57
FAR LEFT, ABOVE: An uplifting moment – the Velodrome from across the park.
FAR LEFT, BELOW: Timber track and soffit as well as cladding.
5 3 2 1 4 6
A NEW ROAD HAS JUST OPENED in front of the Velodrome. Now, instead of the icon across the parkland that it has already become, you just see a rather sweet building dipping down to the ground to welcome visitors. This new angle brings its post Olympic existence to life. It is approachable, an object in the landscape but also a venue that will welcome you in. Of course, this diminutive public entrance
will make the scale of the 250m long track and 6,000 seats inside all the more surprising and dramatic. Like most sporting venues, and all the Olympic stadia and arenas, the levels are critical to both the perception and operation of the building and Hopkins has been more free to play around with them than if they had been on a site with an established urban context. The Velodrome sits above much of the Olympic Park, a berm ensures it still nestles into greenery and the full height is disguised by burying the track. The curving roof completes the trick so you read the height as an aesthetic gesture – rather than an way to fit in all the seats. The building, which was covered more fully in RIBAJ April 2011 and is a strong contender
‘ The lightweight cable net roof was not only slung up in eight weeks but also optimised the steel structure by making it work in tension’
for the Stirling Prize, is a very fine example of a strain of design at Hopkins that is also visible in the Norwich Cathedral Refectory and is being explored in its first residential project for 30 years, in the Long House for Alain de Botton’s Living Architecture. Despite resonances between the beautifully curving timber track and the timber cladding, this material is an unusual choice for velodromes or other sports buildings although, unexpectedly for all architects involved, the three Olympic buildings which will be run by Lea Valley Regional Park Authority are all timber-clad. The emphasis on sustainability required of
all the Olympic Park venues is built into the fundamental design of the Velodrome, with a lightweight cable net roof which was not only slung up in eight weeks but also optimised the steel structure by making it work in tension. When weighing up the benefits of
photovoltaics versus rooflights, the balance came down firmly on the side of rooflights which give the stadium a good working light that will see it through even dull days for training after the Olympics – reducing some of the costs of running such a large venue. In the long term it is not just track cyclists
who will use this building. It will be part of the VeloPark, a central point with facilities, changing, bike hire and gym for BMX, mountain bike and road cycle track. It is likely the café of the glazed concourse level will attract parkland visitors as much as bikers. So much for the 2012 Olympic legacy in
Stratford. The cycling legacy of the 1948 Olympics, Herne Hill Velodrome, now also looks like it may benefit from the expertise and sensitivities of the same design team following its feasibility study for its campaigning group.n
RIBA JOURNAL : SEPTEMBER 2011
KEY
1: Infield 2: Track 3: Concourse 4: External concourse 5: Air handling units 6: Berm
IN DETAIL
Architect: Hopkins Architects Partnership Olympic use: Track cycling, Paralympic track cycling Legacy use: Still a velodrome for training and events and a gateway to a regional cycling facility Best thing: That delicious form pulled tight around track and spectators, with its crisp clean silhouette Worst thing: How will the building perform under Olympic summer strain when the cyclists have to be hot to win world records? Will spectators feel the heat?
IN NUMBERS: 21,700m2
gross internal area,
£90m gross cost, 6,000 seats, 250m track, 2,500 sections of steelwork, 12,000m2
cabling in cable net roof, 30kg/m2 weight of roof, 5,000m2 red cedar in the cladding
of roof, 16km western
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