2 years to go: Populous provides progress update on London 2012 Olympic Stadium
Within two years the London 2012 Olympic Games will open. Populous, the global architecture and design practice, is delighted to provide an update on the progress being made on the site, including the completion of the roof an progression of the installation of the stadium's black and white seating.
Populous is the architect for the stadium as well as being responsible for the 2012 Olympic Games overlay. The stadium's seating configuration, arranged in an elliptical bowl form, has been designed to enable the spectators to be as close to the action as possible, making the 80,000 seat stadium feel compact for an intense experience. The black and white spectator seats provide a neutral backdrop for the colours that the spectators will bring from around the world, and the track will be highlighted in a striking colour which will refect the vibrancy of our city in 2012.
Rod Sheard, Senior Principal of Populous said: "We are extremely excited that the opening of the 2012 Stadium and Olympic Games is gradually becoming a reality. The greatest sporting event in the world is now only two years away and our stadium will be complete, tested and ready for its debut."
Populous is playing a major role in bringing the Olympic and Paralympic Games to London in 2012. Leading the sports master planning, Populous developed the original plan for facility locations, including the overlay planning for all venues in the Lea Valley and five sports in the ExCel Centre and the North Greenwich Arena. Populous continues to produce drawings and text to support the planning application for both the environmental and the transport impact assessment.
In April 2009, it was announced that Populous has been chosen to provide the Architectural & Overlay Design Services for the Games. Populous is also designing the main stadium.
The challenge in building a stadium for a specific event lies in creating a structure that is both temporary and permanent. By embracing the temporary, we have been able to explore materials, structure and operational systems in a completely different way. Each component takes a sustainable approach that uses only what is needed for the event and then transforms to a long term future use; the whole process uses a minimum of services. The articulate, elegant and lightweight structure frames the building Wrap. This porous, translucent printed fabric allows the building to breathe naturally, using a minimum of fixed mechanical systems.
Through modern printing techniques, we can use the Wrap to transmit the Games' "look and feel" to the rest of the Olympic Park and beyond – to the city of London that surrounds it on all sides and the UK. The water course acts as a natural boundary, with spectator facilities – toilets, bars and food concessions – laid out along the soft water edge.
