Ice rink technology with local engineering and long-term responsibility

SPORTWAVE is the official AST partner for Lithuania and Latvia. We develop, install and support seasonal, permanent, professional and multifunctional ice-rink projects by combining AST specialist technology with local engineering, project coordination, commissioning and lifecycle service.

Our role is not to act as a catalogue reseller. We work from the project conditions backwards: what the rink must do, where it will operate, how it will be used and who will maintain it.

AST technology. SPORTWAVE local responsibility.

AST contributes specialised ice-rink technology, product development and international project experience. SPORTWAVE provides the regional layer that turns that technology into a working project for clients in Lithuania and Latvia.

This distinction matters. A strong manufacturer is not a substitute for local implementation, and local installation without specialist product knowledge is not enough either. The value comes from connecting both.

Why ice-rink projects need system thinking

An ice rink is not a single machine. Refrigeration, floor technology, hydraulics, controls, boards, resurfacing, humidity, visitor flow and operating practice influence one another.

Typical failures occur at the interfaces:

• a chiller is selected before available electrical power is confirmed;
• nominal refrigeration capacity is sufficient but hydraulic distribution is uneven;
• boards are selected without checking gate and resurfacer access;
• the rink is efficient on paper but operated with excessively cold setpoints;
• a seasonal system is technically correct but storage and dismantling logistics are ignored;
• a permanent arena is designed without coordinating refrigeration heat recovery with building demand.

SPORTWAVE’s role is to keep these decisions inside one technical logic instead of allowing each supplier to optimise only its own part.

What we actually do

Local presence changes the quality of technical decisions

Many project conditions are difficult to understand from a product specification or a remote drawing alone. A site may have:

• limited electrical capacity;
• irregular dimensions;
• level differences;
• restricted truck or crane access;
• no practical technical-equipment location;
• noise-sensitive neighbours;
• existing drainage or foundation limitations;
• local contractor interfaces;
• a visitor-flow problem that is invisible in equipment documents.

Where necessary, SPORTWAVE works directly with the site and local project team to resolve these issues before they become installation changes.

Our strongest competence is the complete rink lifecycle

SPORTWAVE works across several project types:

• mobile and seasonal real-ice rinks;
• turnkey rink rental;
• permanent indoor arenas;
• professional and event ice;
• multifunctional venues;
• Ice Worlds and SkateWay® concepts;
• synthetic ice where infrastructure makes refrigerated real ice impractical;
• refrigeration upgrades and optimisation;
• boards, resurfacing, skates and operating equipment;
• service, maintenance and operator support.

The project scale changes, but the engineering discipline remains the same: define the operating requirement first and select the technology around it.

Regional experience is different from manufacturer global experience

SPORTWAVE’s regional references include permanent arenas and seasonal projects in Lithuania and Latvia. These are presented in the Projects section as individual case studies with project facts and technical context.

Separately, AST brings a much broader international technology history. AST’s official history dates the company to 1986, its first absorber-based ice rink to 1991 and the start of ice-rink rental to 1993.

AST rental documentation also reports approximately 300 rental ice rinks per year with partners worldwide, with projects ranging from standard seasonal rinks to ice landscapes exceeding 9,000 m² and stadium events for up to 70,000 spectators.

These figures describe AST’s global experience, not SPORTWAVE’s own local project count. SPORTWAVE gives Baltic clients access to that specialist technology through a local project and service chain.

Planning quality has a disproportionate impact

The IIHF Official Ice Arena Guide states that approximately 80–90% of project implementation costs are determined during the planning phase.

That is why SPORTWAVE places substantial emphasis on early decisions such as:

• permanent versus removable ice technology;
• rink dimensions and real visitor demand;
• indoor versus outdoor heat load;
• electrical infrastructure;
• refrigeration-equipment location;
• future off-season use;
• board and resurfacer interfaces;
• heat recovery;
• maintenance access;
• operator capability.

A technically good product cannot compensate for a poor project concept.

Source: IIHF Official Ice Arena Guide 2024.

Energy efficiency is an operating-system issue

For permanent arenas, the largest energy decisions extend beyond the refrigeration compressor. Ice temperature, ice thickness, pumps, resurfacing, humidity, ventilation and heat recovery all influence lifecycle performance.

ASHRAE and IIHF guidance both support a whole-system view of rink efficiency. SPORTWAVE therefore treats controls, hydraulic balance and useful heat recovery as part of the engineering discussion rather than optional add-ons after the plant is installed.

Read the Ice Rink Energy-Efficiency Guide

Service is part of the original technical responsibility

Ice rinks often operate during commercially or publicly sensitive periods: winter attractions, municipal programmes, tournaments or year-round sport schedules. A fault during operation needs a practical technical response.

SPORTWAVE therefore treats service as part of the project lifecycle from the beginning. Depending on the system, support can include:

• warranty coordination;
• fault diagnosis;
• seasonal start-up;
• preventive maintenance;
• critical spare-part planning;
• control and alarm review;
• remote monitoring where appropriate;
• operator support;
• later optimisation or modernisation.

Because we know the original project configuration, diagnostics can start from the actual system rather than from an isolated fault code.

We do not assume every client needs the same solution

What we expect from a good project relationship

The best technical result comes when project information is shared early. Useful starting data includes:

• site location;
• available area or rink dimensions;
• intended use;
• operating period;
• expected visitor or sport programme;
• power, water and drainage where known;
• site drawings and photos;
• existing equipment for retrofit work;
• commercial model: rental, purchase or comparison of both.

Unknown information is normal at an early stage. The purpose of the first technical review is to identify which missing facts actually affect the solution.

Talk to the team that will remain involved after the sale

If you are planning a new rink, upgrading an existing facility or solving an operating problem, send SPORTWAVE the project conditions rather than only a product request. We will help define the right technical route and remain the regional contact through installation and operation.

Request a project proposal  |  Contact SPORTWAVE  |  Explore regional projects