London Aquatics Centre

London Aquatics Centre
Location 100-107 A115, Stratford, London, United Kingdom
Built 27 July 2011
Operator Olympic Delivery Authority
Surface Swimming and diving pools
Construction cost £269m
Architect Zaha Hadid Architects, Sports Architect - S&P Architects[1]
Project Manager Stuart Fraser (Balfour Beatty)
Structural engineer Ove Arup & Partners
Services engineer Fire safety - Arup Fire[2], Acoustics - Arup Acoustics[3], Lighting - Arup Lighting[4], Facade - Robert-Jan Van Santen Associates
General Contractor Balfour Beatty
Main contractors Concrete - London Concrete[5], Steelwork - Rowecord Engineering[6]
Capacity 17,500 (2,500 Post Olympics)[7]
Tenants
2012 Summer Olympics

The London Aquatics Centre is an indoor facility with two 50 metre swimming pools and a 25 metre diving pool, which will be one of the main venues of the London 2012 Summer Olympics and the London 2012 Summer Paralympics.

Contents

History

Design

It was designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Zaha Hadid in 2004 before London won the bid. The centre is located in the Olympic Park at Stratford in east London. With its distinctive architecture and curved roof, it will be the first venue visitors see upon entering the Olympic Park.

The design software used was Oasys, the software division of Arup[8]. The drainage design software used was from Micro Drainage.[9] The Project Architect was Jim Heverin. The site is 45 metres high, 160 metres long, and 80 metres wide.

Construction

The Aquatics Centre contract was awarded to Balfour Beatty in April 2008.[10] At the same time it was reported that the centre would cost about three times as was originally estimated, totalling about £242m. The cost increases were attributed to construction inflation and VAT increases, and also included the estimated cost of converting the facility for public use after the Olympics and Paralympics.[11] The roof is stated to be 11,200 square feet (1,040 m2), a reduction from the previously stated 35,000 square feet (3,300 m2).

Despite the cost increases, the centre should stay within the total construction budget for the event, which is an estimated £6.09bn.[11]

Construction started in July 2008 and was completed in July 2011.

The aluminium roof covering has been provided by Kalzip[12]. The steel structure was built in cooperation with Rowecord Engineering. The ceiling was built with 30,000 sections of Red Lauro timber.

The six-board dive tower is made from 462 tonnes of concrete. The steel roof weighs 3,200 tonnes. The three pools hold around 10 million litres of water.

Site

The centre will be used for the Olympic event of swimming, diving, and synchronised swimming, and for the Paralympic event of swimming.

Capacity

During the Games it will have a capacity of 17,500, which will be reduced to 2,500 after the Games.

Legacy

It is expected that the centre will leave a legacy of replacing the pools at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in South London as London's leading facility for aquatic sports.

See also

References

  1. ^ London Olympic Organizers Say Aquatics Site Work Ahead of Plan
  2. ^ (1 December 2005). "Olympic pool plans to be revised" at BBC News. Accessed 1 December 2005.
  3. ^ BBC News website
  4. ^ London 2012 website

External links