2012 OLYMPIC VELODROME, LONDON
The distinctive double-curved roof (above) was designed to reflect the geometry of the cycling track
light the building naturally. During the Olympics the track will need to be lit by bright lights in order to film the cycling events, but afterwards, the nat- ural light coming through the roof will be enough to illuminate the track for much of the time. The roof collects rainwater, which will
be recycled, and the building is natu- rally ventilated. We take the air out at high level and bring it in at low level through slots in the building’s façade. It’s important to get the temperature up within the Velodrome, as cyclists like it to be very hot when they are competing because they go faster. It’s a bal- ance between getting it to work for the athletes and keeping the crowd com- fortable, and also enabling the venue to run on a much lower budget when those high temperatures aren’t needed.
VELODROME FACTS
n 250m UCI (International Cycling Union) approved indoor track n 6,000 seats and 360 degree concourse in legacy for viewing
all cycling activities n Legacy café, changing rooms, cycle workshop and storage for over 300 bikes with a legacy bike hire outlet for families to hire bikes
to use the new cycling facilities n Venue will be linked into cycle routes across London
CYCLING LEGACY
n After the Games, a road cycle circuit and mountain bike course will be added to the Velodrome and BMX circuit to create the Lee Valley VeloPark, combining cycling facilities across all
Were you inspired by other velodromes? We looked at a lot of them, but we decided they weren’t relevant to the challenges we face here in London. In London there’s a massive legacy issue, because that was central to the bid. It rains here, and it’s cold, but the elite athletes like to go around the track in a very warm tempera- ture. We needed to think about how to address these issues.
ISSUE 2 2011 © cybertrek 2011
disciplines in one cycling ‘hub’ n The legacy VeloPark will be owned and operated by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
The Velodrome opened on time and on budget. How was this achieved? Everyone put a massive amount of effort into the project and there was great teamwork from everyone involved. We spent a lot of time ensur- ing it was all logically thought out, and that helped keep construction time down. Even though it’s a very striking building, it’s built out of easily-avail- able, conventional materials like any other stadium. We thought a lot about the construction process when coming up with the design to make sure it was very practical and pragmatic.
What input did Sir Chris Hoy have? He was on the jury, and helped to select the design team. We met him and other members of the elite GB team through the design process. Hoy was very concerned about cold air coming in onto the track during competitions, so we carefully designed lobbies with heaters to stop this hap-
pening. He was very enthusiastic about our idea of putting spectator seating around the bends in the track, because the riders really appreciate cheers as they are coming round the bends. And he asked if we could make sure the toilets were very close to the track, so we took that on board. l
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