AUSTRALIAN rapid prototyping company ARRK has revealed its part in the design stages of the Beijing National Aquatics Centre, better known as the “Water Cube”.
In early 2003, the Municipality of Beijing announced a limited design competition for the 2008 Olympic Aquatics Centre.
Arup Fellow Tristram Carfrae’s “Water Cube” design would eventually go on to win the competition and become one of the most iconic and cutting-edge landmarks in the Chinese city. Designed with the structure of soap bubbles, the building is the world’s largest membrane super structure.
However, the concept of the revolutionary building had to be presented to the jury of international experts. The design incorporated 22,000 elements and 12,000 joints, meaning a manually-constructed model was out of the question.
Carfrae turned to ARRK and the company’s rapid prototyping skills. Specifically, the company would make the model using a Stereolithography (SLA) machine.
According to the designer, this was the first time an object of this magnitude was made using SLA, but the team managed to make it work. The effort paid off when in July 2003, the “Water Cube” design won the competition.

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