LONDON | 2012 Olympics Park Development News

[SO143]

Originally Posted by Pennypacker

Will save to a usb stick and read to grandchildren.

[Mr_Andersonn]

Originally Posted by Men Mad

No va a superar a Beijing el estadio es bastante simple

Beijing se ve mejor en el exterior, pero tiene menos caracteres en el interior. Espere hasta que este lugar está terminado y listo para los juegos antes de hacer juicio.

[Mr_Andersonn]

Much has been made of the seating issue at the Olympic Stadium. Putting that aside for a while, what do you guys think will happen with the roof?
Will they opt for the very similar tension ring and fabric roof and just replace it with an extended version?
Or will they explore other possibilities like the Stadio Olympico in Rome or The Emirates Stadium as per the links below.
How about a translucent roof?
Also, I have been looking a little on the web and seen that a new tension structure roof may well cost up to £80million..........

Apologies for not knowing how to attach the actual images here! :o)

http://architecture.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/364086/

http://www.byrne-bros.co.uk/p/h/Proj...s_Stadium/342/

[RobH]

London wins bid to host 2015 canoe slalom worlds

London has won its bid to host the 2015 Canoe Slalom World Championships - the first major event to be confirmed for an Olympic venue after the 2012 Games.

The Lee Valley course, host to the 2012 canoe slalom events, beat a bid from Bourg-Saint-Maurice in the French Alps.

London's Olympic venues failed in bids to host the 2015 World Athletics and 2014 Hockey World Cup.

"I look forward to welcoming the canoeing world to the UK in 2015," said Olympic minister Hugh Robertson.

"This is the first major sporting event confirmed for an Olympic venue after the Games and will be part of the legacy from London 2012."

UK Sport's chief executive, Liz Nicholl, said the event would "provide a magnificent platform for the sport in this country" while the British Canoe Union's Paul Owen promised his sport would deliver "a fantastic event, providing an excellent opportunity to showcase our sport worldwide".

The Lee Valley White Water Centre was the first brand new London 2012 venue to be completed, in December 2010, at a cost of £31m.

Britain's top slalom canoeists have had exclusive use of the course since then, but Lee Valley opens to the public - and foreign rivals - on 22 April.

Bringing major events in Olympic sports to Britain after the Games have concluded is a cornerstone of the London 2012 organising committee's ambition to deliver what it calls a "legacy" after the Olympics.

But previous attempts to secure the sporting side of that legacy have failed, most notably London's bid to stage the 2015 World Championships in Athletics.

The city was forced to withdraw from that bidding process in November 2010, as continued uncertainty over the future of the Olympic Stadium meant the bid team could not even guarantee a running track would remain in place.

One week later, London lost a bid to bring the men's and women's Hockey World Cups to the Olympic Park in 2014.

Both sports have promised to fight back - UK Athletics says it will bid for the 2017 World Championships, and England Hockey has told BBC Sport a world event in Britain in 2015 or 2016 is "pretty likely".

But slalom canoeing is the first sport past the post with a major championships at an Olympic venue.

Britain has twice previously staged the Slalom Worlds, in 1981 near the Welsh town of Bala and at Nottingham's Holme Pierrepont course in 1995, which also staged the 2009 European Championships.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/canoeing/13094894.stm

[PortoNuts]

So good for legacy!

[PortoNuts]

Work on Thames cable car set to start this summer

-- Link to Wharf article --

Work on Boris Johnson's Thames cable car should start this summer with a preferred bidder for the £40million link having been selected. The bidder, who will not be named until legal agreements have been signed, will start work on the crossing by the summer, and it could be operational in time for next year's Olympic Games.

Planning approval has already been granted by Newham and Greenwich Councils and the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation.

But Transport for London were unable to confirm which private companies would be putting up the money for the project, which Mr Johnson has insisted will be privately funded. And it denied that there will be any need for it to subsidise the scheme, despite more than £1million of its money already put into it.

A spokeswoman said: "The proposal is that a contractor will initially be contracted to operate the cable car for up to three years. We expect the cable car to deliver a profit and would not expect the need for any public subsidy. These surplus funds would be used to pay for capital costs. Discussions for funding, which is expected to come from a combination of sources including third party, sponsorship and fare revenues sources, are ongoing."



