London 2012 - Skybar and News

[RobH]

In an open democracy the press should have a say in everything especially if it's appropriate or needs to be said and that obviously includes government expenditure. Whether their say is valid or not is a different question; the press needs to be critical (in the true sense of the word) of the government and the public need to be critical about the government and the press.

The fact that the press continually misrepresent and sensationalise the Olympic budget doesn't mean they oughtn't comment on it or scrutinise it. I just wish they got their facts right and people wouldn't need to keep asking questions like this one put to Seb Coe by an Independent reeder:

"How can a budget triple so quickly even before any work has actually started? SILAVAIN BUCHE, by email

Let's be clear about the budget. The core Olympic Games budget, to build the venues and infrastructure for the Games, is £3.1bn - broadly within the envelope of the costs we submitted in our bid. We've always said that bringing the Games to east London provides an opportunity to regenerate one of the most underdeveloped parts of the UK so we make no apology for developing a regeneration budget to do just that - this often gets included in the Games "budget". The budget also contains £2.7bn of contingency, which is prudent in projects of this size - and may never get spent."

[Mo Rush]

Originally Posted by RobH

In an open democracy the press should have a say in everything especially if it's appropriate or needs to be said and that obviously includes government expenditure. Whether their say is valid or not is a different question; the press needs to be critical (in the true sense of the word) of the government and the public need to be critical about the government and the press.

The fact that the press continually misrepresent and sensationalise the Olympic budget doesn't mean they oughtn't comment on it or scrutinise it. I just wish they got their facts right and people wouldn't need to keep asking questions like this one put to Seb Coe by an Independent reeder:

"How can a budget triple so quickly even before any work has actually started? SILAVAIN BUCHE, by email

Let's be clear about the budget. The core Olympic Games budget, to build the venues and infrastructure for the Games, is £3.1bn - broadly within the envelope of the costs we submitted in our bid. We've always said that bringing the Games to east London provides an opportunity to regenerate one of the most underdeveloped parts of the UK so we make no apology for developing a regeneration budget to do just that - this often gets included in the Games "budget". The budget also contains £2.7bn of contingency, which is prudent in projects of this size - and may never get spent."

people are stupid, not many people will understand the budget.

[DarJoLe]

Audit office raises fears over Olympic cost plan
20 July, 2007
building.co.uk
By Dan Stewart and Sarah Richardson
Parliament’s spending watchdog warns about risk of cost rises and urges greater accountability

The country’s leading spending watchdog warns today that “significant levels of uncertainty” surround the cost of the Olympics.

The National Audit Office (NAO) says in a report published today that although the process for setting the budget has been thorough, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has to address issues over design alterations and contingencies.

It also calls on the ODA to produce a detailed schedule of the returns expected for the £9bn of public funding being put into the Games. This will serve as the basis for accountability to parliament.

It also warns that although the estimated cost of £9.3bn “was sufficient if the assumptions on which the budget was based held good”, this could be affected by factors such as uncertainty over the extent of remediation works needed and the timescale of planning approvals.

The NAO has issued a series of recommended actions for the ODA to manage the risk of further cost escalation, including:

Producing a clear statement of what is expected in return for the £9bn of public funding
Producing more robust estimates of contingency
Establishing a timetable for funding.
Meanwhile, it emerged this week that the organising body for the 2012 Olympics has drawn up a shortlist of cost consultants to advise on the £200m temporary works programme for the Games.

It is understood that LOCOG, the organising committee for the Games chaired by Lord Coe, is considering a shortlist of four to five bidders, none of which are working on Olympics projects.

These are thought to include Gleeds, Rider Levitt Bucknall and Franklin + Andrews.

The role will include cost management for the handball arena and the beach volleyball venue on Horse Guards’ Parade. It is understood an appointment will be made within weeks.

Construction unions are on the verge of signing a memorandum of agreement with the ODA over direct employment. Sources said a consensus had emerged that would allow some trades to use self-employed workers.

[DarJoLe]

Point of view
BD Magazine - Sport and Leisure - July 2007

By Graham Watts

Can London piece together an Olympics better than Beijing?



