Water Cube

    The National Swimming Center (Water Cube) - located just to the west of the Birds" Nest, designed by the design consortium composed of the China State Construction Engineering Corporation, China State Construction International (Shenzhen) Design Co Ltd, PTW Architects (Australia) and Over Arup (Australia). The National Swimming Center will be the only important Olympic venue that is built by donations from compatriots from Hong Kong and Macao. It has a total floor space of 50,000 square meters with a seating capacity of 17,000. The whole project costs about US$100 million. The center was used for swimming, diving, and synchronized swimming and water-polo games during the Olympic Games 2008. After the games, the center will turn into a large water recreational center open to the public. It is dubbed "cube" because of its semi-transparent "bubbles" spread out all over its surface with a shape very similar to the structure of "H2O”.   

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