Jūrmala City Stadium Ice Arena

The Jūrmala City Stadium project is an important Baltic reference for multifunctional ice-rink engineering. Commissioned in November 2007, the rink provides 1,624 m² of real ice on a 58 × 28 m surface using a mobile AST EPDM ice-rink system with professional ice-hockey boards.

The project’s strongest lesson is the operating model: the venue needed substantial winter ice without permanently converting the sports area into a dedicated concrete ice slab. The mobile refrigeration system allowed the same site to support different activities outside the ice season.

Project at a glance

The operating calendar drove the technology choice

A permanent concrete ice slab can be an excellent solution when a site is dedicated to ice. Jūrmala had a different requirement: create a professional-scale winter rink while preserving another use for the sports venue.

That makes the annual activity calendar one of the most important design inputs.

Practical lesson: choose the floor technology only after the owner has defined what the same square metres must do during the rest of the year.

58 × 28 m provides large-format sport and public ice

The rink dimensions are 58 × 28 m, giving a 1,624 m² surface suitable for substantial training, competition and public-skating programmes.

However, professional boards or a large ice surface should not be interpreted as automatic compliance with every current international competition requirement.

The current IIHF rule framework uses a standard rink length of 60 m and a width of 26–30 m. A new arena intended for sanctioned high-level competition should therefore confirm current federation geometry, corner radii, board and protective-glass requirements before the rink envelope is fixed.

Practical lesson: define the highest required sport level first. A training / public venue and a championship venue can use similar technologies but require different geometry and event infrastructure.

Mobile EPDM does not mean small or temporary in performance

The Jūrmala project demonstrates that flexible EPDM refrigeration mats can support a large, sport-oriented rink rather than only a small Christmas-market attraction.

For a rink of this scale, the important engineering factors include:

• mat layout and collector arrangement;
• secondary-fluid flow distribution;
• pressure drop and pump selection;
• connection routes between rink and refrigeration plant;
• base flatness and support;
• board anchoring and interface with the temporary floor system;
• installation and dismantling sequence;
• storage and protection of EPDM components between seasons.

The ice surface may be removable, but the engineering discipline is the same as for a permanent rink.

Hydraulic balance becomes more important as rink area increases

A 1,624 m² EPDM field contains many parallel refrigeration channels. If the secondary fluid does not distribute evenly, local ice temperatures can differ across the rink.

For a modern project of similar scale, commissioning should therefore include:

• pressure integrity testing;
• controlled filling and venting;
• pump and flow verification;
• supply / return temperature review;
• inspection for air pockets;
• temperature mapping across the surface;
• correction of hydraulic imbalance before opening.

A powerful chiller cannot compensate for poor distribution inside the rink field.

Professional hockey boards change the project interfaces

The documented installation includes professional ice-hockey boards. On a multifunctional venue, boards are not a standalone accessory; they affect:

• rink geometry;
• player and penalty-box arrangement;
• spectator protection;
• gate positions;
• resurfacer access;
• installation time;
• storage outside the ice season;
• interface with the underlying sports surface.

For a new project, the board system should be chosen together with the intended sport level and seasonal dismantling strategy.

Explore Ice Rink Boards

Winter sport and public skating need different operating modes

The rink supports team training, competition and public skating. Those uses can require different ice conditions.

ASHRAE gives representative indoor ice-temperature ranges of approximately:

• −6.7 to −5.6°C for hockey;
• −4.4 to −3.3°C for figure skating;
• −3.3 to −2.2°C for recreational skating.

Even where the exact outdoor or semi-outdoor operating conditions differ, the principle remains useful: the operator should run the warmest ice temperature that still satisfies the required skating quality and weather conditions rather than use one unnecessarily cold setting for every activity.

Source: ASHRAE Handbook — Refrigeration, Chapter 44: Ice Rinks.

Outdoor and seasonal loads cannot be sized from area alone

For a mobile rink, refrigeration capacity depends on more than the 1,624 m² ice area.

External load can change with:

• air temperature;
• solar radiation;
• wind;
• rain;
• humidity;
• surrounding buildings;
• operating hours;
• sport and public-skating intensity;
• resurfacing frequency;
• required ice temperature.

This is why ASHRAE treats simple area-to-capacity values only as a check of a calculated heat load.

Read the Refrigeration Sizing Guide

Recurring installation creates a lifecycle logistics problem

A removable rink may save the underlying sports venue from becoming permanently dedicated to ice, but that flexibility introduces a different set of lifecycle questions.

The owner should plan:

• where EPDM mats are stored;
• how they are dried, inspected and protected;
• how boards are stored;
• which crew installs the system;
• how long installation and dismantling take;
• whether forklifts, cranes or specialist handling tools are required;
• how connectors and hoses are protected between seasons;
• which spare parts are held locally;
• how pre-season testing is organised.

For a recurring seasonal facility, installation labour and storage can become as important economically as the purchase price of the rink technology.

Mobile EPDM, IceBox or permanent floor?

For a new multifunctional project today, SPORTWAVE would compare the operating model before selecting the floor system.

The Jūrmala reference is particularly relevant where the owner values the ability to return the venue to another sporting function.

Independent documentation supports the multifunctional concept

Later Jūrmala municipal documentation continued to list refrigeration equipment with EPDM rink components, hockey boards and a 1,624 m² inline sports surface at the Majoru sports field.

This supports the central project logic: the site was not planned as ice only. The infrastructure allowed the venue to serve a different sporting use outside the ice season.

What a client can learn from this project

1. Start from the annual activity calendar. If the same site must support other sports, a removable ice system can preserve valuable floor use.
2. Large mobile ice is technically demanding. Hydraulics, base preparation and commissioning remain critical.
3. Professional boards require planning. Geometry, access and seasonal storage must be coordinated with the rink.
4. Do not infer competition compliance from area alone. Current sport rules need to be checked against the intended competition level.
5. Include dismantling in the lifecycle calculation. Seasonal flexibility has logistics and labour costs that should be designed, not discovered later.
6. Choose refrigeration from real conditions. Area alone does not define outdoor or seasonal heat load.

When this concept may be a strong fit today

A Jūrmala-type approach deserves consideration when:

• the venue wants substantial winter real ice;
• the same field must be used for another sport in warmer months;
• the rink is installed repeatedly rather than once;
• professional or training-quality boards are required;
• the owner can support seasonal installation, storage and maintenance;
• a permanent concrete refrigeration slab would reduce valuable off-season flexibility.

SPORTWAVE perspective

Jūrmala City Stadium illustrates a core SPORTWAVE principle: technology should follow the venue’s operating model. A mobile AST EPDM system made it possible to create a large real-ice arena for winter use while preserving another sporting role for the same area outside the season.

For new multifunctional projects, SPORTWAVE compares permanent and removable technologies together with refrigeration, boards, installation logistics, storage and lifecycle cost before recommending a solution.

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