[ Project focus: Aquatics Centre ]
The Aquatics Centre for London 2012
This saved a huge amount of fuel and money, reduced our environmental impact and lowered the amount of congestion around this very busy area of London.’
After the event
The main works were completed in July 2011, and the Aquatics Centre was formally opened soon after. In March this year, five British swimmers secured team places when the British Swimming Olympic qualifying trials were held there, an event that gave Marcoe an opportunity to make sure that everything operated as it should do in ‘real world’ conditions. After London 2012, The Aquatics Centre will be transformed into a facility for the local community, clubs and schools, as well as elite swimmers, attracting an anticipated 800,000 visitors a year.
Marcoe Electrical will be involved in the legacy transformation. Mark Morgan says: ‘The great thing about the entire Olympic Park is its ability to have a positive future beyond 2012. This area has changed so dramatically, and it’s good to know that these magnificent facilities will have long-term benefits for the area.’
Final word With the London 2012 opening ceremony just days away, the final comment about the Aquatics Centre goes to Sebastian Coe, LOCOG chairman, who concludes: ‘The Aquatics Centre is a spectacular venue and its iconic roof will be a fantastic addition to the east London skyline. At Games time, I personally hope it will be the scene of further success for Team GB but, just as importantly, I look forward to London at last having a state-of-the-art aquatics facility for elite and community use for decades to come.’
Visitor attraction
n The Aquatics Centre will host swimming, diving, synchronised swimming, the water polo finals and the swimming discipline of the modern pentathlon. n It will have a capacity of 17,500 during the Games. This will reduce to a maximum of 2,500 in legacy, with the ability to add 1,000 for major events, and provide two 50m swimming pools, a diving pool and dry diving area – facilities London does not have at present. n It is the second-largest venue on the Olympic Park – more than 200m long with a 22,000m2 .
footprint and a volume of approximately 500,000m3
n The two swimming pools and diving pool contain more than 10 million litres of water and are lined with 180,000 tiles. n The 160m-long roof measures 80m at its widest point and weighs more than 3,000 tonnes. It rests on just three concrete supports. n The structure incorporates a 250m-long and 45m-wide land bridge that forms the main walking access into the Olympic Park and the roof of the training pool. The bridge includes 14 steel beams, up to 60m long and weighing 75 tonnes each. n Four miles of pipes and 13 filters each filled with 16 tonnes of sand are in place to manage the water in the three pools. n The river that runs alongside the venue has been widened by eight metres by building 550m of new river walls.
All the products installed at the Aquatics Centre had to have industry-leading environmental and energy efficiency credentials
July 2012 ECA Today 39
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