The Olympic Park is where names will be made, records

broken, new legends created: it is going to be centre

stage during the summer of 2012 – and long after.
The nine new world-class sporting venues (six of them
permanent) will be a fantastic setting for the London
2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
After the Games, the Park will be transformed into
the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and will be the
focus of the regeneration of this part of London.
The new permanent venues and infrastructure will
be the foundations for the continuing development
of this area of east London for decades to come.

pic Park
Olym
venues

6 7
Olympic Park
The Olympic Park is at the After the Games, the Park and broken up by rivers, elsewhere, electricity pylons
heart of the London 2012 – to be renamed the Queen roads and railways. Parts were dismantled and the
Olympic and Paralympic Elizabeth Olympic Park – of the area had been used rivers were dredged. Two
Games. will become the largest new as a dumping ground for million tonnes of soil were
urban park in the UK for industrial and domestic cleaned with 80 per cent
Nine new world-class over a century, with the new waste and much of the land reused to form the new
sporting venues, the Olympic sporting venues, parklands had been taken over by Park landscape.
and Paralympic Village and and residential developments invasive species such as
media centres, all set in becoming the focus of this Japanese knotweed, and Following the clean-up,
fantastic new parklands, part of east London. polluted with contaminants the construction of the main
will be a fabulous stage such as oil, tar and lead. venues and infrastructure of
for the world’s athletes The area is unrecognisable the Park was achieved in less
to perform at their best. from 2005, when London Work to transform the Park than three years. With the
won the right to host the began in 2007. Before project completed on time
2012 Games. Seven construction could start, the and within budget, the Park
years ago, the 2.5 square land had to be cleared and is a showcase for the best
kilometre site was home to cleaned. Disused buildings of UK plc – great design,
light industry, dominated were demolished, with engineering, construction
by overhead powerlines, materials recycled or reused and project management.

8 9
Olympic Park by numbers
10,000 286,446
pages in the planning people went on free bus
0 53m application for the Olympic
Park that was submitted by
tours of the Olympic Park
between 2007 and 2012
people lost their lives while is the height of the Olympic the ODA, one of the longest
working on construction of Stadium, 3m taller than ever in Europe
main venues and infrastructure
for the London 2012 Games
Nelson’s Column
300,000
88 46,000+ nails were used to fix in
place 56km of timber to
2.5sq km rooftop pipes bring natural
people were employed
on the Olympic Park and
form the track surface of
the Velodrome
is the size of the Olympic light into the Copper Box Olympic and Paralympic
Park – the same size as arena, reducing the need Village during the
357 football pitches for artificial power construction of the main
venues and infrastructure,
300,000+
with the workforce peaking wetland plants have brought a
4 532 at 12,000 splash of colour to parklands
surrounding Olympic and
skeletons were removed individual floodlights in Paralympic venues
from a prehistoric settlement
found during excavation
14 towers light up the
Olympic Stadium to meet the
180,000
work on the site of the
Aquatics Centre
needs of high-definition TV tiles line the swimming and
diving pools in the Aquatics
2,000,000
Centre, with almost 600,000 tonnes of contaminated soil

5 675 in the whole building was cleaned, with more than

80 per cent reused on the
bird and bat boxes are Olympic Park
jumbo jets would fit
wing tip to wing tip
being installed to encourage
wildlife to make their home
200,000
inside the International
Broadcast Centre
in the Olympic Park temporary seats are
being installed in the
10,000,000
final transformation of the litres of water are needed

52 4,000 Olympic Park by the London

2012 Organising Committee
to fill the pools in the
Aquatics Centre
new trees were planted
huge electricity pylons in the Olympic Park and
were dismantled to clear the
landscape so construction
Olympic and Paralympic
Village, the first by
£1,004,000,000
could begin in the Her Majesty The Queen (€1.2bn/$1.5bn) of savings were made by the ODA
Olympic Park in October 2009 to ensure the project remained within budget

10 11
Olympic Park map N
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Entrance and exit Olympic sport

Spectator zone Paralympic sport

Entrance area Park Live

Competition venues London Underground

Warm-up venue National Rail

Non-sports venue London Overground

Back of house Docklands Light Railway

© Crown Copyright and database right 2012. Ordnance Survey

100046062. You are not permitted to copy, sub-license,
12 distribute or sell any of this data to third parties in any form 13
Aquatics Centre

