The Olympic Stadium - The 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium in Beijing built for the 2008 Olympics cost 3.5bn yuan (£254m). Nicknamed the 'bird’s nest' due to the immense latticework of irregularly angled metal girders, the Olympic Stadium will be the centrepiece of the 2008 Olympic Games and will host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as track-and-field competitions.

The stadium is a monumental edifice, it is 330m long, 220m wide, 69m tall and covers an area of some 250,000 sq m. Building the metal lattice-like structure that encircles the stadium consumes almost 50,000 tonnes of steel! Originally planned with a retractable roof, budget constraints led the builders to scrap the idea.

The Beijing National Swimming Centre - Known as the 'Water Cube', it was inspired by soap bubbles, and its shape is based on the fundamental arrangement of organic cells in nature. Costing some £72m, the Beijing National Swimming Centre covers around 70,000 sq m and consists of five pools – one of which has a wave machine – as well as water rides. It boasts some 17,000 seats and will host swimming, diving, water polo and synchronised swimming events during the 2008 Olympic Games. It won an award in the 9th International Architecture Exhibition during La Biennale di Venezia in 2004 for its stunning design.