Photo courtesy Stantec Architecture

Located in the Fitzsimmons Valley on Blackcomb Mountain, the Whistler Sliding Centre will be home to bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton competitions.

A gallery exhibit showcasing the involvement of B.C. architects and designs of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games venues will be opening next week.

Organized by the Architectural Institute of British Columbia (AIBC), "BienVenue: 2010 Games Architecture," offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the design process and features both competition and non-competition buildings, showcasing 20 in total. These include sports facilities, athlete accommodations, training centres, and cultural pavilions.

Some of the featured competition venues include:

• Richmond Olympic Oval—Cannon Design Architecture;

• Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre—Hughes Condon Marler Architects; and

• Whistler Nordic Competition Venue: Skip Jump—CJP Architects in conjunction with Sandwell (structural, mechanical, and electrical design).

Displayed non-competition facilities include:

• BC Place Stadium Renovations—Stantec Architecture;

• Killarney Ice Rink—Acton Ostry Architects; and

• Whistler Athletes' High Performance Centre—Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden.

AIBC's Dave Wiebe explained one of the exhibit's goals is to promote awareness of Canadian design.

"In Canada, the public's understanding of, and appreciation for, architecture is somewhat limited," he told Construction Canada Online. "Architects are relatively unknown, unlike other parts of the world. I think anything providing the public with a closer look at architecture, and a glimpse of the process used by its practitioners, helps to educate them about the value and importance of good architecture, including its lasting impact on our communities and culture. It serves the public interest, and that is a good thing."

The Olympics venue exhibit opens February 10, with a public opening reception held February 11 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., requiring reservations. From Monday to Friday, the gallery is open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, visit www.aibc.ca.

Photo courtesy Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden

The Olympic Village plaza is essentially the town square for the temporary 3000-person community of athletes and officials that will gather for the Winter Games. It will be the location of team welcoming ceremonies, live concerts, and other nightly performances taking place in the athleteâ??s village.