London 2012 Olympic Stadium

London, UK

Project details
Client

Olympic Delivery Authority

Architect

Populous

Collaborator

Design and Build contractor: Sir Robert McAlpine Landscape architect: HED

Duration

2007 – 2011

Services provided by Buro Happold

Acoustics, Bridge engineering and civil structures, Building Information Management (BIM), Building Services Engineering (MEP), Computational engineering, Environmental consultancy, Fire engineering, Inclusive design, Infrastructure, Lighting design, Structural engineering, Sustainability, Technology

The London 2012 Olympic Stadium forms the centrepiece of the largest new park created in Europe for a century. Designed with an 80,000 capacity for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Stadium is designed such that it can be dismantled down to a 25,000 capacity venue if required for its longer-term use.

Challenge

Buro Happold worked as part of integrated design and construction team ‘Team Stadium’. Through collaboration and innovation the team created a simple dismantlable superstructure with an innovative lightweight cable supported roof. Lifting the roof’s inner tension ring from its temporary scaffolding structure to its final position could not have been achieved without the ingenuity and integration of the whole team.

Vanguardia, which is now a Buro Happold company, provided full service from client brief through concept and detailed design package procurement and practical completion of the works. The company’s specialist areas of design encompassed audio systems and acoustics. Its work was required to fulfil the requirements of multiple stakeholders from local authority building officers through to the event organisers and sports presentation teams.

Creating an iconic 80,000 capacity stadium for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Image: ODA.

Solution

A key role for the Vanguardia team was the design of the new stadium roof, which was developed in conjunction with the architect Populous with the aspiration of holding large summer concerts. The company’s experts conducted extensive acoustic design and modelling in conjunction with planning and environmental noise assessment, to ensure the roof provided adequate sound insulation. The new roof also required acoustic absorption to ensure that PAVA intelligibility was achieved in the stadium bowl. Absorption was minimised/balanced to maintain the sporting atmosphere.

In 2012 Vanguardia formed part of the Games’ time support team, which ensured the operation of the installed audio systems on a daily basis for all venues on the Olympic Park during the smooth running of the 2012 Olympic Games.

The embodied energy consumed in manufacturing the Stadium’s elements was far less than other Olympic stadia, due to the compact design. Image: ODA.

Following the success of the project, Vanguardia was subsequently appointed as part of the legacy design team as the stadium was transformed into a multi-purpose stadium for both pitch and track-based sports. The architectural acoustic design had to be adapted from the previous stadium fit-out, with a complete review of sound insulation, building services, reverberation times and material surface finishes.

To meet the Olympic Delivery Authority’s (ODA) high targets and priority themes, sustainability needed to play a huge part in informing the Stadium’s design and construction. Buro Happold’s multidisciplinary team played a key role in ensuring these aspirations were realised. The embodied energy consumed in manufacturing the Stadium’s elements was far less than other Olympic stadia, due to the compact design. Where possible the team reused existing materials, for example, the compression truss to the roof was constructed by using 4,000 tonnes of unwanted gas pipeline found in a yard in Yorkshire.

The permanent building services installation has been designed to exacting standards for limiting carbon emissions during operation. Completed two months ahead of the contract completion date and under budget with an outstanding safety record, the Stadium provides world-class facilities for athletes, management and international press and broadcast media.

London 2012 Olympic Stadium
We developed a design for the Games in tandem with that for the site’s future, ensuring 80% of the original platform would continue to benefit the area. Image: ODA.

Value

Commitment, innovation and close collaboration between architecture, engineering and construction has resulted in an elegant, bold, inspirational, efficient and sustainable Stadium that reflects the Olympic principals of respect, friendship and excellence and above all supports and provides the foundations to the vision “to build a better world through sport”.

Awards

2016

Best Public Service Building, Win, LABC – London regional Winners

2016

Best Inclusive Building, Win, LABC – London regional Winners