Copper Box

Copper Box

The Copper Box Arena during the 2012 Summer Olympics
Location Olympic Park
Hackney
London
Coordinates 51°32′39.84″N 0°1′12.36″W / 51.5444000°N 0.0201000°WCoordinates: 51°32′39.84″N 0°1′12.36″W / 51.5444000°N 0.0201000°W
Operator Olympic Delivery Authority
Capacity 7,500
Construction
Construction cost GBP £ 44 million [1]
(£45.3 million in 2015 sterling[2])
EUR € 53 million
Architect MAKE architects, Populous, PTW Architects, ARUP
Tenants

2012 Summer Olympics
2012 Summer Paralympics
London Lions Basketball (July 2013–present)
London GD Handball Club (July 2013–present)

Gfinity 3 eSports (2014)

The Copper Box Arena is a multi-sport venue used for the 2012 Summer Olympics, located in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Hackney Wick, London, England. Previously known as the Handball Arena, it was renamed because, aside from handball, it hosted modern pentathlon (fencing) during the Olympics and was the goalball venue for the 2012 Summer Paralympics.[3]

History

London's Olympic bid proposed that there would be four indoor arenas in the Olympic Park, in addition to other main venues, but the revised masterplan published in 2006 reduced this to three, with the volleyball being moved to Earls Court Exhibition Centre.[4] The fencing arena was also cancelled, and the fencing took place at ExCeL. Construction of the building was completed on time in early 2011 and came in under budget.[5] The design incorporates light pipes and rainwater collectors to reduce both energy and water use by 40%.[6] Test events were successfully hosted at the venue ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.

The Copper Box interior before a handball game

In January 2012, the venue was renamed the Copper Box from the Handball Arena, thus reflecting the look of the building and the fact that it would not just be used for Handball.[7] English Handball campaigned for the rebrand to be reversed.[3]

Olympics

The Copper Box has 7,000 seats. It was used for handball preliminaries and modern pentathlon fencing during the Olympic Games, and for goalball during the Paralympic Games. The handball men's quarter-finals, all semi-finals and both finals were held at the larger Basketball Arena.

The Copper Box was praised for its loud, exciting atmosphere during handball games.[8] For the Paralympics goalball events the crowd in the Box must be silent.[9]

Post-Olympics

The venue has been adapted into a multi-sport arena for community use, athlete training and major events. It is the only permanent indoor sports arena retained in the Olympic Park, as the temporary Basketball Arena facility has been relocated.

On 8 August 2012, it was announced that British Basketball League side London Lions would re-locate to the Copper Box for the 2013–14 season.[10] Lions played their first game at the Copper Box on 14 August 2013 in front of a sell-out crowd, losing 72-107 to American college team Iowa Hawkeyes in the exhibition match.[11]

The Copper Box hosted the London 'Grand Prix Badminton' in 2013 from 1 October until the finals on 6 October. The London Grand Prix forms part of the Badminton World Federations BWF Gold series.

The venue played host to the Netball Superleague Grand Final on 25 April 2015[12] which saw the Surrey Storm win their first ever Netball Superleague title, defeating the Hertfordshire Mavericks, 56-39.

London GD Handball Club, one of the oldest Handball clubs in the country, will use the venue for its home matches.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "The Copper Box: All you need to know about the unique handball arena". dailymail. 23 July 2012.
  2. ↑ UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Gregory Clark (2014), "What Were the British Earnings and Prices Then? (New Series)" MeasuringWorth.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "London 2012: Olympic venue name-change angers handball chief". BBC Sport. 10 January 2012.
  4. ↑ "London unveils Olympic masterplan". BBC Sport. 7 June 2006.
  5. ↑ Pearce, Nick (12 May 2012). "London 2012 Olympics: Handball Arena makes building work on Olympic Park '83 per cent complete'". The Daily Telegraph.
  6. ↑ "Copper Box - 2012 Olympics". London 2012. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ PAUL LOGOTHETIS (AP Sports Writer) (2012-08-04). "Handball's Olympic venue is the 'Box That Rocks' - Yahoo! Sports". Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
  9. ↑ "Sharkey excited by silent Copper Box (From The Northern Echo)". Thenorthernecho.co.uk. 2012-08-30. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
  10. ↑ Published on 09/08/2012 08:54. "REVEALED: Lions to leave Milton Keynes for Olympic Park in London - MK Lions - Milton Keynes Citizen". Miltonkeynes.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
  11. ↑ "Copper Box sell-out ‘promises so much’, says London Lions coach Macaulay". London24.com. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  12. ↑ "Copper Box Arena to host NSL Finals day". England Netball. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  13. ↑ BBC Sport - London GD handball club to move to Copper Box Arena

External links