Olympic Stadium (London)

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This article or section is about a planned or proposed stadium.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the stadium approaches.

Olympic Stadium

Location	Stratford, London
Opened	Unknown (Expected completion by 2011)
Closed	N/A
Demolished	N/A
Owner
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	Unknown
Architect	Team McAlpine HOK Sport Buro Happold
Tenants

Capacity
80,000 (25,000 Post Olympics)

The London Olympic Stadium will be the centrepiece of the 2012 Summer Olympics. The stadium will be located at Marshgate Lane in Stratford in the Lower Lea Valley and will have a capacity for the Games of approximately 80,000. Land preparation for the stadium will begin in mid-2007, with construction beginning in mid-2008 and completion scheduled for mid-2011.

Unlike previous Olympic Stadia, this will be solely for athletics (track & field) and for ceremonial usage. Whereas in previous games the Olympic Stadium has been used for the final of the football tournament, the 2012 football finals will be held at Wembley Stadium, which has a larger capacity and the advantage that the seating is closer to the pitch as there is no athletics track. The stadium will have a distinctive appearance due to its roof, which has been designed to wrap itself around the stadium "in a similar way that muscles support and represent the human body".

1 Developments
2 Post Olympic Legacy
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Developments

On 13 October 2006 LOCOG confirmed that it had selected the Team McAlpine consortium (consisting of McAlpine, HOK Sport + Venue + Event and Buro Happold) to start negotiations with, in hope to find the contractor fulfilling the eventual design and build contract of the new Olympic Stadium. ^[1]

The ODA received international and national interest to prequalify for the design and construction tender but Team McAlpine was the only consortium to meet all prequalification criteria. Team McAlpine was also the team who delivered the locally acclaimed new Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal FC.

Team McAlpine have extensive experience in the design and build of sports venues, including the Olympic Stadium for the 2000 Sydney Games.

They will now enter into negotiations and hope to officially confirm the appointment in early 2007.

It was announced in December 2006 that Peter Cook, the leading architect of HOK Sport + Venue + Event, will be involved in the design process of the stadium. He has promised to deliver a 'really chirpy building', with innovative features that will enable it to contract from an 80,000-seat venue to 25,000-seater after the Games.^[2] Cook founded the architectural group Archigram in 1961. His most recent architectural project was the Kunsthaus Graz, a museum of modern art, in Graz, Austria. The final design is expected to be unveiled to the public in summer 2007.

On 23 March 2007 it was revealed that the stadium will not include a roof structure, except over an area for VIPs and executives. ^[3]

[edit] Post Olympic Legacy

The legacy plans in the London 2012 bid is to have the stadium converted into a 25,000 seat athletics stadium with a sports training, science and medicine centre following the 2012 Paralympics.

However, several football teams have expressed a desire to move into the Olympic stadium after the games. Even if a football club does move to the Olympic Stadium, the LOCOG wishes to also hold athletic events at the stadium, as they wish for an athletic legacy for the stadium, and the capacity will be reduced to around 25,000. For these two reasons all but one interested club ended negotiations, leaving Leyton Orient F.C. as the only club in talks to move into the stadium following the games. ^[4].

It had been suggested that Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and West Ham United wished to be the tenants after the games, with the latter more strongly linked. ^[5] This proposal was advanced further following West Ham's takeover by an Icelandic consortium, with new Chairman Eggert Magnusson announcing in November 2006 that he would begin discussions with London 2012 and the government about the club eventually moving ^[6]. In February 2007, West Ham's request to be allowed to move to the Olympic Stadium was rejected^[7].

There has also been speculation that Chelsea F.C. might move there, due to lack of room for expansion at their current stadium ^[8]. However, due to the terms of the Chelsea Pitch Owners, the club would have to relinquish the name 'Chelsea Football Club' should they ever move from Stamford Bridge.

One more football club, Leyton Orient F.C. has also laid a claim to the Olympic Stadium. With space at their current home, The Matchroom Stadium, Brisbane Road, being limited by the building of flats, it is possible that Leyton Orient could accumulate a fanbase necessary to justify becoming tenants of the stadium. Orient should be seen as the natural choice if a football club was to take over due to Leyton Orient being the closest club to Stratford.