How to win at pool

The National Aquatics Center's bubble concept originated in Sydney, and after the design team won the competition, the pool complex needed fine tuning.

A more methodical approach was needed to make the building more efficient and reduce waste.

Originally the center was to be 200m by 200m and incorporate the water polo venue, but organizers decided to have only the swimming and diving venues.

The structure was scaled back to 177m by 177m and about 5 meters was trimmed from the proposed height of 35m.

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Then there was the issue of the Olympic pool itself.

"Everybody wants a fast pool, it's becoming more technical - but a fast pool has to be deep," said John Pauline, practice director at architects PTW.

This pool is 3m deep, but an artificial bottom maintains a 2m depth: The deeper the pool, the less interference the swimmers receive.

The edges also need to be "slick". The waves need to hit the edges and not bounce back to reduce chop in the water.

Although the Olympics is a joy for 4 billion TV viewers around the world, the most exciting spectator action will happen poolside.

Spectators arrive at ground level and special consideration was made to separate spectators from the swimmers and VIPs.

"The pools are 5m below the spectator area and spectators will look down on the pool. None of them will interfere with what's happening at pool deck level," Pauline said.

Technical people, officials and media are unencumbered. Regarding seating, the designers learned from mistakes made at the Sydney Games pool, which had most seats on one side of the pool.

Athens seating was more balanced with spectators on either side of the pool. But it was an open-air pool with no roofing restrictions.

"We wanted to make sure that when the athletes were swimming they are getting cheers on both sides and there are 8,500 seats on either side of the pool," Pauline said.

Life afer the Games

The designers of the Cube have made a stunning confession -- their award-winning project was not really meant for the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

"This building was not designed for the Olympic Games, but for the 30 years beyond the Olympic Games," said John Pauline, practice director at PTW.

"Too many people in the past have made the mistake of designing buildings that had no use after the Olympics."

After the Games, 11,000 of the 17,000 seats will be removed and center's interior will be reconfigured allowing for commercial and retail space to be installed.

A leisure center was incorporated into the original design and this will be the heart and soul of the building.

The leisure center will feature water slides, an artificial beach with a wave-making machine, plunge pools and a lazy river, which includes running water that carries swimmers around the center.

A private club will also be attached to the complex and Beijing residents can use the complex all-year round.

The corner of the building has been set aside for the "bubble bar", an organically shaped space that will hopefully become one of the funkiest bars in Beijing.

The center will include indoor tennis courts, basketball courts and the original design included an ice skating rink.

"If it was to remain the way it was for the Olympics it would never be filled," said Pauline. "We wanted this building to have a life long after the Games and to be able to serve the people of Beijing."

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