Background Story

Construction of the National Aquatic Centre, dubbed the Water Cube, began on Dec 24, 2003. It was handed over to the Beijing Olympic Games organisers yesterday.

It occupies 80,000 sq m and contains one competition pool, one diving pool and one training pool. It has 17,000 seats (6,000 permanent and 11,000 temporary).

It cost 1.03 billion yuan (S$203 million), 80 per cent of which was donated by overseas Chinese.

The cushions in the outer layer of the building are made of more than 100,000 sq m of ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene), a plastic with a melting point of 275 deg C.

swimming, diving and synchronised swimming events.

After the Games and the Paralympics, a quarter of the venue will be retained for competition, with the rest used for shopping and other leisure purposes.

SOURCE: BEIJING ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES