The Beijing National Stadium, was designed for use throughout the 2008 Olympic games. Located at the southern part of the Olympic Green in Beijing, the National Stadium is the main stadium of the 29th Olympiad in 2008. The innovative structure was designed by architects Herzog & De Meuron.

The team wanted to get an optimum balance between making sure every spectator had a good view, creating a good atmosphere and designing an elegant building. It also needed to be aware of the different uses of the stadium; for example, when used as an athletics stadium, the most important view is at the finish line of the running track but when used for football, the best views are at the centre line.

The main body of the National Stadium is a colossal saddle-shaped elliptic steel structure weighing 42,000 tons. It is 333 meters long from north to south, 294 meters wide from east to west, and 69 meters tall.

The main body's elements support each other and converge into a grid formation, just like a bird's nest with interlocking branches and twigs. Being a seven-story shear wall system, the stadium's stand has a concrete framework. The upper part of the stand and the stadium's steel structure are separated from each other, but both are based on a joint footing. The roof of the National Stadium is covered by a double-layer membrane structure, with a transparent ETFE membrane fixed on the upper part of the roofing structure and a translucent PTFE membrane fixed on its lower part. A PTFE acoustic ceiling is attached to the side walls of the inner ring.

The construction of the National Stadium followed the PPP mode (Private + Public + Partnership ), and it is co-owned by the Beijing State-Owned Assets Management Co. Ltd (BSAM), who shares 58 percent of the total assets, and the China International Trust and Investment (CITIC) Consortium, who holds the rest of the assets.

sources: persoal research