CHANGERS GAMES
The XXX Olympiad has fi nally arrived. During the next two weeks more than 10,000 athletes from 204 nations will strive to win gold medals in 300 events. For building services engineers the race to deliver the venues on time and budget has already been won. We speak to fi ve engineers who have been key to UK construction’s Olympic success
Emmanuelle Danisi, associate, Arup
What was your Olympic role? I was project manager and co-ordinated Arup’s engineering team on the Aquatics Centre. Our scope encompassed building services, lighting and security, as well as structural engineering, fi re, acoustics and sustainability.
We made it happen through months of discussion with the client, the architect and contractor
AQUATICS CENTRE: CREDIT WHERE IT’S DUE
July’s feature on the Aquatic Centre should have included two engineers as co-authors. Apologies to Emmanuelle Danisi, building services project engineer and Jeffrey Yuen, mechanical design engineer, both at Arup
What was the best innovation? The most exciting innovation seems like a very small thing – the pool hall ceiling bubbles, which accommodate the lighting, speakers and security cameras. There is a lot happening in a small space, and everything has to be able to survive in a tough, pool hall environment, and perform to exacting broadcasting requirements. This design meant that all the equipment was recessed into the ceiling void, maintaining the amazing visual purity of Zaha Hadid’s curved design for the timber ceiling. We made it happen through months of discussion with the client, the architect and contractor, a lot of calculations, and extensive modelling in 3D. We had to work on every detail, down to the drawings for the bracket installation. We are really pleased with the end result.
What have you learnt? That the success of the project relies heavily on the dedication of the team
involved, their constant attention to detail and, critically, on continuity within the whole design team from concept to completion.
Who deserves a gold medal? It’s too diffi cult to pick out a single individual because, over the past six years, so many people have been heroes on one part of the project or another, putting in enormous extra effort at the right moment to get things completed on time – both in the design and the construction phases.
Who is your Olympic hero? Nadia Comaneci, I remember watching her on TV as a child; she was amazing and inspiring.
What event are you most looking forward to? Diving. It’s really impressive and the concrete diving towers look absolutely amazing!
Have you got any tickets? Unfortunately no, but I was present at the opening of the Aquatics Centre last year and was lucky enough to go to one of the diving test events. It was really nice and a bit surreal to see the building in use and full of families. It made me feel really happy to see the enthusiasm of people for the venue as they entered the pool hall.
12
CIBSE Journal August 2012
www.cibsejournal.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60