Venue facts
Olympic Games The Centre contains a 50m More than 180,000 tiles
Diving, Swimming, competition pool, 25m line the pools; Paralympic
Synchronised Swimming, competition diving pool swimmer Liz Johnson laid
Modern Pentathlon and 50m warm-up pool. the last tile in April 2011.
(swimming element)
Its 3,000-tonne wave-like Archaeological investigations
Paralympic Games steel roof is 160m long before construction discovered
Swimming and up to 80m wide. an Iron Age settlement,
including an ancient burial
After the Games The roof rests on just two
site with four skeletons.
Pools open for use by the concrete supports at one
community, schools and end of the building and After the Games, a créche,
elite athletes; reopens in a supporting wall at the family-friendly training
spring 2014 other – a longer single span facilities, cafe and new
than Heathrow Terminal 5. public plaza will be
Capacity
added, and the venue’s
17,500 (reduced to 2,500 To reduce the amount of
two temporary seating
after the Games) mains water used, pool
wings removed.
water will be used to flush
Construction
the venue’s toilets.
July 2008 – July 2011

14 15
Basketball Arena
Venue facts
Olympic sports The Arena is one of the It is 35m tall – the same
Basketball (early rounds), largest temporary venues height as a 10-storey building.
Handball (finals) ever built for any Olympic
It was one of the quickest
and Paralympic Games.
Paralympic Games Olympic Park venues to
Wheelchair Basketball, The 1,000-tonne steel be constructed, with its
Wheelchair Rugby frame is covered in 20,000 giant frame erected in less
square metres of recyclable than three months during
After the Games
PVC fabric. spring 2010.
Dismantled with elements
reused elsewhere It will be one of the most The seating of the arena
heavily-used venues within is black and orange to
Capacity
the Olympic Park, with represent the colours of
12,000 (Olympics)
competition events taking a basketball.
10,000 (Paralympics)
place almost every day.
Construction
To comfortably accommodate
October 2009 – July 2011
the basketball players, all
the venue’s doorways are an
above average 2.4m high.

16 17
BMX Track

Venue facts
Olympic Games The new BMX Track Construction was completed
Cycling – BMX is located next to the in time for the third round
Velodrome in the north of the UCI BMX Supercross
After the Games
of the Olympic Park. World Cup, a test event
Temporary seating will
for the London 2012
be removed and the track The fast and challenging
BMX competition.
reconfigured to make it course starts with an
suitable for riders of all 8m-high ramp. After the Games, it will
ages and abilities form part of the Lee Valley
Around 14,000 cubic metres
VeloPark, along with
Capacity of soil were used to build the
the Velodrome and a new
6,000 Track, enough to fill three
one-mile road cycle circuit
50m swimming pools.
Construction and mountain bike courses
March 2011 – This soil was excavated – to be owned and managed
September 2011 from elsewhere on the by Lee Valley Regional
Olympic Park site, Park Authority.
cleaned, then reused
to create the final track.

18 19
Copper Box
Venue facts
Olympic Games The Copper Box is 115,000 The top half of the venue is
Handball (early rounds), cubic metres in size – larger clad in 3,000sq m of copper
Modern Pentathlon than the Royal Festival Hall with a high recycled content,
(fencing element) on London’s South Bank. which will develop a rich
natural colour as it ages.
Paralympic Games Retractable seating can
Goalball change the size of the field ‘RUN’, a gigantic sculpture
of play to suit different sports by artist Monica Bonvicini –
After the Games
during and after the Games. part of the London 2012 ‘Art
Multi-use arena for
in the Park’ programme – has
community use, athlete It is the first UK sports venue
been built outside the venue.
training and events; to be naturally lit – 88 rooftop
reopening summer 2013 light pipes will achieve
annual energy savings of
Capacity
up to 40 per cent.
6,500 (7,500 for events
using the field of play
after the Games)
Construction
July 2009 – May 2011