Fares could start from £2.50 for a single trip with an Oyster pay-as-you-go card. Although the cable car is designed to carry up to 2,500 passengers per hour, doubts remain that demand - even from tourists - will be sufficient for it to break even, despite The O2 being located next to the southern terminal.

The spokeswoman said: "It will arrive frequently carrying up to 2,500 passengers per hour in each direction. Figures on predicted actual passenger uptake are not yet available but we are confident the cable car will provide a popular transport link where one currently does not exist. It is too early to say what the fare structure for the cable car will be, but they will be competitively priced in terms of being incorporated of London's public transport network and Oyster will be accepted."

But for many it does not answer the pressing need for new river crossings in the region.

One sceptic is John Biggs, London Assembly member for City and East. He said: "It's an excellent tourist attraction and will be effective at putting east London on the tourist map. I'll welcome it if it happens, but it could never be part of the transport network. Boris would have to put in a lot of public subsidy, because I'm not sure there's enough there to attract people to the area. Either that, or it will be a purely commercial operation, charging premium rates. If it was going from North Greenwich to Canary Wharf it might make more sense. There's a massive shortage of river crossings, and we need at least one road crossing over the Thames here. The cable car is an attractive bit of kit, but it falls between two stools."

In his transport strategy published last year Mr Johnson insisted he remains fully committed to improving cross-river transport in east London. His other proposals include developing plans for a new road crossing at Silvertown, and a replacement for the Woolwich ferry, and a potential bridge at Gallions Reach.

The proposed scheme will span 1,100metre stretch across the River Thames between North Greenwich and the Royal Docks (above). At its highest point it will rise around 54metres above the river. The two main supporting towers will be 90m tall.

The cable car will have the capacity to carry 2,500 passengers per hour, with cars arriving at the stations at 15 second intervals. In one year it could carry up to 30million passengers. Journey time is estimated to be five minutes. By comparison, a journey by DLR and Tube between North Greenwich and Royal Victoria takes around eight minutes.

The northern terminal will serve the Royal Docks, including Excel and the proposed Siemens Pavilion, which is expected to attract over 100,000 visitors a year when it opens. The southern terminal will serve The O2.

[PortoNuts]

2012 Paralympic countdown hits 500-day mark

With 500 days to go to the start of the 2012 Paralympics, already there is plenty of speculation that London will host the most spectacular Games ever seen. Britain has a proud history in Paralympic sport, with the first event taking place in Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1948 when hospitals where British war veterans with spinal injuries were being treated competed against each other.

The first modern Paralympics were staged in Rome in 1960 and Britain have always been among the most successful nations, finishing second in the medal table behind the hosts China in Beijing in 2008 with 102 medals, including 42 golds.

Second place is again a realistic target, with the likes of swimmers Ellie Simmonds and Sascha Kindred, cyclists Sarah Storey, Jody Cundy and Darren Kenny, wheelchair racer Dave Weir and the rest of the GB squad relishing the chance to shine on home soil.

They will line up alongside world superstars like swimmer Natalie du Toit, tennis star Esther Vergeer and sprint rivals Oscar Pistorius and Jerome Singleton for a feast of elite disability sport.

More than 4,200 athletes from around 150 countries will participate in 20 different sports at the Games from 29 August - 9 September 2012.

The Beijing Games attracted 3,951 athletes from 146 countries and a total of 279 world records were broken during the 12 days of competition, which were watched by a global television audience of 3.8bn people.

Great Britain was represented in 18 sports in Beijing and the sports that missed out last time - goalball and sitting volleyball - will be hopeful of inclusion this time around, with a decision on their participation to be made later this year. ParalympicsGB performance director Penny Briscoe knows the GB squad will have added pressure on their shoulders when it comes to the 2012 Games.

"We have been open about our ambition of maintaining our second place in the medal table, but we also recognise that Paralympic sport is developing quickly and we face ever-increasing levels of competition, so there is no room for us to be complacent," she said.

"2012 is undoubtedly the biggest event we have ever prepared for, so we have taken all the work that we have done in previous Games and expanded on it to ensure that we can say on 29 August 2012 that our team is physically, psychologically, technically and tactically ready.

