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Analysis | Olympics | White Water Centre

DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

White water rafting is already well established in the Lee Valley, where this unexpectedly exciting park is proving surprisingly popular with the locals

Words Eleanor Young | Images Philip Vile

THE DRAMA of a mountain stream is not quite what you expect coming off the grotty highway that leads from Waltham Cross Station. But the rushing gurgling water at the White Water Arena makes its antecedent clear even if the landscape, awaiting Olympic stands, remains scrappy. The site, 10 miles north of the Olympic Park, is in the most attractive part of the Lee Valley Park in Hertfordshire, and corporate director of the park Vivien Blackler has been surprised by a regular weekend turnout of 1,000 spectators for the white water rafters. Casual visitors can wander into the centre, in contrast to the passport-controlled Olympic Park, although they are rather overwhelming the venue’s loos and small café. Architect and partner at FaulknerBrowns Michael Halley says: ‘It is a victim of its own success.’ The project was on a tight budget with huge costs sunk into the infrastructure of concrete channels and pumps. Space for internal expansion is built in, to avoid the risk

ABOVE: The peaceful lakes provide a gentle training ground for the teams of white water rafters who have just donned wet suits in the visitors’ centre behind.

WWW.RIBAJOURNAL.COM : SEPTEMBER 2011