The Olympic Stadium in Athens is being modernized for the upcoming Games. (Photo courtesy of Akzo Nobel)
Akzo Nobel is helping to prepare the main venue for this year's Olympic Games in Greece. Builders are using products supplied by the company's protective coatings business to coat the new roof of Athens' Olympic Stadium, which is being modernized.

The roof, which has a surface area of 214,500 square feet, consists of two giant arcs at either end of the venue, each with a span of more than 1,000 feet, and a height of 264 feet. These arcs will provide support for the cables holding the plexiglass panels that make up the roof.

The panels, which cover 95% of the seats, will help reflect sunlight, an important function considering temperatures in Athens can reach 104°F during the summer.

The 16,000-ton glass and steel dome over the main stadium, which seats nearly 75,000 people, was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.