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Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

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Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
The park in April 2012
The park in April 2012
Map of the park
Map of the park
CountryEngland, United Kingdom
CityLondon
London BoroughNewham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Hackney
DistrictStratford, Bow, Leyton, Homerton
Time zoneUTC0 (UTC)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (BST)
Postcode
E20
Websitequeenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, in London, United Kingdom, is a sporting complex built for the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Paralympics, situated to the east of the city adjacent to the Stratford City development. It contains the athletes' Olympic Village and several of the sporting venues including the Olympic Stadium and London Aquatics Centre, besides the London Olympics Media Centre.

The park is overlooked by the ArcelorMittal Orbit, an observation tower and Britain's largest piece of public art. It was simply called Olympic Park during the Games but was later renamed to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II,[1] (though it is not an official Royal Park of London).[2] The park occupies an area straddling four east London boroughs; Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Waltham Forest. Part of the park reopened in July 2013,[3] with a large majority of the rest (including the Aquatics Centre, Velopark and Orbit observation tower) reopening in April 2014.[4]


Location

The site covers parts of Stratford, Bow, Leyton, and Hackney Wick in east London, overlooking the A12 road. The site was previously a mixture of greenfield and brownfield land, including parts of Hackney Marshes.[5]

The Royal Mail gave the park and Stratford City the postcode E20, which had previously only appeared in the television soap opera EastEnders for the fictional suburb of Walford.[6]

History

Design

The park was designed by the EDAW Consortium (including EDAW, Allies and Morrison and Buro Happold), working with Arup and WS Atkins. Detailed landscape architecture was by LDA Design in conjunction with Hargreaves Associates. LDA design contracted Wallace Whittle to carry out various aspects of the M+E Building services design. The NHBC carried out the Sustainability assessments. The park was illuminated with a lighting scheme[7] designed by Sutton Vane Associates.

London's Olympic and Paralympic bid proposed that there would be four indoor arenas in the park in addition to the main venues, but the revised master plan published in 2006 reduced this to three, with the volleyball events moved to the Earls Court Exhibition Centre.[8] The fencing arena was also cancelled, with the fencing events taking place at ExCeL London. The remaining indoor arenas are the Basketball Arena and the Copper Box, in addition to the Water Polo Arena, the Aquatics Centre, and the Velopark. The final design of the park was approved by the Olympic Delivery Authority and its planning-decisions committee.

Construction

During its construction over 80,000 workers were engaged on the project.[9] To enable the major phase of construction to begin, the 52 electricity pylons, up to 65 metres (213 feet) high, that dominated the landscape in and around the park were removed, and the electricity for the park is now run through underground tunnels.[10]

Constituent sections of the park

The London Aquatics Centre with the ArcelorMittal Orbit on the right
Lee Valley VeloPark

In addition, at the time of the Olympic and Paralympic games:

Criticism

Rowan Moore, writing in The Guardian when the QE Park opened, commented that:[11] "There is a frenzy of wacky light fittings, of playground installations, of seats, tree species, sculptural lumps of granite, kiosks, railings and coloured surfaces...It suffers from an Olympic syndrome, where everyone wants to be a Mo or a Jessica and make their mark. No one, except perhaps the admirable Oudolf, wants to do the quiet stuff. Certainly not the student housing developers Unite, who have built an astoundingly ugly block of 1,001 units between the Athletes' Village and Westfield shopping centre that looms aggressively in almost every vista. Great care was taken to make the Athletes' Village aesthetically orderly, to the point where it began to resemble Ceausescu's Bucharest: this eruption makes such efforts futile."

Robert Holden and Tom Turner, in a review of the Olympic Park's landscape architecture [12] state that 'Our fundamental point is that "the landscape planning is much better than the landscape design". The landscape planning includes the opening up of the River Lea in the northern section of the park, the habitat-creation strategy and the park's excellent links with its hinterland. The landscape design is dominated by vast pedestrian concourses which will be busy during events but will resemble unused airport runways on every other occasion. There is some good garden-type planting but it has not been used to make "gardens": it is used more like strips of planting beside highways'.