"We all know that this is a one-off opportunity to put Paralympic sport on the map in Britain."

The Games will be staged in many of the Olympic venues, including the Olympic Stadium (athletics), Aquatics Centre (swimming) and Velodrome (cycling), as well as the likes of Eton Dorney (rowing), Weymouth (sailing) and Greenwich Park (equestrian para-dressage).

The Olympic Park will also stage the five-a-side and seven-a-side football at the Olympic hockey centre and goalball at the Olympic handball arena, as well as wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball at the Olympic basketball arena, although some basketball will also be held at the North Greenwich Arena.

The ExCel exhibition centre in the Docklands will host boccia, judo, sitting volleyball, wheelchair fencing, table tennis and powerlifting.

The wheelchair tennis events will be staged at Eton Manor while the archery and shooting will both be held at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich. The London 2012 Organising Committee (Locog) will announce the ticket prices for the Games on 10 May with tickets going on sale on 9 September until 30 September.

Organisers say that in London there will be around two million tickets available to buy and so far more than 750,000 people have signed up for tickets - the most ever 500 days out from the start of the Games. In Beijing, a total of 1.82m tickets were sold with a further 1.62m tickets provided to children, education and community groups.

Since finishing second in Beijing, Britain's Paralympic athletes have not been allowed to rest on their laurels and despite the recent departure of chief executive Phil Lane, they have continued to amass top-level success. UK Sport had set a target of 34-52 medals for GB teams at 2011 World Championships.

However, that target has already been beaten with the athletics team winning 38 medals (their target was 15-25) at their World Championships in New Zealand in January.

The track cycling team, who were among the star performers in Beijing in 2008, were set a target of 10-16 medals from their World Championships in Italy last month and improved on that with 18 medals, including nine golds.

They have another chance to add to their medal haul in September's Road World Championships, which will be another key event as they bid to earn qualifying places for next year's Games. Still to come this summer, the archery team, including Paralympic and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Danielle Brown, will be hoping for medals at their World Championships in Italy.

Paralympic single sculls rowing champion Tom Aggar will be bidding to retain his World Championship title in Slovenia while the sailing squad face a busy period with two competitions over the 2012 course in Weymouth - the Sail for Gold regatta for Olympic and Paralympic classes, as well as their own Paralympic World Championships.

Eleven-time Paralympic gold medallist Baroness Tanni Grey Thompson told the BBC that she has high hopes for the London Games.

"Back when I started competing the word Paralympic wasn't used that much and my first Games in Seoul in 1988 there was very little media coverage," she said.

"But since then, each Games has seen the Paralympic movement advance and this time, athletes have the most amazing opportunities in terms of media profile, access to sponsorship and the chance to become a household name.

"For the guys who are aiming for 2012 they can almost feel it - they know almost how many training sessions are left and what they need to be doing and it is getting exciting.

"I believe London will be the best Paralympics we've ever seen but we also have to use the legacy of the Games to encourage more young disabled people to get involved in sport at all levels."

International Paralympic Committee president Sir Philip Craven, who represented GB at five Games from 1972-88, believes his home nation will stage a Games to remember.

"I always thought that the 2008 Beijing Paralympics would take some beating as they really did set the benchmark for future Games," he said.

"However, Locog has so far done a tremendous job going about things. On current form it would not surprise me if in just over 500 days' time at the closing ceremony of the Games I have to eat my words and say the same things about London as I did about Beijing four years ago.

"One thing that I think is an absolute certainty for next year is that the performance levels of athletes will once again be significantly raised.

"I think those who have never seen a Paralympic Games before will be surprised and taken aback at the sheer quality of performances from the athletes."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/disa...t/13065994.stm

[PortoNuts]

Final tile laid at London 2012 Aquatics Centre

Paralympic gold medal winning swimmer Liz Johnson has laid the final tile in the Aquatics Centre competition pool to mark 500 days to go to the London 2012 Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony.

The 25-year-old from Newport was at the London 2012 Aquatics Centre for the first time as she put down the last of 180,000 tiles lining the 50 metre competition and training pools as well as the dive pool. The competition and diving pools will now be filled with millions of litres of water while the 50 metre training pool has already been filled.

