Quzhou building 'invisible' sports park

Quzhou in East China's Zhejiang province is building an "invisible" sports park, which is expected to be the largest "earth-covered" complex in the world, local media reported on April 20.

The Quzhou Sports Park will cover an area of 570,000 square meters and include a 30,000-seat stadium, 10,000-seat indoor stadium, swimming pool, outdoor training grounds, service center, experience center, science museum, children's center, and more.

The park's design has been completed and construction is currently underway. It is scheduled for completion in 2021.

The park is referred to as "invisible" because its various buildings will be hidden among green plants and blend in with the environment.

For example, the 30,000-seat stadium has a canopy on top, while its massive grandstand structure is concealed. The designer's intent was to use new materials and a novel design for the canopy, making it both practical and visually appealing to joggers and walkers from a distance.

Furthermore, the park is filled with many wide roads in addition to walking trails.

Some of the roads are exclusively for vehicles and connect to city roads, enabling daily commuters to enjoy the scenic natural views, while some of them are for bikes to encourage more environmentally friendly means of travel.

The entire design of the park is not meant to resemble an enclosed theme park , but to become part of local residents' life, according to the designer.