The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics will be an unforgettable experience for both locals and the international sporting community. But not only will the games raise the profile of Vancouver and British Columbia, they will also leave a lasting green architectural legacy to be enjoyed for generations.

While architecture is not yet an Olympic sport, it’s certainly a key visual element in the games that brands host cities with iconic images viewed by the entire world. Forty-four years later, Kenzo Tange’s Olympic pool built for the 1964 Tokyo games is still a landmark. Frei Otto’s Stadium built for the 1972 games in Munich continues to wow with its elegant tent-like roofs. And Zaha Hadid’s wave-like swimming pool in Newham will be a hallmark of the 2012 games in London.

But in Vancouver’s case, the Olympic architectural legacy is less about “starchitechts” and iconic buildings than it is about the very Canadian values of collaboration, community consultation and environmental sensitivity. Not surprisingly, British Columbia wood plays a central role in most of the Olympic buildings.

Richmond Olympic Oval

If one were to choose a single “star” building among the many Olympic projects, Cannon Design’s Richmond Olympic Oval, with its unique, heron-inspired shape and impressive roof -- a true feat of structural engineering by Vancouver’s Fast and Epp -- would be a likely choice.

This 33,000-square-metre venue, which hosts the long track speed skating events, features an innovative roof design that is one of the longest clear spans in North America. A series of wooden panels, built by Delta’s Structurecraft, link together to produce an undulating wavy effect. For many visitors flying into Vancouver, this is the first glimpse they have of an Olympic building. It will also be one they can visit again as its long-term legacy will result in a community center as well as a venue for a flexible variety of ice and dry sports.

But even the oval bears a certain humility about it. Built near the banks of the Fraser River, it forgoes “flashy” for “responsibly green” with its innovative use of 1 million board feet of mountain pine beetle wood. This LEED Silver building was given an award by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada specifically for its innovative use of pine beetle wood.

Whistler Olympic Park Day Lodge

The Whistler Olympic Park day lodge, by Merrick Architects, is another example of cutting-edge green design. For project architect Greg Borowski, the lodge, which was built in consultation with local First Nations, “is about celebrating nature, and everything takes its cue from that. The surrounding environment is its entire reason for being and everything -- from the siting, the materials and the shape -- relates to that.”

The 11,000–square-foot day lodge, which is open to the public and located between the ski jump and cross-country skiing stadium near Whistler, will be the hub of recreational activities, equipment rentals, lessons and food services. But with stunning views of the surrounding Callaghan Valley, the lodge’s most dramatic architectural feature is its dining room.

Here glulam beams (an engineered product consisting of pieces of wood glued together and renowned for its strength, density and durability) follow the upward tilt of the roof, which engages with the coastal mountain range, offering a cathedral-like sense of spaciousness and majesty. At the same time, the 16-foot west-facing curtain wall tilts in the opposite direction at a 10-degree angle. The effect is vaguely cinematic, with the tilt acting like a movie screen offering an impressive outdoor panorama that skiers can contemplate while nursing a hot chocolate.

Trout Lake Ice Rink

Glulam beams are also a key feature in the new Trout Lake Ice Rink designed by Walter Francl Architects.

At the core of this deceptively simple yet elegant design lies a true architectural arch made of 70-foot glulam beams and supported by a concrete buttress wall. Working with Fast and Epp structural engineering, Francl Architects created a system whereby the weight of the structure bearing down on the beams was transferred laterally to the concrete buttresses with the direction of the force following the structure of the arch.

The result is a kind of geometry in motion. “There’s always a sense of dynamic movement with a true arch,” says project architect Stefan Aepli. The effect is a shape not unlike the upturned hull of a ship. “But we couldn’t have done this without the glulam,” he explains, noting that British Columbia is known internationally for the product.

The building almost disappears into the topography. Organic modernism at its best, the curvilinear white clamshell roof echoes the snowcapped mountains. It embraces its surroundings beautifully without calling attention to itself. At night, its illuminated exterior has become a new city landmark visible from higher elevations all round.

Cypress Creek Day Lodge

For the new 49,000-square-foot Cypress Creek Day Lodge, which serves as a gathering place for staff and members of the “Olympic family,” British Columbia wood was also a natural choice.

“Douglas fir is sturdy, and it also has aesthetic appeal with its beautiful grain,” says project architect Cristina Marghetti of Vancouver’s award-winning KMBR architects. Marghetti, who worked with Ontario-based pre-fab company Normerica to design the lodge, chose British Columbia fir over the firms usual choice of Quebec pine.

Specially constructed glulam, made entirely of fir and produced by Penticton’s Structurelam with the help of new CNC technology, forms the basis of the interior post-and-beam structure. The building itself is anchored by sheer concrete walls that rise up from the foundations and is supported by the strong glulam beams. The beams, designed with concealed brackets for a clean, streamlined look also sport a heavy sawn finish for a rugged, textured effect.

Vancouver Olympic Centre/Vancouver Paralympic Centre at Hillcrest Park

The Hillcrest Park curling rink and aquatic center, located next to Nat Bailey Stadium, is another Olympic venue that expresses modern design through a variety of wood materials. While the exterior works with a contemporary palette of steel, glass and concrete, the interior features wood as a primary building material.

The aquatic center boasts dramatic glulam beams and supporting columns, and the pool envelope features Douglas fir decking that spans the glulam beams.

While the curling rink used less wood during the Olympic phase, wood paneling and finishes will be employed when the center converts back to community use after the games are over.

Vancouver Convention Centre

The gorgeous new Vancouver Convention Centre, which comprises some 1.2 million square feet, also makes use of British Columbia wood. In keeping with its overall theme of “urban” design that takes into account the stunning natural backdrop of the city, the facility uses locally harvested wood as one of many sustainable features, including a 6-acre living roof and shoreline and marine habitat restoration.

The appeal of British Columbia wood is not just “green” but aesthetic, as well. The locally harvested hemlock used for the convention centre’s interior finish as well as the Douglas fir slats used in the ceiling offer an organic, textural feel to the space that contrasts nicely with the palette of steel, concrete and glass.

And so Vancouver’s Olympic architectural legacy will offer not only impressive facilities for locals but also impressive local materials from certified forests. It’s only natural that British Columbia wood will be part of that sustainable and beautiful legacy.