"With just 500 days of training and preparation to go until the Paralympic Games open; it's great to see first-hand where I hope to be competing and to play a very small part in building it," said Johnson. "You can really imagine what the atmosphere will be like in 500 days' time in such a fantastic venue. I can't wait to compete at the Aquatics Centre in front of thousands of fans and it's great that it will be available for everyone to use once the Games have finished."

The Zaha Hadid-designed Aquatics Centre has come under fire in recent months due to the escalating costs of constructing the venue. The London 2012 bid book price estimated it would cost £73 million ($118 million) to build but the anticipated final cost in the latest figures released show that the price is now over £269 million ($434 million).

The complexity of the 160 metre long wave-shaped roof has also meant that two temporary wings have had to be attached to the venue for extra seating but the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) claim that it is on track to be completed as planned this summer in time for the scheduled test events ahead of the Games.

ODA chief executive Dennis Hone said: "The Aquatics Centre is on track to be a great sporting stage for the world's best athletes in 2012. After the Games it will become a fantastic new flexible and accessible facility for swimmers and divers of all ages and abilities."

The Aquatics Centre will be the main gateway into the Games' during London 2012 and second biggest venue on the Olympic Park behind the Olympic Stadium.

Hugh Robertson, the Sport and Olympics Minister said: "Good progress has been made in delivering this iconic and complex venue. With the tiles down and the water going in, the Aquatics Centre will soon be the third venue on the Park to be complete."

After the Games, the Aquatics Centre will become a 2,500 capacity venue providing two 50m swimming pools with moveable floors and separation booms, a diving pool and dry diving area for the full range of community and elite use.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: "This awesome building will provide the perfect setting for the world's best swimmers to battle it out for gold, silver and bronze in 2012 and long into the future. With the likes of Paralympic athletes Liz Johnson and Ellie Simmonds competing next summer, I am sure that the cheers from the home crowds will be loud enough to raise the wave-shaped roof."

Andrew Altman, chief executive of the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC), added: "We have already had a positive response in the first stages of looking for an operator to turn this iconic building into a much needed centre to be enjoyed by families, clubs and community groups after the 2012 Games.

"Its two 50m pools and a 25m diving pool, all with moveable floors, will also provide elite swimmers with a world class facility and encourage the next generation of swimmers to follow in their footsteps."

http://insidethegames.biz/summer-oly...quatics-centre

[jerseyboi]

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

image hosted on flickr

kool

[PortoNuts]

Build It Bigger: London Olympic Aquatic Stadium

-- Link to Science Channel: Build It Bigger --

The London Aquatics Centre will host 44 swimming & diving events during the 2012 Olympics and live on as a new addition to the London landscape. Danny Forster goes with crews as they construct one of the most advanced swimming facilities ever built.

Clip 1 - Planners for the 2012 Olympics in London made a bold decision to hold the games East London - two miles away from the heart of the city.


Clip 2 - London prepares to host the 2012 Olympics by building a massive new aquatic stadium. Danny Forster gets a look at the 120,000 square foot steel roof in progress.


Clip 3 - Danny Forster is on site as crews use two enormous cranes to test how the truss for the London Olympic Aquatic Stadium will hold up under pressure.


Clip 4 - To create the ceiling for London's new Olympic Aquatic Stadium, crews install 37,000 custom-manufactured pieces of Brazilian lumber.

[jerseyboi]

Originally Posted by woodgnome

Larger versions of interior:





