MassTimber HybridStructures Glulam LongSpanDesign

Vancouver amphitheatre pushes mass timber into long-span public structures

Jun, 08, 2026
Wood Structures Roofs Structural Design News On Projects / Industry
Canada, Vancouver
Authored by: TheCivilEngineer.org

The 105 m timber roof of Vancouver’s Freedom Mobile Arch rises above the Pacific National Exhibition site, with the Pacific Coliseum and North Shore Mountains in the background. Source: WoodCentral (image by PNE)

A new 10,000-seat amphitheatre in Vancouver is showing how mass timber can move beyond offices, schools and mid-rise buildings into large public assembly structures. The Freedom Mobile Arch at Hastings Park opened on June 5 and features a 105 m clear-span hybrid steel and timber roof, making it one of the longest timber arch roof structures of its type.

The venue, valued at about $183 million, will also support Vancouver’s FIFA World Cup fan festival. Its engineering importance lies in the roof system, which combines 60 glulam timber arches with three heavily loaded steel king arches arranged within six intersecting barrel vaults. The result is a sweeping canopy supported by only three primary concrete support points.

The architectural objective was to provide a large covered venue while preserving open views toward Vancouver’s North Shore Mountains. This created a challenging structural brief, requiring a long-span roof with minimal obstruction across the seating bowl.

Crews install the final glulam beam as temporary steel towers support the Freedom Mobile Arch roof before the planned de-shoring sequence. Source: WoodCentral (image by PNE)

The solution uses a hybrid system rather than relying only on timber. As the glulam arches splay outward toward the centre of the roof, they generate significant thrust forces. These forces are collected by the steel king arches positioned in the roof valleys before being transferred into large concrete buttresses.

This material choice is important. Timber performs well in compression and offers a lower carbon structural option, but the most heavily loaded elements were assigned to steel where force concentration and connection demand were higher. The project therefore demonstrates a practical engineering approach: using timber where it is efficient and steel where it is structurally necessary.

The form was partly inspired by earlier compression-based shell structures, including the CNIT exhibition hall in Paris. In Vancouver, that structural logic has been reinterpreted using modern glulam fabrication, advanced modelling and carefully detailed hybrid connections.

The glulam members were manufactured in Quebec and transported across Canada by rail. Because individual timber segments were limited to around 21 m in length, they had to be spliced on site before being incorporated into the roof system. The structure also required detailed global buckling checks, wind tunnel testing and complex connection design due to its open-air geometry.

Construction relied heavily on temporary works. Thirteen temporary crane-mast towers with hydraulic jacks supported the roof during assembly of the steel arches, timber framing and cross-laminated timber diaphragm. Once the system was complete, engineers carried out a carefully sequenced de-shoring operation to transfer the loads from the temporary supports into the permanent structure.

Approximately 800 tonnes of structural steel and 900 tonnes of timber arches were installed, with each preassembled steel king arch weighing more than 16 tonnes. The successful lowering of the jacks marked a critical moment for the project team, confirming that the permanent load path was performing as intended.

The Freedom Mobile Arch is significant because it expands the perceived limits of mass timber. It does not present timber as a replacement for every structural material. Instead, it shows how timber, steel and concrete can work together in demanding long-span civic infrastructure. For future stadiums, arenas and public venues, this project provides a strong reference point for hybrid low carbon structural design.