36


 


!($%&+"%&"!"!%'! %#"$&%!&$!"!%&"$& + #& !'&'$$&%%&$% $#"$&%&(!$+


central Docklands in the 1980s. The £20 million Sports Dock at the main Docklands Campus


O


of the University of East London (UEL) fits the bill perfectly, taking a role in the 2012 Olympics but also providing a sports centre for students and the local population. The Sports Dock’s role in the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic


Games will be a primary base for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) athlete performance services and logistical operations and see more than 1,000 athletes, coaches, scientists, medical practitioners and support staff use the centre. For UEL, the development of the project has been a race


against time and one immovable deadline – July 27 2012, the date that the Olympic Games finally start. The site previously featured a single storey sports hall and


changing rooms operated by Ball Hall for UEL. Once the initial plan was conceived to redevelop the site, architects Clague were brought on board. The initial proposal was estimated to cost around £6 million but the plans snowballed until a final plan was agreed. Clague drew up plans for a Sports Dock to include a gym, fit-


ness suite, space for 10 badminton courts, two competition bas- ketball courts, volleyball and netball courts, futsal pitches, cricket bays, two indoor five-a-side football pitches, covered seating for 400 people and a multi-use games area. With the USOC on board for the Olympics, a deadline for completion of March 2012 was set.


continued on page 39


ne of the aims behind the successful bid to stage the 2012 Olympic Games in London was to help continue the regeneration of the east of the capital that began in


© Clague


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