51


to plot routes for climbers fixing hand and foot holds. The gymnastics hall has a large pit filled with foam blocks on


which users may safely land. It was designed so that both this, and the adjacent tumbling track, which is like a long thin tram- poline, were inserted into cavities left in the floor during con- struction so that the whole area has a level surface. Near to it is a changing ‘village’ for centre users. This dis-


penses with the normal division in men’s and women’s cubicles in favour of a collection of individual, family and even team- sized rooms. Franks notes that the sporting village has secured a Very Good


BREEAM rating. It has a carbon footprint of 170,000 kg per month, a Morgan Sindall study shows, and upwards of 80 per cent of waste is recycled. A combined heat and power plant heats the swimming pool,


and energy use has been kept low through measures that include solar water heaters, wind catchers and recycling of rainwater. Construction work began in October 2009 and ended on


29th April 2011, and it was decided to open to the public the next day. Former Olympic gold medallist Lord Sebastian Coe, now


chair of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, has visited and described it as ‘very impressive’. Visitor numbers are expected to grow as the Olympic Games


encourage more people to try their hand at sport. The village waits for them. As Palmer says: “We are in 120


acres of park. You could not have a better view than from here and the town centre is five minutes walk.”


            


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