seek harmonious integration into the natural landscape.” According to Venelin Kokalov, Design Principal and Principal-in-Charge at Revery Architecture, the roof “reimagines the traditional (mid-century) concrete shell with a mass timber design.”
Located in the heart of Vancouver’s expansive Hastings Park – also home to the iconic Playland rollercoaster– the project marks the first phase of the Hastings Park Master Plan, with the Fast+Epp and acoustic specialists Stage Consultants working with PNE and the local council to ensure that the open-air timber directed the sound toward the auidence and not the surrounding neighbourhoods.
According to Koklav, the design team faced a unique challenge: creating a covered amphitheatre for up to 10,000 attendees while preserving the natural surroundings and views of the North Shore Mountains. Their solution was the mass timber starburst arch roof, spanning 105 metres from buttress tip to buttress tip. “Our architectural solution was an elegant structure covering the arena, gracefully landing on three points into the landscape,” Kokalov said. “This gesture will frame vistas to the mountains and the surrounding context, creating transparency at the human level and an intimate atmosphere under the warmth of the wood.”
- To learn more about this project, including the use of curved timber to direct the sound towards the audience and not the surrounding suburbs, click here for Wood Central’s special feature.
