An interior view of the newly-built Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium, the venue for the Badminton and Rhythmic Gymnastics events in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. With an area of 24,000 sq m, the gymnasium is expected to seat 7,500 spectators. The 2007 International Badminton Invitation Tournament, one of the "Good Luck Beijing" test events, will be held here Oct. 10-14, 2007. --Xinhua

The Beijing University of Technology (BUT) Gymnasium is the only Olympic venue located in Beijing's southeastern area. Next year, it will serve as the Badminton and Rhythmic Gymnastics venue for the 2008 Olympic Games.

And this year, two "Good Luck Beijing" sport events will be held at the venue: the 2007 International Badminton Invitational Tournament from Oct. 10 to 14 and the 2007 Rhythmic Gymnastics International Invitational Tournament from Dec. 5 to 7.

With a building area of 24,383 sqm, the BUT Gymnasium has seating capacity for 7,500. The gymnasium includes a competition hall and a warm-up hall.

A world record in suspension dome structures

The BUT Gymnasium boasts the world's largest prestressed suspension dome ceiling 93m in diameter. Also, the steel used in producing the structure weighs less than 1,200 tons, averaging 60kg per sqm.

Advanced ventilation and air conditioning system

Both badminton and rhythmic gymnastics have strict requirements for wind speed during competition. Particularly for badminton, the International Badminton Federation's (IBF) standard is a constant room temperature of 26 degrees Celsius, with the wind speed no higher than 0.2 m/s. The BUT Gymnasium can do better than that: it can match the IBF wind speed standard and also keep the room temperature constant at 25 degrees Celsius.

How? Zhang Ailin, BUT's vice president, reveals that the secret lies in the spectator seats. Underneath every other seat, there are three vents 13 cm in diameter -- a total of 9,100 vents are located throughout the gymnasium.

Environmental-friendly venue

A number of energy-saving and environmental-friendly methods are used at the BUT Gymnasium, says Zhang. She named a few including rainwater recycling, ground-source heating in the winter, and a water-source heat pump for cooling in the summer, among others.

An important cultural legacy post-Games

Zhang discloses that at the start of the construction of the BUT Gymnasium, the entire BUT campus underwent re-planning to bring a better balance between people, nature, the school's architecture, and the environment, with emphasis on post-Games use of the new venue.

Following the Games next August, the BUT Gymnasium will remain an important cultural legacy of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. It will become a landmark building on the school's campus as well as for Beijing's southeastern area.

The BUT Gymnasium will serve both the school and society: it will serve as the school's activity center, as a recreation center for the neighboring residents, and as a training base for the national badminton team.