Aquatics Centre factfile

-- Link to London2012 --

• The Zaha Hadid designed Aquatics Centre is located in the south of the Olympic Park and will be the main ‘Gateway into the Games', hosting Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo finals and the swimming discipline of the Modern Pentathlon
• The Aquatics Centre will have a capacity of 17,500 during the Games reducing in legacy to a maximum of 2,500, with the ability to add 1,000 for major events, and provide two 50m swimming pools with moveable floors and separator booms, a diving pool and dry diving area.
• The Aquatics Centre is the second largest Olympic Park venue at over 200 metres long with a 22,000 metre squared footprint and a full size (volume) of approx 500,000 cubic metres.
• Eleven industrial buildings have been demolished on the 55,000 sq m site.
• Around 160,000 tonnes of soil have been dug out on of what was one of the more challenging and complex areas of the Olympic Park, contaminated with pollutants including petrol, oil, tar, solvents and heavy metals such as arsenic and lead
• Four skeletons were discovered and removed from a prehistoric settlement discovered on the site of the Aquatic Centre.
• 140,000 tonnes of clean soil has been brought from other areas of the Olympic Park to prepare for construction to start.
• Balfour Beatty is building the Aquatics Centre and huge land-bridge that forms the roof of the training pool and the main pedestrian access to the Olympic Park. Construction work will be complete in 2011 for test events ahead of the Games.
• The river that runs alongside the venue has been widened by eight metres by building 550m of new river walls.
• The sweeping roof, which is 160m long and 80m at its widest point, is an innovative steel structure weighing over 3,000 tonnes with a striking and robust aluminium covering, half of which is recycled, resting on three supports.
• Construction started on the foundations in July 2008. A 3,000 tonne concrete ‘bridge’ has been built spanning and protecting the tunnels which have been dug to run powerlines beneath the site. The 18.5m tall northwest roof support has been built on top of this base.
• The permanent section is complete of the 250m and 45m wide land bridge that forms the main ‘Gateway to the Games’ from the Stratford City development, spanning the Aquatics Centre and forming the roof of the training pool.
• 866,000 ceramic tiles made are being installed in the pools, poolside and changing rooms (180,000 lining the pools themselves). The tiles were delivered by train to the Olympic Park. Most of the tiles are white with blue tiles used for the lanes in the competition pool which have to be placed perfectly to ensure the lanes are straight.
• Over 30,000 sections of sustainably sourced Red Lauro timber are currently being placed on the curved Aquatics Centre ceiling, after being precisely cut using 3D computer modelling – despite the ceiling curving in two directions the joining lines must be absolutely straight to make them easier for swimmers doing the backstroke to follow.
• The two 1600 tonne steel frames of the temporary seating stands that sit either side of the Aquatics Centre roof are structurally complete with colourful steel seat supports and 19,000 metres squared of phalate-free uPVC wrap. Seats will start to be installed shortly.
• Four miles of pipes and 13 filters each filled with 16 tonnes of sand are in place to manage the 15 million litres water in the three pools including the use of overflow water to flush the Aquatics Centre toilets.
• The unique Zaha Hadid-designed curved concrete dive tower is complete. Following five months of laboratory and on-site trials the complex six-board tower was built with 462 tonnes of high-tech self-compacting concrete poured into glass-fibre reinforced plastic moulds, computer cut from a 3D model, around a skeleton of steel bars to make the distinctive shape. The tower includes a 5m board with 1m spring board below, 3m springboard and 3m board, 7.5m and 10m boards.

kool

[the spliff fairy]

IN the vid, the Olympic Stadium is actually 6 miles from the West End (downtown), not 2.

[PortoNuts]

Originally Posted by the spliff fairy

IN the vid, the Olympic Stadium is actually 6 miles from the West End (downtown), not 2.

Americans, give them a break.

[Mossy22]

Heres another stunning photo of the aquatics centre, from a slightly different angle though, where you can see how it curves in, It has cave like quality which i really love. Just posted on the UK forums:

Originally Posted by jeremiah67

[PortoNuts]

You can really appreciate the roof's curvature in that picture.

[PortoNuts]

2012 Olympic tickets in high demand

London 2012 organisers say demand for tickets is high before Tuesday's deadline for applications, although they will not reveal whether the 80% sales target has been met.

"We genuinely don't know until we've got all the final data in," said Paul Williamson, Locog's director of ticketing. "We've always said that people who apply on day one should have the same chance as the people who apply on the last day so we want to make sure it's a level playing field for everyone."

He confirmed that figures would be released once the applications had been processed.

He believes the marketing campaign of the last seven days has resulted in a surge of interest. "We're confident that we're on target. We've had hundreds of thousands of orders come in. We've seen a real lift in applications in the last 48 hours and we expect that to follow through to Tuesday." Williamson said fears over the ticketing process had not been borne out. "We've got the world's most complicated sports event – 650 sessions, 26 sports, 17 days at 35 venues. We've tried to simplify it as much as we can."

