LONDON | 2012 Olympics Park Development News

[city_thing]

It's like one giant construction site. Is Hackney changing much with all the developments nearby? I grew up just near there... it was a horrible place when I was a kid.

[Captured City]

Originally Posted by city_thing

It's like one giant construction site. Is Hackney changing much with all the developments nearby? I grew up just near there... it was a horrible place when I was a kid.

I wouldnt describe Hackney as a horrible place anymore. I moved here 2 years ago out of choice because of its vibrant arts and music scene and love it here. I think a large amount of gentrification has taken place (even before the olympics rocked up) particularly in Shoreditch, Dalston and Hackney central. It also has some of the best green spaces in the city in the form of London Fields and Victoria Park. Even the notoriously bad transport links are improving with the opening of the London Overground line in 2010.

[acc521]

I can't vouch for the past, but from my journeys into Hackney, it is very obvious to tell that the gentrification that has swept through areas like Shoreditch has/is extending to Hackney.

[PortoNuts]

Mayor's Olympics advisor hints at wider remit for OPLC
By Paul Norman on November 17, 2009 3:57 PM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks

The Olympic Park Legacy Company's remit may be extended to include the regeneration of the 900-acre Royal Docks and other key east London sites it seems.

Speaking at a London Assembly Economic Development, Culture, Sport and Tourism Committee review of the Olympic Legacy plans, Neale Coleman, the mayor's Olympics adviser said that there was a danger that the OPLC's current remit was "too narrow in scope" if the competing Boroughs were to bring forward an integrated redevelopment of east London post Games.

It all of course makes a deal of sense and has been suggested to me by property people as likely for some time.

However, the OPLC will have a battle on its hands to wrest control of the Royal Docks from competing agencies the London Development Agency and the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation

Coleman said: "There is a difficult judgement to be made. In the initial stages the boroughs did not want to create a new vehicle that would have a wider remit and wanted it to have a clear focus on the park and immediate areas surrounding the park .. But perhaps it should look at the rest of the Lower Lea Valley with, for instance, taking control of the Royal Docks a possible scenario.

"It may be that over time a judgement might be made that if the legacy company develops successfully it will extend its geographical remit."
Elsewhere Coleman did shed light on a number of areas although there appears to be little progress on deciding who will actually own key sites post-Games.
The most amusing interlude occurred when Assembly member Victoria Borwick questioned why the Athletes Village was called a village when it did not have local shops and post offices and all of those other things one associates with a more bucolic vision of English villages.
Coleman briefly appeared to lose the plot as he launched into a tirade about how his neighbours in his street in Islington were mainly commuters into central London but there was still a community spirit in the area.
Borwick then jumped on Coleman's description of the Olympic Park as being most likely to replicate Hampstead Heath by wondering how Hampstead High Street was going to be recreated in Stratford.
Chair Dee Doocey managed to bring order back after a brief flirtation with anarchy among board members and all appeared to agree that as soon as is possible the word "village" should be quietly dropped from descriptions of the athletes' accommodation for the 2012 Games.
Other points of interest were:
Coleman said a key issue that needed to be addressed in terms of legacy was how the land interests owned by London & Continental Railways, which form the gateway to the park, are brought forward in tandem with development of the Olympic Park, and how housing is created that appeals to families.

He also said the legacy company would shortly need to settle whether or not it wanted to retain the Stadium's 80,000-seat capacity post Games for a significant period as bids to host the Rugby Football and Professional Football World Cups had to be submitted soon.

Coleman also confirmed that the mayor had tasked the OPLC with seeing if a higher education development could be brought to the park and said that Baroness Ford in particular was pushing for as much of the Olympics Park as possible to be up and running and open for use immediately after the Games.

[jerseyboi]

there raising the roof ring now?? kool

[jerseyboi]

[PortoNuts]

London 2012 Main Press Centre takes shape
19 November 2009
london 2012.com

The Olympic Delivery Authority issued new images today showing the London 2012 Main Press Centre (MPC) taking shape alongside the huge International Broadcast Centre (IBC).



Together the IBC/MPC will support around 20,000 broadcasters, photographers and journalists communicating the Games to an audience of four billion people worldwide. In legacy the facilities will create just under 900,000 square feet of sustainable business space with the potential to generate thousands of new jobs.



The venue is being delivered on track by a team of companies from across the UK. The concrete foundations of the IBC/MPC were built by a company from 2012 Host Borough Greenwich and 4,500 tonnes of steel was fabricated for the huge IBC frame in North Yorkshire and produced in Scunthorpe and Teesside.

Around15,000sq m of wall and 26,000sq m of roof covering for the IBC were installed by a north-east based firm using cladding manufactured in Wales. A Teddington company is currently pouring over 30,000 tonnes of concrete to create the frame of the MPC and lifting 30,000sq m of concrete slabs and 300 concrete columns to create the multi-storey car park.



The MPC ‘big build’ can we viewed first-hand through a new webcam that went live today at: http://www.london2012.com/plans/olym...ess-centre.php

Olympic Delivery Authority Chairman John Armitt said: 'The "big build" is on track as we enter our toughest year with work accelerating on infrastructure and venues across the Olympic Park.



