The 2012 Summer Olympics saw a
massive influx of tourists to London, wanting to see their countrymen make
proud by winning gold. The event gave the British economy a massive boost of £9.9bn
and of course a boom in London
airport transfers with all the people flying in. While the event will be
remembered for long, the actual Olympics Park itself is nothing short of
architectural brilliance.
The entire project in East London
made use of 80,000 workers and is situated adjacent to the Stratford City
development. The Olympics Park itself is a consortium of different venues and
buildings and includes: the Olympic Village where the athletes stay, and various
sporting venues such as the actual Olympic Stadium and the London Aquatics
Centre.
The Olympic Stadium
Initial work for the stadium
began in mid-2007, and the actual construction began in May 2008. The Organizing
Committee Olympics selected the team behind the famous Emirates Stadium, Robert
McAlpine and globally renowned design firm Populous.
The stadium is strategically made
up of different tiers in order to be able to accommodate large groups of
people. During the Olympics, this number reached 80,000 fans and viewers. The
tier nearest to the field is shaped like a sunken elliptical bowl, holding up
to 25,000 people at a time. It’s material consists of low-carbon-dioxide
concrete, containing 40% less carbon than traditional concrete.
The 2nd tier, which holds 55,000
seats, is 315 metres long and 60 metres high, with the capacity to hold up to
55,000 spectators. Interestingly, the total steel required to build the stadium
is just a little under the amount of steel used in the 2008 Beijing Olympics
Stadium. Imagine sitting atop the stadium roof and watching planes head in to Heathrow airport transfers!
London Aquatics Center
The Aquatics Center is another
architectural wonder from the Olympics, and was designed by award-winning
architect Zaha Hadid. She designed it 8 years prior to the Olympics in 2012.
The centre was constructed on the opposite side of the Waterworks River, near
the Water Polo Arena. The structure 148 feet high and 520 feet in length. long
and 80 metres (260 feet) wide. Hadid took inspiration from the Dollan Aqua
Centre in Scotland.
The complex has a variety of
pools for competition, a 50m competition pool, a 25m diving pool and a 50m
warm-up pool. Innovatively, the 50m pool has a floor that can be moved to alter
the depth, and moveable booms that allow its size to be transformed as per
requirement.
A Well-Planned Structure
Even after 4 years of the Olympics, the Park is serving a great purpose for various demographics. It is the result of a well-planned effort right from the start, with a proper future plan of action in place. The ArcelorMittal Orbit is one such example. While it was an accompanying aesthetical structure to the spirit of the Olympics, today it still stands as a popular tourist spot. And the East Village has been converted for use as 3600 apartments, and the International Quarter being turned into a mixed-use commercial district.