20 21
Eton Manor

Venue facts
Olympic Games Eton Manor is the only After the site had been
Aquatics training new permanent London cleared, it was used as
2012 Paralympic venue. the temporary home for
Paralympic Games
a ‘digger school’, at which
Wheelchair Tennis, It features four indoor
people were trained in
Aquatics training and six outdoor striking
operating construction
blue competition courts
After the Games machinery with many of
for Wheelchair Tennis.
Transformed into facilities for them going on to get jobs
the local community, including During the Games, there on the Olympic Park.
a tennis centre with four indoor will be three 50m temporary
Eton Manor is the site of two
and six outdoor courts, hockey training swimming pools,
memorials to members of the
centre that will host 2015 and smaller pools for
Old Boys’ Club who died in
European Championships, synchronised swimmers
the two World Wars. These
and space for 10 five-a-side and Water Polo players.
memorials – used by the
football pitches
Eton Manor is built on the Club every Remembrance
Capacity site of the Eton Manor Old Day – were stored safely
6,500 Boys’ Club, a local sports during building work,
club established in the and will be restored and
Construction
early 1900s. returned after the Games.
July 2009 – May 2011
22 23
Olympic Stadium
Venue facts
Olympic Games The Olympic Stadium is There are more than 700
Opening and Closing located on an ‘island’ site, rooms within the Stadium,
Ceremonies, Athletics (except surrounded by waterways with a 60m warm-up track,
Marathons and Race Walks) on three sides. eight changing rooms and
four prayer rooms.
Paralympic Games Spectators will reach the
Opening and Closing venue using five bridges The top ring of the Stadium
Ceremonies, Athletics that link the site to the was built using surplus gas
(except Marathons) surrounding area. supply pipes – an example
of London 2012’s efforts to
After the Games Its innovative flexible design
‘reduce, reuse and recycle’.
Becomes a multi-use venue, has a lower tier with a
hosting sport, cultural and capacity of 25,000, and an To meet high-definition TV
community events, including upper tier holding a further standards, the Stadium is lit
being the new national 55,000 spectators. After the by 532 individual floodlights
centre for athletics and the Games the Olympic Stadium housed in 14 towers, each
venue for the 2017 IAAF will have a capacity of 28m high.
World Championships 60,000 for legacy use.
Capacity
80,000
Construction
March 2008 – March 2011

24 25
Riverbank Arena

Venue facts
Olympic Games London 2012 is the first There are temporary seating
Hockey Olympic Games where stands on three sides of
the Hockey pitches are not the competition pitch; the
Paralympic Games
green. Pink is used for the fourth side is open, offering
5-a-side Football,
area surrounding the pitch spectators a view across the
7-a-side Football
and blue for the field of play. Olympic Park and London.
After the Games The blue pitches will provide
The Riverbank Arena
Temporary seating high levels of contrast with
will also be used to host
stands dismantled the white ball and white
both Paralympic Football
lines for players, officials,
Capacity competitions. The warm-up
spectators, photographers
16,000 pitch will host the 5-a-side
and broadcasters. The pitch
event, the main pitch the
run-off areas will be pink,
7-a-side competition.
providing a striking and
dynamic look to the venue.
The complex includes two
pitches, one for competition
and one for warm-up.

26 27
Velodrome
Venue facts
Olympic Games Olympic gold medal-winning The Velodrome won the
Cycling – Track cyclist Sir Chris Hoy joined Architecture Award at
the venue’s design panel to the Design Museum’s
Paralympic Games
help ensure the best possible 2012 Awards.
Cycling – Track
conditions for participants
The track is made from
After the Games in the events at the venue.
56km of sustainably sourced
Along with a reconfigured
During the Games, the Siberian pine, and was fixed
BMX Track and new
temperature at track level in place using more than
facilities for road cycling
will be 28ºC to optimise 300,000 nails.
and mountain biking, forms
athletes’ performances.
the new Lee Valley VeloPark The venue’s outer
for use by community and It is naturally ventilated, cladding uses 5,000sq m
elite athletes eliminating the need for of sustainably sourced
air conditioning. western red cedar.
Capacity
6,000 The roof collects rainwater
that will help to reduce mains
Construction
water usage by more than
March 2009 – February 2011
70 per cent.

28 29
Water Polo Arena

Venue facts
Olympic Games The Arena, which has a Its silver skin is made from
Water Polo 37m competition pool and environmentally-friendly
a smaller training pool, is PVC that can be recycled.
After the Games
the first dedicated Water
Taken down after the Games The Arena’s inflatable
Polo venue to be built for
with elements of the venue sloping roof is designed
an Olympic Games.
expected to be reused to provide extra insulation
or relocated elsewhere The venue’s sloping design and reduce condensation.
means the referee’s raised
Capacity
table does not obscure the
5,000
view of spectators, who
Construction sit on the opposite side
January 2011 – May 2012 of the pool.
Many parts of the venue,
such as the temporary
seating, have been hired so
they can easily be returned
and reused after the Games.

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