Every Olympic host city shares a similar cycle of experiences in its seven-year journey from successful bidder to opening ceremony. The initial euphoria, which erupts the moment the president of the International Olympic Committee reads out the winner’s name, typically lasts until the preceding Olympics. At the closing ceremony of those games, when the Olympic flag is handed to the mayor of the new host city, this honeymoon period is rapidly replaced with concerns about time and money that fester until the due date is nigh, when an inevitable jingoism takes hold.

In my sporting life, I have taken part in two opening ceremonies (Barcelona 1992 and Athens 2004) and both times the outpouring of national pride as the host country teams took to the arena was joyous beyond belief. I’m sure the celebrations had much to do with the relief of having made it to the starting line after years of angst!

Bucking the trend
But London 2012 bucked the trend, and the initial honeymoon period lasted barely a year before negative delivery syndrome struck. Months of speculation about the budget, worsened by political ineptitude, have been followed by the furore over the new logo. Lost among all this was the IOC visit in June, which pronounced London the most prepared host city yet at this stage.

As part of the British Olympic Association, I visited Beijing in May, following an earlier “recce” 12 months before. In 2006 Beijing still had a very long way to go. The venues for hockey, tennis and archery were still wasteland, and the Olympic Village — a grid of six- and nine-storey apartments — was a series of holes in the ground.

Neither of the iconic major centrepieces — the “bird’s nest” Beijing National Stadium and the “water cube” National Aquatics Centre — was near completion. The venue for my own sport, fencing, was still a structural steel shell.

In a year, the Chinese have made remarkable progress. Beijing suddenly possesses a sky with clouds, not the grey smog that enveloped it a year ago. The hockey pitches and stadia are almost complete; the archery arena is also standing, as is the monstrous Centre Court for the tennis tournament — much larger than its predecessor in Athens.

“Rich Chinese were queuing to buy the high-rise, high price Olympic Village apartments off-plan”
The Herzog & de Meuron stadium stands in its full glory with the gigantic interlinked steel sections now upright. Rich Chinese were queuing at an upmarket sales office to buy the now-complete high rise, high price, Olympic Village apartments off-plan. The “water cube”, complete with its bubble-wrap exterior, is externally completed.

Beijing is likely to be the last of the mega-games, with well over 20 new permanent venues under construction at a cost rumoured to be near £30 billion. It has made two outstandingly bold design statements with its flagship projects, backed up by a beautiful new Olympic Park complete with a huge dragon-shaped lake. In contrast, London is likely to be the first disposable and demountable games, where few event venues will remain at their Olympian scale after 2012 and many will not stay in situ.

London on course
But most of Beijing’s other venues place functionality and sheer imposing size well above design impact, and many of the buildings taking shape have a temporary feel, even though they are designed for permanence. After two visits, I feel we should not be adding design insecurity about the Beijing Olympics to all the other things we are beating ourselves up about.

Despite the popular misconception, London is very much on course to deliver everything at least a year ahead of the games and seems well placed to avoid the last-minute, hectic scrambles that characterised Athens and may still yet pose problems for Beijing.

And the opportunity for our architects and engineers to design sustainable facilities with a temporary life that still have significant impact — and that will no doubt provide a template for future Olympic games — is ultimately more of a global legacy than anything Beijing can deliver.

Postscript :
Graham Watts is performance director for the British Olympic fencing team, and chief executive of the Construction Industry Council.

[DarJoLe]

Staging the 2012 Olympics will be the ultimate team event, but the architects who won stadium gold are sportingly well qualified. Plus, Peter Cook is proving a vital player

[Mo Rush]

The papier mache Olympic stadium that changes colour
2012 chiefs order venue designed not to last

Last updated at 13:02pm on 27th June 2007

Comments Comments (2)
London's Olympic stadium will be multicoloured - and may even be made out of papier maché.

After unveiling the unconventional Games logo, Olympics chiefs have told architects to produce a radical look for 2012's centrepiece venue.

Designers have been encouraged to "think temporary" as the 80,000-capacity venue will be shrunk to 25,000 after the Games.

olympic stadium

How the Olympic Stadium, which will shrink in capacity after the Games, could look

Coated papier maché or a weather-resistant fabric - both more flexible than traditional building materials - could be used for much of the exterior since this will only have to last for around 12 months.

A traditional off-white facade has been ruled out by the Team McAlpine designers, who are expected to choose from the bright pink, blue and yellow colour scheme adopted for the logo.