'The IBC/MPC is taking shape due to the hard work of companies from across the UK and we’re on schedule to provide a quality working environment for media during the Games and flexible employment space for a range of potential legacy tenants and users.'

Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee said: 'These images show the progress we are making in delivering the best possible working environment for the 20,000 members of the world’s broadcasters, press and photographers in the summer of 2012.



'Billions of people around the world rely on the international media to relay the stories of human endeavour on the field of play and capture the atmosphere across the country during the Games. The impressive facilities we have planned will give us the best possible foundations for telling all the stories from the London 2012 Games whilst leaving high performance workspace in legacy for the east of London.'

Tessa Jowell, Minister for the Olympics, said: 'The Main Press Centre is a prime example of how the Games are benefiting the whole of the UK in the run-up to 2012, while also creating a new future hub for London’s growing digital and creative economies.



'The MPC and International Broadcast Centre is being delivered by a team of companies from across the UK, including businesses in Wolverhampton, Scunthorpe and Teeside.

'These state-of-the-art media facilities will ensure the Games reach an audience of four billion people worldwide and, as the largest venue on the Olympic Park, they will provide a significant legacy to the growing digital sector.'

Elected Mayor of Hackney Jules Pipe said: 'The International Broadcast Centre and Main Press Centre for 2012 in Hackney will provide permanent employment space after the Games, allowing the digital, creative and media industries the space they need to expand and creating high quality jobs. The progress on the MPC is the next step in the journey towards a vital economic legacy for Hackney and east London.'



Andrew Altman, Chief Executive of the Olympic Park Legacy Company, said: 'The media centre will become a major employment site after the Games.

'The buildings have been designed with flexibility in mind and can meet the needs of tenants by being split into different configurations depending on the requirements of market demand.'

Big Build: IBC/MPC
The IBC/MPC combines an innovative mixture of permanent and temporary elements during the Games and has been designed to be as flexible as possible to accommodate a range of potential legacy tenants and uses.

The MPC includes:
29,000sq m of green office space by the River Lea Navigation, providing four storeys of workspace for journalists and photographers during the Games.

Innovatively designed flexibility that enables the building to be adapted in legacy for either a single tenant in the whole building or on each floor, as well as multiple tenants on each floor.

A connected single strip of single storey buildings facing the canal that can be separated into ‘mews’ accommodation in legacy offering another type of quality business space in legacy.

New utilities, power and digital connectivity during the Games and in legacy.

Innovations designed to meet demanding green building standards in legacy including a 2,500sq m ‘brown roof’ of gravel and moss to encourage invertebrates; 60 per cent of non-drinking water to be collected from across the Olympic Park; habitats including over 100 bird and bat boxes

The IBC includes:
Around 52,000sq m of studio space over two 8-10m high floors during the Games with a temporary gantry running along the 275m long, 104m wide building for technical equipment.

8,000sq m of offices over five floors at the front of the building.

The flexibility in legacy to be separated into a number of units and for design features to be altered such as cladding replaced with windows
Temporary Games time elements, most of which reduce the Games and legacy transformation costs, include:

A 12,000sq m catering village serving 50,000 meals a day 24 hours.

A 200 metre-long High Street between the MPC and IBC featuring outlets such as banks, newsagents, travel agents and a post office.

A temporary Media Conference room between the IBC and MPC for up to 800 journalists.

A Media Transport Mall providing coach drop-off and car parking, accreditation and security screening during the Games will be halved in legacy to provide car parking spaces to legacy tenants alongside walking, cycling and public transport connections.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company is responsible for the long term development planning, management and maintenance of the Olympic Park Site, including the Main Press Centre and the International Broadcast Centre, after the 2012 Games.



[img]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2522/4116899969_98cc403390_b.jpg[/img

[PortoNuts]

Stratford residential towers











by DarJoLe.

[PortoNuts]

BIds invited for £110m housing job next to Olympic Park
18 November, 2009 | By Michael Lane

Paddington Churches Housing Association is inviting bids for a £110 million contract to design and build 704 unit mixed-tenure housing scheme in Stratford, East London.

The scheme comprises the construction of seven blocks - five are ten storeys high , one is forty three storeys high, and one is an existing five storey building to be extended by two storeys.

The properties will range in use from affordable rented to high value private sales, with one block providing extra care facilities. There will also be ground floor space available for commercial use.

All foundation works including the construction of a basement have been completed as has the concrete superstructure up to the fourth level of two of the blocks.

Five firms will be shortlisted and invited to tender in January 2010 with a return date in March 2010. Contractors have until 27 November to submit pre-qualification questionnaires.

Work is expected to start on site by May 2010 and completed within 32 months.

Due to the site’s proximity to the Olympic Park, all external elevations and external works must be completed at least four weeks before the start of the Olympic Games.

http://www.cnplus.co.uk/news/contrac...211040.article

[3dinge]

Fantastic park