Tessa Jowell, shadow minister for the Olympics, and Neale Coleman, Boris Johnson's adviser on London 2012, agree that application numbers have been high. "As far as I'm aware it's going really well," said Jowell. "I spoke to Locog just as week ago and I've got no reason to believe that there is any problem."

For those buying the tickets the biggest complaint seems to be the pricing and lack of transparency over exactly what each price bracket buys. Jack Miller, vice-president of the British Athletics Supporters Club, said the process compared favourably with the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002.

However, he criticised the system for not showing customers what kind of view they can expect – fearing a repeat of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics for he bought an expensive ticket with a terrible view.

"I got a grade A ticket for the 100m final in Atlanta ... but it turned out to be located around the 200m start line, which was utterly useless for watching the 100m. I felt robbed. I think that we would very much like to have known the layout of the 2012 stadium and where the different price category tickets begin and end."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/ap...et-high-demand

[PortoNuts]

[PortoNuts]

London's iconic Tower Bridge to get eco lighting makeover

London's iconic Tower Bridge is to undergo an eco makeover in time for next year's Olympic Games with the installation of a new energy-efficient lighting system. As well as helping to cut carbon and reduce energy costs, the project will enhance this global icon's architectural features at night.

The Mayor of London has announced the deal yesterday between City Hall, City of London Corporation, EDF and GE to upgrade the bridge with the state-of-the-art lighting.

Tower Bridge is one of the world's most instantly recognisable landmarks and has recently undergone major re-painting. A funding deal has now been brokered by the Mayor Boris Johnson, between the bridge owners, City of London Corporation, London 2012 Sustainability partners EDF and GE to upgrade the famous structure's 25-year old lighting system.

If given planning permission, this will deliver LEDs and flexible lighting and a new cabling system to complement the bridge's features - such as its gothic turrets, central aerial walkway and suspension chains - in colours sensitive to its listed building status.

The lighting system will be flexible, allowing for both varying colours and intensity of light, enabling Tower Bridge to respond to special events in a unique and spectacular manner.

Currently Tower Bridge has traditional, static flood-lighting which can flatten the architecture. The use of energy efficient LED technology will reduce the energy consumption of the existing lighting system by an estimated 40 per cent on today’s usage.

The project must now obtain the necessary planning permissions but if successful, work could start by September and be completed by spring 2012, in time for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Commercial agreements have now been signed between all relevant parties and a detailed planning application is being drawn-up.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “I want London to look its very best in 2012 as the eyes of the world are upon us. Tower Bridge is one of this city’s most stunning landmarks, recognised the world over and therefore deserving of a star role in these year-long celebrations.

“I am thrilled to have brokered this deal – at no cost to the taxpayer - to bathe Tower Bridge in eco-friendly light to create a fresh perspective of this wonderful icon. This is another great legacy for London stretching for decades beyond the Olympic year.”

In the first step of the project, global lighting experts Citelum has been appointed to design and subject to planning approvals, begin installation works. Citelum has a worldwide reputation for ambitious lighting projects on historic buildings including the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur and the Eiffel Tower.

Stuart Fraser, chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee of the City of London, said: “The founders of the ancient Bridge House Estates charity that pays for the five City bridges would be amazed to see how the world has changed since 1097. “But I am sure they would want London to be as smart as possible for next year and this partnership achieves that at no cost to taxpayers, a fact that will surely double everyone’s pleasure at Tower Bridge’s elegant new look.”

EDF Energy, the UK subsidiary of EDF and a leading electricity supplier in London, will also become the lighting electricity supplier for Tower Bridge and will match every unit of electricity that it supplies to Tower Bridge with power generated from low carbon sources.

Vincent de Rivaz, Chief Executive at EDF Energy, the UK subsidiary of EDF Group, said: “Following our partnership with the London Eye, EDF is delighted to be involved in this exciting project to help reduce the carbon footprint of another iconic London landmark ahead of the Games.

“As the first sustainability partner of London 2012, EDF is making real its low carbon vision for the capital. We hope that the new energy efficient lighting will make Tower Bridge a shining symbol of sustainability, encouraging visitors and residents to think about how they can live a lower carbon lifestyle.”

