FEA TURE —L ONDON 2012 VENUES


COUNTDOWN TO O


Below (left & right): The most striking and memorable aspect of the Aquatic’s Centre is its 160m long sweeping roof, specified by architect Zaha Hadid, which weighs around 3,200 tonnes, is 80m wide at its widest point, and 95m high. Pictured left in Games mode and right in Lecacy.


ALL IMAGES IN THIS FEATURE ARE COURTESY:GETTY IMAGES/ODA


Feature-writer Steve Menary continues his reports on the London 2012 venues; with the Aquatics Centre and Velodrome illustrated in this feature.


f all the venues being built


for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, fewcan have attracted as much attention as the Aquatics Centre. London wonthe righttohost the next Summer


Olympic Games back in 2005 and Zaha Hadid’s design forthe Aquatics Centre attractedmorenoticethan per- haps anyother venue,not just forthe iconic designbut also as thebudget initially morethan doubled,sending the architects back to the drawing boardbythe end of that same year. Now, six years on and with the project nearing com-


pletion, the design and construction team, and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), all hope that the Aquatics Centre will be remembered forthe finished product and proveas emblematic for the London 2012 Games as the Bird’s Nest Stadium was at Beijing in 2008. The revised scheme will provide an Aquatics Centre to


host swimming,diving,synchronised swimming,water polo finals andthe swimming discipline of the Modern Pentathlon in 2012, when the capacitywill be 17,500 for the Olympics and Paralympics. Post-Games, the capacity will be reduced to 2,500 but with an option to temporarily boost capacity by 1,000 seats in legacy mode, when the centre will provide two50-metreswimming pools,adiving


pool and dry diving area, which are all facilities that Lon- don did not previously posses.


Statement Design Legacy is a vital part of all the venues being built in Strat- ford forthe Olympics but the Aquatics Centre,which is sited in Zone One of the Olympic Park,has alwaysbeen moreofastatementand will be one of the first things that visitors see. Zaha Hadid’s roof provides that state- ment but also came at significant cost and this was why the original plans had to be redrawn. “The biggest thing that has happened with the design is that we have reduced risk,” explained ODA Chief Executive David Hig- gins in 2006. “Therewas speculation about cost ayear ago but that was not the main reason why we drove this redesign. There will be lower risks with the reduced size of the roof. The big decision that we made was that we did not want to startslashing everything.Everything thatwas thereisstill there. But reducing the sizeofthe roof will reduce costs for sure, as there will be less steel.” Theredrawnplans were givenplanning approval in


May 2008—a month after the new cost of the Aquatics Centre wasfinally given. An initial budget had been given of just £75m at 2004 prices. This was obviously


SPR IN G 20 11


PA NS TA DI A


6


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  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196