The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), Populous, Atkins and Drivers Jonas Deloitte today issued new images showing what Greenwich Park for Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon, Lord’s Cricket Ground for Archery and the Lee Valley White Water Centre for Canoe Slalom might look like at Games-time.
The images were issued to show the work done to enable more than 120 world class temporary venues to be created for the more than 20,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes and over 10m ticketed spectators to experience the events.
The new images can be downloaded here
The London 2012 Games are unique for their innovative approach to the use of temporary and existing venues both on and off the Olympic Park. To achieve this and deliver a consistent look and experience for all participants, each of the venues requires detailed ‘overlay’ design, engineering and construction to stage the Games.
From Horse Guard’s Parade for Beach Volleyball, to Greenwich Park for Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon, London is being used as the stunning backdrop for events hosted in entirely temporary venues.
In addition, venues such as the ExCeL London, Lord’s Cricket Ground and the Lee Valley White Water Centre will be transformed to deliver the Olympic and Paralympic Games experience in existing venues.
Working together to create these sites, and under the direction of LOCOG, Populous, Atkins and Drivers Jonas Deloitte have developed all aspects of the venues from the look and feel, the user experience, the delivery of seating, accommodation and landscaping, as well as back of house requirements including power, water and lighting, together bringing an innovative approach to the delivery of London 2012.
In total, the overlay project for the London 2012 Olympic Games will include:
- 250,000 temporary seats
- 165,000 square metres of tents
- 2,500 cabins
- 140 kilometres of fencing
- 250 kilometres of crowd barriers
James Bulley, LOCOG Director of Venues and Infrastructure, said:
“The London 2012 Games will deliver what no other Games has before in terms of the complexity and scale of the event overlay and temporary structures needed. Alongside the absolute commitment to meet the Games requirements, central to our plans have been legacy, sustainability, accessibility and safety. Our vision for the London 2012 venues is the integration with London’s historic and iconic landmarks alongside our existing world class stadiums and sporting arenas. Our combined overlay team are world class and will deliver the technical excellence required to make this a spectacular Games.”
Jeff Keas, Principal of Populous, said:
“Sport is at the core of the overlay project, but more than that, we have focused on London as the backdrop. This means ensuring wherever we can that either the historic buildings at venues like Greenwich Park or Lord’s, or the iconic London skyline, remain in sight for spectators whilst creating an intimate atmosphere for the athletes. Together with LOCOG and our partners, we want to ensure the overlay facilities are more than functional, that they help to leave a lasting impression on how people experience and perceive the London 2012 Games.”
Steve Cardwell, Atkins Director and Design Manager, said:
“The unique approach taken towards temporary venues for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has presented fantastic opportunities to think differently about the delivery of major sporting venues. As a result we have in essence had to go back to first principles, and are proud of the innovative, light touch, and sustainable solutions we have developed with our partners.”
Stephen Jepson, Director in Drivers Jonas Deloitte’s Sport team, said:
“The venues we are project managing at Greenwich Park, Horse Guards Parade, the Mall and Hyde Park are entirely temporary and present an exciting challenge. We have spent a great deal of time understanding the site constraints and making sure the way in which each venue is delivered is done sensitively and ensures there is no long term impact. This gives us the confidence that it will be delivered – after all we can’t change the delivery deadline.”
For further information please contact:
Fran Edwards at the London 2012 Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 100 or visit the website at www.london2012. To contact Populous please call Catherine Hicks or Alison Poole on 020 7404 5959; to contact Atkins please call Ales Simmons on 020 7903 0669; to contact Drivers Jonas Deloitte please contact Stephen Jepson on 020 7303 3701.
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Note to editors:
Key venue facts
World Heritage Site
- Hosting Equestrian plus the combined running, shooting and jumping event of the Modern Pentathlon
- Temporary Cross Country course being designed for the Park
- A temporary main arena has been designed to showcase the Queen’s House and London skyline
- Unique platform created for equestrian events to deliver permanent characteristics in a temporary solution
Lord’s Cricket Ground
- Archery range will be created on the outfield of the main ground and the Nursery ground
- Temporary stands flank the avenue between the archers to the targets
- Video and score boards built into the temporary design
- Designed to showcase Lord’s Pavilion and the iconic media centre to provide ‘sport within a sport’ atmosphere
Lee Valley White Water Centre
- D300 metre competition course
- Undulating seating stands laid out to follow the contours of the course
- Temporary seating designed to achieve close proximity viewing along the course for both the spectator and athlete
About Populous
Populous is a global architecture, design practice and masterplanning consultancy that specialises in creating environments that draw people and communities together for unforgettable experiences. Over the past 30 years, the company has completed more than 1,000 projects around the globe with construction value exceeding US$20 billion. It has worked with 24 Major League Baseball franchises, 30 NFL franchises, 80 professional and civic arena clients, 40 soccer and rugby teams, 120 colleges and universities, 40 convention and performing arts centre clients, 29 equestrian clients and more than 30 major events. For more information visit www.populous.com
About Atkins
Atkins is the UK’s largest engineering and design consultancy and the world’s 11th largest design firm. We have the depth and breadth of expertise to respond to the most technically challenging and time-critical infrastructure projects and the urgent transition to a low-carbon economy. Whether it’s the concept for a new skyscraper, the upgrade of a rail network, the modelling of a flood defence system or the improvement of a management process, we plan, design and enable solutions.
About Drivers Jonas Deloitte
Drivers Jonas Deloitte provides comprehensive property consultancy, transaction and advisory services across the private and public sectors. Sports property experts within Drivers Jonas Deloitte have a wide range of experience financing, planning and delivering sports facilities with extensive experience throughout the UK and Europe. Drivers Jonas Deloitte is committed to improving sports facilities through raising the quality of provision, finding finance from the public and private sector and converting proposals for sports and leisure facilities into reality. Drivers Jonas Deloitte is a trading name of Deloitte LLP, the official professional services provider to the London 2012 Games. For more information, please visit www.djdeloitte.co.uk
LOCOG
As it heads towards its £2bn budget for staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games, LOCOG has seven domestic Tier One Partners – adidas, BMW, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB. There are seven domestic Tier Two Supporters – Adecco, ArcelorMittal, Cadbury, Cisco, Deloitte, Thomas Cook and UPS. There are now twenty domestic Tier Three Suppliers and Providers – Aggreko, Airwave, Atkins, Boston Consulting Group, CBS Outdoor, Crystal CG, Eurostar, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, GSK, Gymnova, Heineken UK, Holiday Inn, John Lewis, McCann Worldgroup, Mondo, Next, The Nielsen Company, Populous, Technogym, Ticketmaster and Trident.
There is one domestic Tier One Paralympic Games Partner, Sainsbury’s and one Tier Three Paralympic Games Supplier, Otto Bock.
The Worldwide Olympic Partners signed up for London 2012 are Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos Origin, Dow Chemical Company, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Procter and Gamble, Samsung and Visa.
