PNE announces design for 10,000-seat amphitheatre, with one of the longest clear-span roofs in the world
Slated to open in 2026, venue to host PNE Fair concerts as well as arts and culture events
An initial rendering for the new venue by Revery Architecture; it’s situated between Playland rides and Hastings Racecourse.
THE PNE UNVEILED plans today for a major state-of-the-art amphitheatre, scheduled to open in 2026 with a capacity for about 10,000 people.
When it opens, the $65-million venue, located in the centre of the park between Playland rides and the Hastings Park Racecourse, will host music and culture events, including the Summer Night Concerts at the PNE Fair. It’s expected to host more than 75 shows a year, 24 of them “commercial” shows, and 22 of them community arts and culture shows; remaining spots will be made up of fair concerts and corporate events.
One of the most striking elements of the design, by Vancouver-based architecture company Revery Architecture, is the roof structure. One of the longest clear-span roofs in the world, it is slated to exceed the length of that of the Richmond Oval.
The roof will be comprised of six-barrel vaulted segments intersecting at diagonal planes, with mass timber, a sustainable local material, used in both the ribs and the deck. That will make it one of the longest timber arch roofs in existence, according to Robert Jackson, Partner at Fast + Epp Structural Engineers. PNE president and CEO Shelley Frost said the roof has been engineered to create a sound barrier that is supposed to mitigate noise bleed into the surrounding community.
The overall design is described as having an “elegant structure that will cover the amphitheatre, gracefully landing on three points into the landscape”, making the most of mountain views, said Venelin Kokalov of Revery Architecture.
The amphitheatre will be built to Passive Haus, LEED, and Salmon-Safe certification standards.
In a promotional video for the new amphitheatre, This Is Blueprint owner Alvaro Prol says the venue will help relieve the backlog in concerts since pandemic shutdowns.
The PNE has now opened a call for sponsorship partners, including naming rights, for the new venue. Construction is projected to start in early 2024.
More information is at pne.ca/amphitheatre.
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