On September 26, the WTT China Grand Smash tournament officially launched, bringing the world’s elite table tennis players to Shougang Park certainly to future a series of exciting and spectacular games. As models of Winter Olympic legacy assets for sustainable use, the ice hockey, short track speed skating, and figure skating arenas served again as competition and training venues, making a debut in a brand-new role at the heart of this top-tier international table tennis event.

A Collision of “Ice” and “Ping Pong”

The ice hockey, short track speed skating, and figure skating arenas are located in Shougang Park’s north zone, nestled at the foot of the Shijingshan Mountain，the northwest of Qunming Lake. Their architectural beauty is striking with clean lines and imposing silhouettes dominating the view. On closer inspection, however, one can a wealth of meticulously crafted details. Pipe-shaped streetlights, benches adorned with instrument panel elements, industrial-style trash bins, and old steel mooring posts from the factory around the grounds demonstrate the designers’ creativity.

Repurposed from Shougang’s former industrial structures, these venues shone brilliantly during the Beijing Winter Olympics. The Chinese national ice sports teams trained here and achieved a remarkable record of three gold medals, one silver medal, and one bronze medal, etching a new chapter in China’s “ice and snow sports” and cementing Shougang Park’s reputation as an “auspicious site” for the national teams. Following the Winter Olympics, Shougang has continued to further utilize its Olympic legacy. The ice hockey arena has hosted a diverse array of events, including the China TV Flying Apsaras Awards, the China TV Art Star Light Awards, the Baidu World conference, and Xiaomi product launch events. On February 18, 2024, the ice hockey arena became the new home arena for the Beijing Shougang Women’s Basketball Team, successfully showing its versatility for high-level sporting events after the conversion.

On March 26, 2024, World Table Tennis (WTT) held a press conference at Shougang Park, announcing that the WTT China Smash 2024 was to be staged at the park. The ice hockey, short track speed skating, and figure skating arenas serve as competition and training venues for this tournament, marking a significant evolution from an “ice-basketball” configuration to versatile “ice-basketball-table tennis” capabilities.

As a premier international table tennis event, the WTT China Smash offered Shougang Park a crucial opportunity to showcase the successful repurposing of its Winter Olympic assets. The ice hockey arena has been transformed into the spectacular “Infinity Arena,” a dazzling stage for the sport of table tennis. Its mesmerizing lighting and dynamic musical accompaniment ignite boundless enthusiasm. The table tennis tables at the center command attention as elite athletes vie for victory at this focal point. When the final competition concludes, the victor will ascend the brilliantly illuminated podium, claiming championship honors before a captivated audience. The short track speed skating arena, now designated Arena Two, has three tables for matches, with several exciting competitions taking place here throughout the tournament. The figure skating arena, repurposed as a training facility, provides 23 tables for warm-up exercises. Each of the three arenas is equipped with athlete physiotherapy rooms and fitness areas, catering to a wide range of needs encompassing competition, training, and media interviews.

Transforming the arenas for table tennis matches presented Shougang’s design and construction teams with formidable challenges. These included reconciling dimensions and layouts of fixtures, meeting the diverse requirements of different sports regarding surface hardness and levelness, and overcoming the significant complexities inherent in converting existing equipment and facilities.

At the same time, the already tight schedule was further compressed by the need to accommodate ongoing events within the venues during the renovation. These obstacles placed the Shougang design and construction team under immense pressure.

Recalling the challenging period of problem-solving, Zhang Shunjie, a designer from the Planning and Design Department of Beijing Shougang Construction Investment, noted the particularly intractable “seating problem.” “After converting the ice hockey arena for basketball, the 4,400 basketball seats occupied all the available space,” she explained, “Accommodating a larger audience for other events proved exceptionally difficult.” The challenge, she emphasized, was expanding seating capacity within the existing footprint. This problem hindered progress for an extended period. Without a viable solution, the project remained stalled. The design team embarked on a series of visits to leading sports venues, seeking inspiration and best practices. After extensive research at facilities such as the National Stadium, Capital Indoor Stadium, and Wukesong Arena, they optimized the layout of seating and facilities. By strategically placing facilities on the stage and the east, west, and north platforms, they reclaimed valuable space. They subtly reduced the dimensions of seats, ensuring spectator comfort while increasing the seating capacity to 5,019, with a potential maximum of 5,115, successfully solving the “seating problem”. The extensive visits across various locations broadened the team’s perspectives, ushering in a new era for the three venues. The adoption of modular and adjustable facilities enabled rapid placement and removal to meet the specific needs of different sporting events while preserving adaptable spaces for the center court. Advanced technologies and design strategies were used to divide the seating into independently retractable units, ensuring maximum utilization of seating capacity while adhering to competition-specific dimensional requirements. Through meticulous visual analysis, the team maximized seating while eliminating any visual obstructions for spectators.