In keeping with Olympic chiefs' pledge of "daring to be different", the stadium may even take on chameleon-like properties and pulse different colours at night.

A source close to the project said: "This is not about designing a permanent structure with the ubiquitous off-white shell."

London opted for the temporary design because Games organisers considered an 80,000-seat venue was unlikely to pay its way after 2012 and could become a white elephant.

olympic stadium

Bright idea: The stadium may change colour at night in the same way as Munich's Allianz Arena, a venue for last year's World Cup

The stadium's core will be a "rose bowl" that will remain as the 25,000-seat venue after the Games.

It is designed to be ideal as an athletics venue but the seating will also be able to be reconfigured for concerts.

The Olympic Delivery Authority is focussing on creating a stadium that can be used by colleges and schools and host up to 20 elite and schools athletics events per year.

The concept of flexible stadiums was pioneered by planners of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Their 10,000-seat aquatics centre was halved in capacity after the Games and the seats used for the 20,000-capacity Wollongong Stadium in New South Wales, one of the venues for the 2003 rugby World Cup.

Architects HOK, whose designs range from the new Wembley and Arsenal's Emirates stadium to the grandstand at Ascot, are finalising designs for the 2012 stadium and are expected to unveil details later this year.

olympic stadium

Changing colours: The Allianz Arena in Munich, an inspiration for the new Olympic arena

Team McAlpine, which built the Emirates stadium on time and on budget, is the "preferred partnerî to construct the stadium.

As the centrepiece of the Olympic Park, the stadium will host the track and field events as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. The cost of building the venue is thought to have risen to at least £400million due to inflation and rising building costs.

[LDN_EUROPE]

Coe welcomes North East plans for 2012

Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee Sebastian Coe this week welcomed the North East region's plans to make the most of the 2012 Games.

He was on hand for the plan's launch at Gateshead International Stadium, where he met hundreds of young people taking part in the Tyne and Wear Festival of Sport.

During his visit to the region, Coe also went to the under-construction Sunderland Aquatic Centre, which will incorporate a 50 metre pool, 25 metre diving and multi-purpose pool and Wellness Centre.

Seb said: "The London 2012 Games are truly a Games for the whole nation. I was delighted to be in the North East to hear more about the region's priorities and plans to maximise the benefits of the London 2012 Games.

"It was also an opportunity to see first hand the progress being made to increase sports provision in the area and to celebrate the sporting achievements of local youngsters."

20 July 2007
http://main.london2012.com/en/news/a...7-07-13-50.htm

[DarJoLe]

Expect some big news about London 2012 on friday.

[Mo Rush]

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

Expect some big news about London 2012 on friday.

a big venue.

[RobH]

ANY CLUES?

[RobH]

sorry didn't know I had caps on: any clues at all DarJoLe?

[DarJoLe]

Friday will be five years until the opening ceremony in 2012, and the first buildings on the site of the stadium will begin demolition, signaling the start of the ODA owning all of the Olympic Park site and the start date of construction.

[El_Greco]

Nice.
DarJole do you by any chance know if Kings Yard will be saved?Its :

- the only fully surviving example of Clarnico’s six pre-WW2 works in Old Ford and Hackney Wick.
- one of London’s few surviving Edwardian works, complete with its former stable block on the east boundary.
- one of a small group of surviving late-C19 / early-C20 works at Old Ford and Hackney Wick with ‘transitional structures’: two early internal steel frames in the former starch department, and steel girders on ground-floor cast-iron columns in the former preserving and lozenge departments.
- one of the few surviving works in England with early-C20 Belfast truss roofs – on the two-storey parts of the former preserving department and former lozenge department.

[DarJoLe]

Where is it? What address?

[El_Greco]

Kings Yard off Carpenters Road.Hackney Wick.

[DarJoLe]

They are in the site of Park, but the area on the map is marked as CCHP which is the energy centre- however when I do an overlay of the masterplan over google maps the buildings are marked on the masterplan, so maybe they are staying.

[El_Greco]

Aha I see.Thanks.

[Mo Rush]

I hope the IBC/MPC includes buildings like Kings Yard but on a larger scale in terms of its design.

[DarJoLe]

Oh and stadium designs won't be released until the autumn.

[delores]

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

Oh and stadium designs won't be released until the autumn.

can't wait for that...I'm sure it will be hated by the newspapers no matter what.