FEA TURE — BC
PL A CE
REDE VEL OPMENT
ICON Venue Group’s Role on the new BC Place
ICON Venue Group, at the request of the Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club, held a consultant role during the reconstruction and upgrade of BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia from 2010 through the end of 2011.
Having served as Owner’s Representative for eight of the last thirteen MLS stadiums built since 2002, ICON was able to lend soccer-specific stadium experience to the reconstruction of BC Place to suit MLS soccer in the large multipurpose stadium.
While ICON served in many capacities, two of its main focus areas were to ensure that the state-of-the-art ‘house reduction’ curtain was engineered, fabricated, and installed to provide the intimacy of a smaller venue for the Whitecaps home MLS matches, and to see that the new sports field (as supplied by Polytan|STI) was best-in-class and would meet FIFA standards once installed.
With the Whitecaps being a tenant at BC Place, the team felt it needed to have MLS facility expertise present during the critical times of the stadium renovation make sure that the overall stadium renovations would include features to provide for the optimum MLS fan experience. From the Whitecaps perspective, it was important to make a lasting impression on the fans from the very first home match at the end of September 2011. By all accounts, the house reduction system met not only the Whitecaps expectations, but the MLS fans were ecstatic over the intimate feel of BC Place for soccer matches.
Parallel with the house reduction curtain process, ICON was intensely involved with the selection process and installation of the sports field playing surface. The new turf product had to be acceptable to both the Whitecaps and the BC Lions Football Team who share the facilities. Ultimately, the sports field met FIFA standards in late 2011 after only four matches, which was an unprecedented time period for such certification.
ICON also was involved early with the Whitecaps and BC Place management on research and investigation of retractable sideline seating where the team offers premium seating products. ICON was able to assist the team with selection of the proper adaptable and durable/removable systems. (See ‘SEDA at BC Place’ sidebar.)
MAKEOVER
MASTERCLASS – PART II
Modernised to World-Class Standards
In Phase One of the stadium renewal, the washrooms, access ramps, concourses, and concessions were all modernised for more comfort and more choice, better service and better accessibility for everyone.
At the same time, the 50 private guest suites were
renovated and some 1,300 premium Club Seats were introduced, along with two new Club Lounges to service them. The new retractable roof over the stadium is truly a
technological marvel and has essentially transformed British Columbia’s largest and most versatile event venue into a whole new place. The new cable-supported fabric roof is the largest of its kind in the world — designed and engineered for Vancouver’s climate, following rigor- ous engineering and architectural studies. Engineered to handle even a “one-in-one-hundred-year” snowstorm, it ➲
20 th AN N I V ER S AR Y
P AR T
II/ S U M M ER 1 2
P AN S T AD I A
56
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216 |
Page 217 |
Page 218 |
Page 219 |
Page 220