Analysis | Olympics | Basketball Arena

RIGHT: Twisting hoops of the PVC panels add dynamism to an otherwise plain facade.

BELOW: The 12,000 seats are steeply raked to squeeze them in. Bursts of colour bring the empty stadium to life.

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LIFE’S UPS AND DOWNS

Contractor Barr put up Wilkinson Eyre’s temporary Basketball Arena and will take it away too – all 20,000m2

of white PVC – to

be used in parts or as a whole elsewhere Words Eleanor Young

THE INITIAL BRIEF for the Basketball Arena called for a temporary, and genuinely reconfigurable venue. Initial thoughts were that the structure could be split into sections for reuse on a smaller scale as, for example, school sports halls. And there are no piled foundations, just a ground slab for the field of play. But budget and risk became more important considerations through the process, explains Jim Eyre, director at Wilkinson Eyre. ‘It will be easier to use in its current configuration. Reuse otherwise needs to be by someone who wants that building.’ The reference design was drawn up by

Wilkinson Eyre but contractor Barr, which owns the structure and is responsible for

RIBA JOURNAL : SEPTEMBER 2011

removing it from site as well as putting it up, preferred a simpler design. Wilkinson Eyre persuaded Barr to give the hoops supporting the PVC panels on the facades a twist which gives the building a random sense of dynamism. The finished design is larger than it appears,

and the 12,000 seats are so steeply raked as to trigger vertigo among spectators at the top. They may be reassured to know that the seats – owned by Slick Systems – are held in place by superior scaffolding. The changing rooms and entertainment space are hired – although the Olympic Delivery Authority did buy fixtures such as the showers. ‘When money is tight, you do simple things

in a bold way, like using supergraphics,’ says Eyre. ‘You don’t fetishise details.’ The seat colours for example have bold ‘bursts’ or blocks of black and orange (as on a basketball) imagined as energy exploding from the centre, a graphic device that has now been used elsewhere at the Olympic Park. The concept was also used to generate the lighting scheme that will animate the facade during the games. ODA project sponsor Richard Arnold says

the International Olympic Committee, which awards and oversees the games, is looking at this temporary building model and advocating others follow it, especially those in less developed countries. ‘The cost of a permanent venue is two or three times again,’ he says. Rio – as next Olympic host – has shown

interest in the arena and approaches have come from other parts of the UK and Qatar. n

ODA

ODA