Legacy

Further information: London 2012 Olympic Legacy
The ArcelorMittal Orbit at night

The park has a number of uses after the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London finished, such as:[13][14]

On 2 August 2011, it was announced the five neighbourhoods of housing and amenities (anti-clockwise from north-east) are:

These names have relevant history in the area.[22] All four of the East London boroughs covering the park as such have a neighbourhood except for Waltham Forest.

The International Quarter

The International Quarter is a new commercial district in Stratford, East London, which hosted the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.[23] It will be a mixed-use development,[24] with a total investment of in excess of £1.3 billion, and will be delivered by Lend Lease and London and Continental Railways in a 50/50 joint venture.[25]

The International Quarter will include 4 million sq ft of commercial office space,[26] 330 homes known as Glasshouse Gardens and a new hotel.[27] The area is accessible via Stratford station.

Subsequent international sporting events

Although the sporting venues in the park were reduced in scale after the conclusion of London 2012, part of the legacy is to ensure the continued use of those facilities that are permanent, as local and community resources and for major international sporting events that make use of the world class facilities constructed for the Olympics and Paralympics:

London has also bid for the right to hold both the UCI Track Cycling World Championships and the LEN European Aquatics Championships in 2016, which would be held at the Velodrome and Aquatics Centre respectively.[33][34]

Resident sports clubs

In addition to the use of the venues for international events, some of them are intended for use on a regular basis by amateur and professional sports teams in various sports.

On 11 February 2011, West Ham United were selected as preferred bidders, ahead of Tottenham Hotspur, to take over the Olympic Stadium as a football venue after the end of the games. However, five days later Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn announced that he would be challenging the decision to allow West Ham to relocate to the stadium, as he believed that having West Ham playing within one mile (1.6 km) of their Brisbane Road stadium could cost Orient support and even their existence.[35] Incidentally, Hearn had expressed interest some years earlier in moving Orient to Olympic Park and reducing its capacity to 25,000 seats,[36] while West Ham would cut the capacity to 60,000 if their relocation went ahead.[37] Tottenham Hotspur also pursued legal action over the decision and eventually the deal with West Ham collapsed due to legal pressure on 11 October 2011. West Ham did go on to win the later tenancy bid and will use the stadium from the start of the 2016-17 football season as the main tenant.[38]

The Copper Box will be the only permanent indoor arena remaining after the end of London 2012. Built primarily for use in the handball and goalball competitions, it will be converted to a multi-use venue that will include use for basketball. As a result of the owners of the Prestige Homes Arena in Milton Keynes terminating their lease, the London Lions basketball club, after a season at the National Sports Centre, Selhurst, will relocate to the Copper Box (upon conversion).[39]

The Lee Valley Hockey Centre was borne from a revamp of the Olympic Legacy Hockey Facility. The facility is the current ground of Wapping Hockey Club.[40] The centre includes 2 state-of-the-art hockey pitches and is operated by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority.

Concerts

In January 2013, music concert promoter Live Nation won the right to stage shows at the stadium and in the surrounding park. The park hosted the music events in July 2013, but the stadium was not used.[41] The former site of the Riverbank Arena is set to be used to stage the Hard Rock Calling, Wireless and Electric Daisy Carnival festivals .[42]

