Construction crews are now putting the finishing touches on Vancouver’s Freedom Mobile Arch, home to the world’s largest clear-span timber roof, with Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) board chair Mike Klassen sharing pictures from the site late last week. Wood Central understands that seat installation and VIP fit-out work are now underway across the $184 million amphitheatre designed by Revery Architecture and built by EllisDon.
“Hastings Park and the PNE have been the site of countless iconic moments in the history of our City and province,” Sim said following the tour of the Hastings Park precinct with senior PNE staff. “We are excited to see the Freedom Mobile Arch carry forward that legacy as a truly world-class entertainment venue.”
The amphitheatre is the first major permanent venue built at the Hastings Park fairgrounds since the 17,000-seat Pacific Coliseum was completed in 1968. The canopy is arranged in six barrel-vaulted segments supported by two concrete buttresses and a central steel keystone, with the roof’s geometry inspired by the shell of the 1956 CNIT exhibition hall in Paris.
Set against the North Shore mountains, the amphitheatre seats 6,000 concertgoers beneath the timber canopy and another 4,000 in an open lawn area branded the BCLC Backyard under a naming-rights agreement with the B.C. Lottery Corporation. Due to FIFA sponsorship regulations, the venue will not carry the Freedom Mobile title during its use for the World Cup Fan Festival.
Rising 25 metres above the floor and spanning 105 metres between buttress tips, the starburst canopy incorporates more than 900 tonnes of Douglas Fir and Spruce-Pine-Fir cross-laminated timber alongside 800 tonnes of structural steel, as Wood Central reported when the final beam was craned into place in August last year. The build replaces a dilapidated 1960s-built open-air structure that had relied on trailers and portables for back-of-house operations, with permanent washrooms, concession facilities, green rooms, a crew kitchen and production storage now built into the three-storey back-of-house block.
Across the venue’s VIP boxes and suites, interior fit-out is now well underway, complementing the 6,000 seats already installed beneath the canopy. The build follows Wood Central’s earlier reporting that the Revery-designed roof geometry, engineered by Fast + Epp, directs sound towards the audience and limits spread to neighbouring residences.
- To learn more about the new Freedom Mobile Arch, including the first round of concerts at the venue, click here for Wood Central’s special feature from last week.
