PROJECT REPORT: MIXED USE SCHEMES 29


for this part of London. There’s an argument to say that Olympia was the renovation project that London didn’t know it needed, as a successful and sustainable business in the ‘right’ part of town (albeit now lacking a major overground rail station). A continued success as a venue throughout the 20th century, it saw a series of additions and conversions, including the retained concrete facade of Central Hall.


This piecemeal development of infill led to a dense built form which appeared ‘closed’ to surrounding streets, and hampered by portable cabins at the entrance itself. What was originally created as separate buildings had been infilled and somewhat disfigured to the point that Olympia felt disconnected from its community. The only people apart from staff on site in recent decades were likely to be attending an exhibition, and the various


ADF APRIL 2024


historic buildings had no activity at street level or interaction with their surroundings, bar a Pizza Express at the only entrance point which, as Morriss says; “you could enter the site without a ticket.” Morriss (who used to work at Jones Lang LaSalle and understands the pressures of commercial clients) explains that the site was hamstrung by its ad hoc pattern of large and small additions over the years. “There has never been a holistic approach, they built the Grand Hall, it was successful, and they built the National Hall, it was successful, and they built the Empire Hall.” He adds: “And every time there was an issue, like they needed another fire escape, it just kind of got plugged in, and over the generations, it just became this big monolith. It broke the idea of what it was originally about, which was about inviting people in; it just became something inward looking.”


NEW OPENINGS


The masterplan created new connections to the surrounding streets, and a new landscaped public space at second storey level, while retaining existing historic buildings and facades


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