Construction in action
How an arena actually gets built.
Transparency and craftsmanship are the heart of every project, so we filmed one. These videos follow our team through a complete arena build, from foundations to the first painted sheet. If you are considering a rink, this is the process and the professionalism you can expect.
Behind the Build, part 1
Behind the Build, part 2
Behind the Build, part 3
Behind the Build, part 4
Behind the Build, part 5
Behind the Build, part 6
Behind the Build, part 7
Behind the Build, part 8Below the videos is the build broken into phases, with the individual steps our cameras covered. Use it as a checklist when you read a contractor’s schedule.
Site and foundations
Location, grading, structural steel and the foundations and drainage that keep water away from a building that will be full of ice.
- Overview of the complex
- Picking the location
- Site stripping and grading
- Structural steel delivery and erection
- Building foundations
- Waterproofing and perimeter drainage
- Tie-rods and hairpins for lateral loads
- Planning underground piping and utilities
- Elevator pit and foundation
- Rink perimeter haunch preparation
- Snow-melting pit design
- Building layout reasoning
Structure and envelope
The roof, walls and vapor barriers. This is where up to 42% of unnecessary heat load is won or lost.
- Galvanized purlins for the roof structure
- Vapor barriers for slabs on grade
- Masonry work
- Vapor barriers on exterior walls
- Metal siding and vapor barrier installation
- Internal liner panel installation
- Standing seam roof with a special insulation package
- Roof insulation system and low-E ceiling design
- Insulation rolled out ahead of roof panels
- Exterior wall construction and Dryvit
- Pre-cast second floor planks and hollow-core
- Structural steel painting
Rink floor and underground
Everything under the ice: transmission lines, conduit, drains, sub-soil heat, insulation and the floor piping.
- Rink piping transmission lines
- Underground piping and conduit
- Rink perimeter concrete forming and pouring
- Perimeter conduit for scorer’s box, goal light and PA
- Drains in the players box floors
- Trench drain for the ice resurfacer
- Rink floor rough and fine grading
- Rink floor sub-soil heat tubing
- Rink floor header insulation box
- Rink floor insulation
- Rink floor piping delivery and installation
- Center header trench plate
Refrigeration and mechanical
The chiller, the mechanical room and the dehumidifier, then commissioning the controls that run them.
- Chiller in position and installation begins
- Refrigeration piping in the mechanical room
- Refrigeration hook-up
- Dehumidifier pad and ductwork
- Radiant heaters for the rink
- Radiant floor heating for general areas
- Chiller start-up
- Microprocessor commissioning
- Boiler room
- Operating refrigeration system
- Working dehumidifier
- LPG outdoor storage locker
Ice and dasherboards
Boards go in, the floor floods, and the sheet is built, stress-relieved and painted.
- Getting the rink area ready for the rink system
- Dasherboard installation
- Rink floor flooding and ice building
- Making the first ice sheet
- Stress relieving the ice before painting
- Painting the ice sheet
- Netting installation above the dashers
- Players box back wall construction
- Players box area design
- Scoreboard installation
- Rink lighting fixture mounting and adjustment
- Rink flag decorations
Fit-out and opening
Locker rooms, pro shop, concessions, lobby and the details that decide whether people come back.
- Locker room design, showers, heaters and controls
- Rubber flooring throughout
- Rental skate counter and racks
- Concession counter, exhaust hood and walk-in freezer
- Pro shop layout and high-wear carpet
- Lobby, entrance mats and window finishes
- Doors, hardware and protective covers
- Second floor fit-out, drywall and HVAC
- Arcade, DJ room and video screen
- Parking lot base, paving, striping and poles
- Sidewalks, curbing and exterior slabs
- Emergency lighting and recessed extinguishers
Want to walk a build in person?
Ask about visiting an active site or a recently opened arena. Seeing the floor before the pour explains more than any brochure.