landscaping & external works 73
Legacy for the 21st
Century
Forming the centrepiece of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the 2.5km2 Olympic Park is the largest new urban park in the capital since the Victorian era and is a cat- alyst for regeneration in East London. In 2008 LDA Design was appointed to lead the master planning and detailed design of the parklands and public realm, Europe’s most significant landscape project for a generation.
T
he parklands have been designed to host hundreds of thousands of visitors each day during the Olympic and Paralympic Games
in 2012. The overarching design principles, which have inspired and guided the development for the Games and its subsequent Legacy Transfor- mation are: fit for purpose, value for money and the creation of a strong and distinctive identity and character. The hour-glass shape of the site naturally divides
the park into a strongly ecological and green north- ern half and more urban, entertainment focused southern half, rather like ‘Southbank’ in the centre of the capital. The two halves are connected by over five kilometres of improved river banks. The previously canalised River Lee has been trans- formed into a three dimensional mosaic of wetland, swales, wet & dry woodlands, and meadows, together forming an absorbent flood-control measure and also ensuring that no spoil has had to be removed from site. The park will form the backdrop to the most
sustainable games to date. Waste has been minimised at every stage of the project so that over 95 per cent of existing site material will be recycled within the park. Over four thousand semi-mature trees will be planted setting the
© LDA Design © LDA Design
scene for the creation of 45 hectares of new habitat post games while over a quarter of a million wetland plants will be planted in the improved water courses. One of the key selling points of the London
‘Seating will not be a problem for the visitors to the Olympics’
Olympic bid was a commitment to deliver regen- eration. In addition to our games-mode role, we have been commissioned to lead the design of the parkland in its post-games transformation. In Legacy Transformation, East London will be left with a stun- ning new park, giving local communities better access to high quality green space and recreational facilities.
Wetland bowls and rare wet woodlands in the
north of the Park create habitat and help manage floodwater, protecting new housing and venues and 5,000 existing properties from a 1:100 year storm. 300,000-plus wetland plants, grown in Norfolk and Wales, have been planted as part of the UK's largest ever urban river and wetland planting. Over 30 species of native reeds, rushes, grasses, sedges, wet wildflowers and irises have been grown initially on the Gower peninsular in Wales, with around a third grown from cuttings and seeds collected from the Olympic Park before construction started. The riverside London 2012 Garden stretches
for half a mile between the Aquatics Centre and Olympic Stadium on land that has been cleaned and cleared of railway sidings, contamination and Japanese Knotweed. The garden celebrates centuries of British passion for gardens and col- lecting plants, with picnic lawns, timber seating and 120,000 plants from 250 different species across the world, arranged into four tempe- rate regions: Europe, Americas, Asia and the Southern Hemisphere. Seating will not be a problem for the visitors to
the Olympics, with 250 benches and more than 3,300 seats built into the parklands, so that people are never more than a 50-metre walk from a seat.
Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson said: “The
parklands are a key feature of the Olympic Park landscape and will give visitors a place to relax and enjoy the atmosphere of London 2012 bet- ween sporting events. As we move beyond the Games the parklands will provide a great open space for the residents of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to enjoy.” LOCOG chairman Seb Coe said, “The Olym-
pic Park will be a fantastic green setting for the Games and a great new park for London in legacy.”
© LDA Design
Client: Olympic Delivery Authority Partner Landscape Architect: Hargreaves Associates: LDA Design Lighting design: Sutton Vane Associates Horticulture: University of Sheffield Garden designer: Sarah Price Accessibility consultant: Centre for Accessible Environments Maintenance & management Plan: ETM Associates Construction: Frost Landscapes Construction Limited, White Horse Contractors, Erith Landscaping: Atkins, Skandia, Willerby Landscapes, Hilliers Nursery, Palmstead Nursery, Salix, Tillers Turf Company. Tim O’ Hara Associates. Wetlands: Land and Water Services
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