Richmond Olympic Oval Mar 13 2009 02_DSC4788

Richmond Olympic Oval Mar 13 2009 02_DSC4788, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.

The Richmond Olympic Speed Skating oval itself is a thing of architectural and wooden beauty both inside and out. It's shape is nothing but smooth flowing contours that perfectly match the smooth flowing grace that is skating in general and Olympic speed skating in particular.

From Architectural Innovations.com "In total, the roof system uses about one million board feet of Douglas-fir lam-stock lumber in the glulam beams, another one million board feet of 2x4 spruce-pine-fir commodity dimension lumber – primarily lumber affected by the mountain pine beetle infestation in B.C.’s Interior – and about 19,000 sheets of four-foot-by-eight-foot Douglas-fir plywood in the roof panels. The roof is believed to be the largest surface ever-covered in beetle-affected wood – showing that the wood remains structurally sound and attractive."

Understatement of the year. The building is drop-dead gorgeous.

Here's a closer look at the ceiling and the participant flags.

Richmond Olympic Oval Ceiling Mar 13 2009, originally uploaded by VancouverDoug.