Jul 27
Dezeen Wire: The Telegraph shows 22 new aerial photos of the London 2012 Olympic Games venues – see the gallery here.
See all our stories about the London 2012 Olympic Games here.
Jun 14
London 2012 Basketball Arena by Sinclair Knight Merz
Posted in: KSS, Public and leisure buildings, Sinclair Knight Merz, Wilkinson Eyre
The latest completed venue for the London 2012 Olympics is the Basketball Arena, a PVC tent designed by Sinclair Knight Merz with Wilkinson Eyre and KSS.
A patterned surface is created on the exterior where the skin stretches over arched frames.
The arena will host handball and basketball during the Olympics next year, and wheelchair rugby and basketball for the Paralympics.
Two thirds of the structure will be reusable after the games are over, when the building will be completely dismantled.
More about the 2012 London Olympic Games on Dezeen »
More buildings for sport on Dezeen »
The following information is from the Olympic Delivery Authority:
Basketball Arena becomes fourth Olympic Park venue completed
The London 2012 Basketball Arena has become the fourth Olympic Park venue completed, more than a year ahead of the Games and is one of the quickest venues to finish construction, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) announced today.
The Basketball Arena is one of the largest temporary venues ever used for an Olympic and Paralympic Games and will be dismantled after the Games to be reused elsewhere. Initial works on site began in October 2009, with work to erect the 1,000-tonne steel frame starting in March 2010. The venue has now been completed on budget, making it one of the quickest Olympic Park venues to finish construction.
With the ODA’s construction works completed, the venue will now be handed over to the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) to carry out overlay works to get the venue ready for the first Olympic Park test event in August – the venue will host the London International Basketball Invitational to be held from the 16th-21st August which will see six top men’s teams from around the world come to London to compete (Great Britain, Australia, China, Croatia, France and Serbia).
During the 2012 Games, Basketball preliminary matches and Women’s quarter finals will be staged at the Arena, in addition to the Handball men’s quarter finals, all semi finals and medal matches. It will also host Wheelchair Basketball and Wheelchair Rugby during the Paralympic Games.
ODA Chief Executive Dennis Hone said: ‘Completing construction on the Basketball Arena delivers another striking Games-time venue for the Olympic Park and an innovative structure that can be re-used elsewhere after 2012. As the fourth Olympic Park venue completed and one of the quickest to finish construction, the Basketball Arena is another milestone for the Olympic Park ‘Big Build’ and a tribute to the companies from across the UK involved in its delivery.’
Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport and the Olympics, said: ‘Basketball is one of the most atmospheric competitions of the Games and this has been captured by the artistic design of the Arena. The speed with which this venue has been constructed is a tribute to the ODA and the architect whose design means this facility can be re-used after the Games.’
London 2012 Organising Committee Chair Seb Coe said: ‘Basketball is one of the most popular Olympic sports and spectators will be able to see the game played out in spectacular surroundings. It is a superb venue which will be the centre of some of the best team action during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.’
Venue factfile:
Venue design and facilities and design:
- 12,000 seats – black and orange seating designed to represent the colours of a basketball
- Venue is 35 metres high (as high as the Tate Modern) and longer than a football pitch at 115 metres long
- 1,000-tonne steel frame wrapped in 20,000sqm of recyclable white PVC membrane, stretched over three different variations of arched panels.
- During the Games the exterior will act as a canvas for an artistic and innovative lighting design.
- Venue facilities including lifts, toilet blocks, corridors and VIP access rooms installed beneath venue seating frame
- After the Games the venue will be dismantled by the contractors which built and own the temporary elements, with the option of potentially using elements of the arena at other UK and overseas events.
Construction
The Basketball Arena design team was lead by Sinclair Knight Merz together with Wilkinson Eyre and KSS
The venue was constructed by companies from across the UK, including:
- Scotland: Barr Construction in Glasgow built the structure.
- West Midlands: Slick Seating in Redditch is providing the temporary seating.
- South West: Base from Bristol provided the membrane cladding for the outside of the Arena and Mitie from Bristol carried out mechanical and electrical works.
- South East: Envirowrap from Tenterden in Kent is providing the wrapping for the seats; Sevenoaks-based Volker Fitzpatrick is erecting the steelwork, building the toilet blocks and internal fit-out, including lifts.
- Northern Ireland: McAvoy from Dungannon is building the temporary accommodation.
- Yorkshire: Fullflow Group Ltd in Sheffield is a sub-contractor to Barr Construction and will be installing the syphonic drainage.
Sports:
Sports to be staged at the Basketball Arena include:
- Basketball: The Olympic Basketball competition will have 288 athletes competing for two gold medals – 144 men and 144 women, and 12 teams of 12 players in each competition.
- Handball: Two teams of seven players pass and dribble a small synthetic or leather ball using only their hands. The aim is to score a goal by throwing the ball past the defending goalkeeper. The team with the most goals wins.
- Wheelchair Basketball: As in Basketball, played by two teams of five players on the court. It is similar to the Olympic game, with same size court, basket height and near-identical rules.
- Wheelchair Rugby: Played indoors on a regulation size basketball court using a white ball identical in size and shape to a volleyball. Teams have four players on the court and the object of the game is to carry the ball across the opposition’s goal line.
See also:
.
 |  |  |
| 2012 London Olympic Stadium by Populous | ArcelorMittal Orbit by Anish Kapoor | London 2012 Velodrome by Hopkins Architects |
Mar 31
Here are some photos of the completed 2012 London Olympic Stadium designed by HOK Sport (now known as Populous).
Construction was completed this week and the 80,000-seat stadium will now be prepared with a running track, scoreboards and gantries before a test event in May next year.
According to the Olympic Delivery Authority construction is complete three months ahead of schedule and cost £10 million less that the original estimate.
The design was unveiled in 2007 – see our story here.
More about 2012 London Olympic Games »
More buildings for sport »
Photographs are by Morley von Sternberg, courtesy Populous.
Here’s a tiny bit of text from Populous:
29th March 2011 marks the completion of the construction contract at the Olympic Stadium where the last piece of turf is being laid by ODA Chairman John Armitt.
Rod Sheard, Senior Principal at Populous, the Stadium architect said: “The construction of the world’s most environmentally friendly Olympic Stadium has taken just over 1,000 days, in the world of major construction it could be considered a sprint, its completion marks the beginning of the end of the construction phase of London’s Olympic Games. We can now all look forward to just under 500 days of the final preparation to when the world will see this innovative design perform for the first time.”
Above image is courtesy ODA
See also:
.
|  |  |
| London 2012 Velodrome by Hopkins Architects | London Gate by Donis | Wenlock and Mandeville by iris |
Feb 21
Heatherwick to design Olympic Cauldron for 2012 games
Posted in: Uncategorized
Dezeenwire: British designer Thomas Heatherwick has been appointed to design the Olympic Cauldron, which will house the torch for the London 2012 Olympic Games. More details on the London 2012 website »
All our stories on the London 2012 Olympic games »
All our stories on Thomas Heatherwick »
May 19
Wenlock and Mandeville by iris
Posted in: Uncategorized
Creative agency iris has unveiled Wenlock (right) and Mandeville, the mascots for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. (more…)
Who's in charge here?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.