The 131 panels installed on Vancouver’s Science World to transform it into the official match ball of the FIFA World Cup 2026 is getting a second life.
Overall, this project will become 65,000 square feet of architectural-grade coated fabric going back into use after a single season.
Each panel will be cleaned, sorted and recut into everyday goods for The Beautiful Dome 2026 Collection, a limited-run collection sold through Science World, with 100 per cent of net proceeds supporting its STEAM education programs across the province. None of the panels will end up in a landfill.
The project, known as The Beautiful Dome, was engineered and installed by The Look Company and became one of the most photographed images of the tournament. Rather than treating the installation as temporary material destined for disposal once the tournament ended, The Look Company planned for the panels to have a second life from the outset. Removal began in September, four months after the 40-metre installation went up. Selected panels have been donated to seven institutions across British Columbia, including Science World, BC Place and the Museum of Vancouver amongst others.
“An installation this size is thousands of decisions about how something goes together, and every one of those decisions also determines whether it can come apart,” said Jacob Burke, global CEO of The Look Company. “We engineered 131 panels to fit a curved dome. The precision of that design enables us to bring them down clean, sort them and hand them to a museum or a cutting table instead of a landfill. Taking it apart required the same level of care as putting it up, just in reverse.”
The dome came down over two weeks in September, taken apart by the same five-person rope access team that originally installed it in May. The panels are now at The Look Company’s Seattle facility, where they’re being cleaned and cut against custom templates into 260 tote bags, 100 duffle bags and 25 umbrellas, each finished with added accessories and a printed label carrying its own sequence number.
Additionally, another 24 panels are being packaged whole for people and organizations that requested a full-size piece of the dome. Production for these items will take approximately five weeks, after which each item will be distributed to their buyers and recipients.
“The Beautiful Dome changed the way people saw Science World this summer, not only as a landmark, but as a canvas for science, sport and imagination,” said Brian Radburn, COO of Science World. “By preserving some of the panels and transforming others into useful new objects, we are extending the story of this extraordinary project.”
