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PROJECT REPORT: MIXED USE SCHEMES
The most visible new addition is Olympia Central, five cigar shaped forms containing state of the art offices
history; there used to be streets between the various halls, and we wanted to put those back in.” There was a lot of clutter between the buildings to remove in order to open up the site and allow it to breathe, however restoring the permeability of the site at ground level wasn’t going to be achievable. There was strong resistance from the client because over the years the connectedness that had developed between the halls had benefited the shows commercially. Morriss explains how this led to the decision to create the new steel structure that would result in a high level public realm: “I remember the meeting very well; we came up with idea that we would just lift it.”
The designs
This was an extremely ambitious project all round, not least once Covid got involved, but Trevor Morris explains how the ambition inherent in Olympia itself helped drive the designers: We always referred back to the ambition of Olympia; this was a very, very big building for its context at the time. And we wanted that ambition to kind of come through in its new equivalent.” The main stats for this development are pretty staggering – 135,000 ft² of F&B, 550,000 ft of high specification offices, a 1,575 seat ‘G-Gate’ theatre and 4,400 capacity Olympia Arena music venue for AEG, two hotels for leading brands (CitizenM and Hyatt, with 146 and 204 rooms respectively), a school for the creative arts, and 2.5 acres of public realm.
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And for the client, the core is that the four exhibition halls remain, refurbished and now providing capacity for 26,000 visitors. Minimising traffic and congestion around the perimeter of the site, while allowing the most efficient logistics for the events, was a paramount consideration. The ground and basement levels of the scheme therefore are dedicated to this, meaning that all of the deliveries required will now be dealt with from within the environs of Olympia, no longer disrupting local residents and pedestrians.
The most visible new addition is Olympia Central, five cigar shaped forms, containing state of the art offices in a variety of heights. They sit curvaceously on top of the ground level logistics centre which takes all exhibition traffic off the external circulation, and present a seriously compelling new workplace offering for west London. The stepped form is striking yet friendly, driven by its context and sensitivity to neighbours, ranging from five to two stories at the west flank on Hammersmith Road and three to the east.
Central has echoes of Art Deco, like the theatre’s precast exterior, and rising above the glazed canopy in the public space it’s an impressive new addition to the city. The stacking is unusual and dense, given that the new office blocks will be built over the retained facade of what is now the conference centre, and also sits above the new public realm exterior space. But their dramatic cantilevering is not mere design flamboyance, it’s another way every inch
ADF APRIL 2024
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