In the ice hockey arena, the design and construction team leveraged existing infrastructure to create distinct passages for spectators, athletes, coaches, and staff, alongside dedicated rest areas for athletes and coaching personnel. The lighting design for the table tennis competition features zoned illumination. The central court is softly lit to provide optimal lighting for the competition, while the ambient lighting throughout the venue is achieved using the existing framework, creating a more immersive and engaging viewing experience for spectators. Aluminum foam panels covering the walls minimize reverberation even during high-noise events, significantly enhancing spectators’ experience.

Through a collaborative effort across Shougang’s various departments and entities, the ice hockey, short track speed skating, and figure skating arenas were swiftly turned into world-class table tennis venues, ready for the tournament’s opening. This promised an exceptional Shougang experience for both athletes and spectators.

A Magnificent Transformation of Winter Olympics Venues

The juxtaposition of “Beijing” and “major sporting events” inevitably evokes memories of the globally acclaimed the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. At these Games, Shougang’s old industrial site was completely transformed into four ice sports venues.

During the Beijing Winter Olympics preparations, China’s ice sports athletes faced a unique challenge. The Capital Indoor Stadium, designated as an official Olympic venue, underwent renovations, rendering its existing training facilities unavailable. Athletes urgently required alternative training spaces. To ensure the athletes could continue high-quality training, the General Administration of Sport of China decided to construct a National Winter Sports Training Center in Shougang Park. Shougang ingeniously leveraged the park’s existing industrial heritage, including the former coking plant, the May 1st Theater, and the dormitory area, and transformed them into dedicated training facilities for short track speed skating, figure skating, ice hockey, and curling. This cluster of specialized training venues, notable for both their layout and unique features, became affectionately known as the “four ice sports venues.”

The former coking plant, originally measuring 300 meters long, 67.5 meters wide, and 16 meters high, underwent a comprehensive design and renovation process. The renovation masterfully utilized the existing concrete columns and steel beams, preserving some of the industrial structures and elements while achieving a complete functional shift. The design process leveraged the distinct architectural features of the industrial building’s portal frame as a design motif. These frames were replicated in an array to create expansive spaces. The facade features colorful enamel glass panels imprinted with snowflake patterns, imbuing the structures with poetic energy and vividly showcasing the dynamic nature of the “four ice sports venues.”

“Carving ice and jade sculptures require intricate craftsmanship.” Starting in 2017, the design and construction of the “four ice sports venues” were marked by meticulous craftsmanship. Each of the four venues boasted an 1,800-square-meter ice rink. However, each venue poses different requirements for ice hardness, grain size, and friction, so the construction team had to meticulously control every aspect of the ice-making environment. Access was strictly controlled to ensure optimal humidity, temperature, ventilation, and other conditions for icing. The team implemented “starry sky” lighting effect to meet the needs of curling and figure skating athletes during training and competitions. These are a few examples of the countless details meticulously attended to, reflecting Shougang’s unwavering commitment to excellence.

Since their commissioning, the “four ice sports venues” have hosted numerous major events and competitions, including the opening ceremony of the 2019 China-Finland Year of Winter Sports, the 2019-2020 Kontinental Hockey League games, and the IIHF Women’s World Championship. Their consistently reliable operation and excellent functionality have earned widespread praise. During a visit to Shougang Park to inspect the Winter Olympics venues, IOC President Thomas Bach observed athletes training at the “four ice sports venues” and expressed high praise for the facilities.

The ice hockey, short track speed skating, figure skating, and other arenas in Shougang Park stand as a testament to Shougang’s commitment to the sustainable utilization of its Winter Olympic legacy and industrial heritage. They have repeatedly performed brilliantly during various sporting events and large-scale activities. These successes demonstrate Shougang Park’s dedication to preserving and developing its industrial heritage. Besides active protection and utilization, Shougang Park has innovatively employed an “urban stitching” approach involving differentiated strategies for core preservation zones, cultural heritage zones, and aesthetically coordinated zones. The integration of new functions, spaces, and environments aligned with contemporary needs allows for the continued appreciation of the raw beauty of the industrial landscape while assigning new roles to the industrial heritage.

The rusty blast furnaces, bearing witness to countless tales of the steel mill beside the Shijingshan Summit, have undergone a dramatic metamorphosis into sophisticated event spaces, futuristic entertainment parks, and urban convention and exhibition venues. In the southwest plaza, the world’s first permanently preserved ski jump -- Big Air Shougang -- has welcomed countless professional athletes and amateur snow sports enthusiasts. It has also served as a projection screen and theatrical stage, showcasing the vibrancy of cultural activities. A stroll along the elevated park, which is constructed from repurposed industrial pipelines and walkways, reveals the harmonious interplay of the graceful Qunming Lake and Xiuchi Lake. A unique juxtaposition of rugged industrial aesthetics and natural beauty unfolds, providing a singularly captivating experience. Autonomous vehicles, artfully designed cafes, adrenaline rush extreme sports sites, and fragrant eateries are scattered throughout the park. Shougang Park’s transformation from an “industrial rust belt” to an “urban showcase” is complete, seamlessly blending sports, futuristic technology, arts and culture, and industrial heritage. This century-old industrial park brims with a unique and irresistible charm, a captivating fusion of diverse elements.