Transport

Railway stations

South entrance to Stratford station

London Buses

Bus stations

Stratford City bus station

See also

References

  1. ^ Games Site Renamed the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park BBC News, 7 October 2010; Retrieved 12 May 2012
  2. ^ Minton, Anna (2012). Ground Control (2nd ed.). Penguin. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  3. ^ Traci Watson (24 July 2013). "A year after London Games, Olympic Park reopens". USA i t has helped many Today. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  4. ^ "The Park | Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park". Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  5. ^ Protest stirs in troubled east – Paul Kelso in The Guardian February 15, 2005 date accessed: 30 October 2006
  6. ^ Olympic Park To Share EastEnders' Walford E20 Postcode BBC News, 19 March 2011; Retrieved 12 May 2012
  7. ^ "London 2012 Olympic Parklands". Michael Grubb Studio. 28 October 2013. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  8. ^ "London Unveils Olympic Masterplan". BBC Sport. 7 June 2006. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  9. ^ "HRSID London Olympic Park Project Stats". hrsid.com. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  10. ^ Last pylon removed from Olympic Park as £250m powerlines project delivered on time and to budget London 2012, 9 December 2008
  11. ^ Moore, Rowan (6 April 2014). "Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park review – no medals for visual flair". The Guardian. London.
  12. ^ Gardenvisit.com Gardenvisit.com and YouTube
  13. ^ Building London 2012 London 2012
  14. ^ a b Gourlay, Chris (19 April 2009). "University To Be Built in London Olympic Park". The Times. (subscription required)
  15. ^ "Cameron Reveals Silicon Valley Vision for East London". BBC News. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  16. ^ "London Games Promises Beautiful Green Legacy". London Press Service. 1 February 2012.
  17. ^ Last Stand on Olympic Allotments BBC News, 24 September 2007; Retrieved 16 July 2012
  18. ^ Brown, Mark (31 March 2010). "Climb This: Anish Kapoor's Massive Artwork That Will Tower over London". guardian.co.uk.
  19. ^ Olympic Museum To Be Opened on Olympic Park after London 2012 Inside the Games, 27 February 2012
  20. ^ Exclusive: London Olympic museum plans shelved Inside the Games, 24 July 2013
  21. ^ a b c "Smithsonian considers London outpost in Olympic Park". BBC News.
  22. ^ "London 2012 Olympic Park Neighbourhood Names Revealed". BBC News. 2 August 2011.
  23. ^ TIQ Stratford City. "Stratford Renaissance Partnership", Lend Lease. Retrieved on 27 January 2014.
  24. ^ Unattributed. "East London’s Glasshouse Gardens launches in Singappore", Property Report. Retrieved on 27 January 2014.
  25. ^ Morby, Aaron. "Lend Lease London Stratford resi towers approved", Construction Enquirer. Retrieved on 27 January 2014.
  26. ^ NLA. "The International Quarter", NLA. Retrieved on 27 January 2014.
  27. ^ Starboard Hotels. "TIQ Stratford – New East London Hotel Development", Starboard Hotels. Retrieved on 27 January 2014.
  28. ^ "Olympic Stadium to host Diamond League meeting". BBC News. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  29. ^ IAAF.org (25 August 2007). "London selected to host 2017 IAAF World Championships". iaaf.org. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  30. ^ England To Host 2015 European Hockey Championships at Olympic Park Inside the Games, 21 March 2012
  31. ^ Olympic Stadium set to host 2017 World Paralympic Championships. Telegraph. Retrieved on 17 July 2013.
  32. ^ "Olympic Park to stage NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters". ITF tennis. 3 December 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  33. ^ "Double celebration for capital's cyclists as Mayor and British Cycling announce London to bid for Track Cycling World Championships – London & Partners". Londonandpartners.com. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  34. ^ "London bids for European Swimming Championships 2016 – London & Partners". Londonandpartners.com. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  35. ^ "Olympic Stadium Ruling Challenged". FootballFanCast.com. Snack Media. 21 February 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  36. ^ McNulty, Phil (8 November 2006). "Orient Reveal Olympic Switch Hope". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  37. ^ "Orient Enters Arena over Olympic Stadium Future". FMWorld. British Institute of Facilities Management. 16 February 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  38. ^ "West Ham get Olympic Stadium after government ups funding". BBC Sport. 22 March 2013.
  39. ^ "REVEALED: Lions to leave Milton Keynes for Olympic Park in London". Milton Keynes Citizen. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  40. ^ BBC Television (19 June 2014) "Lee Valley: Latest Olympic Legacy Venue Opens in Stratford BBC London News. Retrieved on August 2014.
  41. ^ Live Nation strikes deal to exclusively host gigs at Olympic Stadium. The Guardian. Retrieved on 17 July 2013.
  42. ^ Live Nation secures Olympic Park for concerts. BBC News (22 January 2013). Retrieved on 17 July 2013.
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