Mark Elborne, President and CEO of GE in the UK, said: “The spotlight is going to be firmly on London in 2012, so it is the perfect time to be able to highlight one of London’s most iconic global landmarks. We are very proud that our LEDs and equipment will be used to enhance Tower Bridge, helping to create a sustainable and flexible legacy.”

http://www.clickgreen.org.uk/news/na...-makeover.html

[PortoNuts]

Launch date announced for mega-mall near Olympic park

Europe's biggest urban shopping mall opens in London on September 13, it was revealed today.

The £1.5billion Westfield Stratford City, next to the Olympic park, will house more than 300 shops, including a John Lewis department store and large branches of Marks & Spencer and Waitrose.

It will also have 50 cafes and restaurants, three hotels, a 14-screen cinema and Britain's biggest casino, the Australian developers announced. The opening will come nine months ahead of the 2012 Games and less than three years after sister mall Westfield London opened in Shepherd's Bush.

The 1.9million sq ft arcade, part of the new E20 postcode being created, is forecast to generate 10,000 permanent jobs. John Lewis expects to recruit about 750 staff. About three-quarters of the mall's space is already let.

Michael Gutman, managing director of Westfield UK, spoke of "an exciting year for our clients".

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standa...lympic-park.do

Excitement builds over shopping centre

There are less than 150 days until Europe’s largest urban shopping centre opens to the public. Westfield Stratford City will open its doors to the public on Tuesday, September 13. More than 10,000 new jobs will be created at the new centre, which has cost £1.45billion to build.

Westfield Stratford City will be home to more than 300 brands, more than 50 places to dine, a 14-screen all digital Vue cinema, the UK’s largest casino, three hotels, a bowling alley and central events and entertainment spaces. The new development will also serve as a gateway to the Olympic Games in 2012 with more than 70 per cent of all visitors expected to pass through the centre.

Michael Gutman, managing director for Westfield UK, said the facility would be ‘fantastic’. He said: “We are working towards the opening of our East London project in 150 days, which will be a wonderful curtain raiser for the excitement nine months later at the Olympic Games.

“Following on from the successful launch of Westfield London over two years ago, we are well underway with preparations for another exciting year for our retailers and consumers in September, leading into a busy Christmas period, Easter 2012 and then into the summer Olympic Games.”

More than one million square feet of office space is also planned, with 130,000 square feet already built and ready for occupation this September. Westfield Stratford City is also set to become one of the best connected retail destinations in the UK, with £17bn being invested in public transport in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.

- The development will contain 5,000 car parking spaces.

- Three quarters of all Stratford City’s electrical power will be met through an on-site Combined Cooling, Heat and Power Plant (CCHP).

- Four million people live within a 45-minute drive time of the development.

- Fifty-eight trains per hour connecting central London will serve the centre.

- The development is 10 per cent more energy efficient than required by Building Regulations.

- More than 50 per cent of waste generated will be recycled.

http://www.yellowad.co.uk/news.cfm?i...pping%20centre

[steffi16]

Olympic Park Development Corporation - consultation ends 28 April

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has published, and is now seeking views on, his proposals to reform the existing Olympic Park Legacy Company as a Mayoral Development Corporation. Centred on the Olympic Park but also incorporating a large part of the surrounding area (including Hackney Wick in Hackney), this new organisation is modelled on previous agencies charged with delivering new urban development, but would be accountable for the first time directly to Londoners through the office of the Mayor of London. This would specifically mean new powers relating to infrastructure, regeneration, development and other land-related activities in the area the new body would oversee.

Hackney Council is making representation, highlighting support for this body on the grounds that it is the best approach for the continued regeneration of Hackney Wick, of ensuring convergence of opportunity locally and delivering improved transport connections such as an improved Hackney Wick station and new bridges.

Hackney's specific requirements of any new Mayoral Development Corporation however include:

* Respect the existing adopted planning policy for the area, not least the Hackney Wick Area Action Plan, adopted in 2010 and devised with a large evidence base and the significant input of local residents, businesses and others.
* Ensure accountability, inclusion and transparency of the MDC to local communities, in the spirit of the Localism Bill.
* Establish clear and defined relationships with residents and Hackney officers, especially as Hackney will have a significant freehold within this new boundary including houses, community assets such as schools and communuity centres, green space and open parkland.