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Analysis | Olympics | Water Polo Arena


Zaha Hadid’s Aquatics Centre is a magnificent, flawed beast of a building aching for the day when it can shed its contentious wings


HOW TO Words Eleanor Young


Spectators arriving from Stratford Station


MAKE A SPLASH


It may be a temporary venue but the thoroughly recyclable Water Polo Arena creates an effect that responds to the Aquatics Centre without splashing out


ARCHITECT DAVID MORLEY wanted his Water Polo Arena to make an impact. That seems pretty ambitious with its nearest neighbours in the Olympic Park being the Aquatics Centre and Olympic Stadium. But the arena, on site since January, is already making its presence felt, encased in silver PVC and 25m high at its peak.


will see the silver roof rising next to the Aquatics Centre. Morley says: ‘The main thing you see as you arrive at the park is the rippling fifth elevation of the roof, like a huge splash created by the diving figure the Aquatics Centre resembles. At night waves of light on the roof will exaggerate this effect.’ Inside are a 37m long water polo pool


and a slightly smaller warm-up pool. Most spectators will be on stands in the highest part of the section opposite the referee’s platform. An inflatable roof deals with the worst of the condensation – two layers of PVC blown into 10m by 50m cushions. Morley stretched the fabric tightly to avoid a secondary structure on the walls. Curved column tops give a three- dimensional ‘curved scallop’ along the eaves line. Like the Basketball Arena, almost everything


is leased. And the easy recyclability of components was also critical, from the recycled content of black seating to the refolding and so transportable PVC. Morley treated the building materials as a kit of parts, with each returning to the construction process afterwards – primarily for reuse. The trusses


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ABOVE: Looking south over the River Lee the Water Polo Arena is seen in front of the Aquatics Centre.


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