An Olympic venue that will host speed skating during the 2010 Games has won a prestigious engineering prize.
The Olympic Oval in Richmond, B.C., just south of Vancouver, was awarded gold Friday for sports or leisure structures by the Institution of Structural Engineers.
The Oval took its title against other short-listed international competitors including the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the "Bird's Nest," and the new retractable roof at Wimbledon's Centre Court in London.
The Richmond Olympic Oval, designed by Cannon Design, is a multi-purpose sports and recreation facility.
Its roof features hollow, triangular-shaped wood steel arches and "wood wave" panels constructed from pine-beetle-kill wood boards from B.C. forests.
Based in London, the Institution of Structural Engineers is dedicated to the art and science of structural engineering.
