When China unveiled its Beijing National Stadium, on 08.08.2008 at 8.08pm, at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, the world looked on in awe. For the first time in modern Olympic history, the opening ceremony and the stadium in which it took place was as spectacular as the the sport that was to come.
The Chinese vision was to create a stadium like no other before, with flooring that could could move seamlessly to create the conceptual illusion of flow. SERAPID was approached to make that vision a reality. Drawing on years of expertise in kinetics, it developed a bespoke system for the the ‘Bird’s Nest’, the nickname the stadium was to become known by.
SERAPID installed ten tailor-made electro-mechanical lifting platforms, each capable of lifting 500 tonnes and covering no less than 1080 m² of the stadium. Each were raised using 62 of SERAPID’s LinkLift elevation columns, with scissor lifts guiding them in a vertical movement to ensure stability. The non hydraulic system delivered what was needed - a high capacity, reliable, contemporary movement solution that was swift yet precise. Mobile and space saving, the lifting system has the added bonus of being able to fit into a shallow pit beneath the staging.
The overall effect was a flawless movement of high load stage platforms that glided throughout the stadium and playing their part in what is still today considered one of the most creative and breath-taking Olympic Opening Ceremonies in history.