Aquatics Centre Legacy Mode Redevelopment | 2,500 Capacity | U/C

[NothingBetterToDo]

^ I think what we're getting is better than the Water Cube. I could never see why everyone seemed to like that venue so much - it was a box with a mildly interesting exterior sat in the middle of a coach park.

[Horizon911]

The Water Cube looked incredible at night, probably the best lit building I've seen along with the Bird's Nest. But I agree that the interiors were not so great as it had to be lit with bright white lights and looked very, well, swimming pool ish. I suppose the swimmers and divers had to see what they were doing.

[gazzab1990]

The water cube looked awful in the day. The picture NBTD posted shows just how bad it really was. Personally I think all of our venues look far better, even though many are temporary. I guess the basketball arena could be our equivalent... interesting facade... boring shape... great lighting.

[EnglishKevin]

The original design was awesome.I don't like to see great architecture compromised .We are now left with a sleek design with bolt-on stabilisers attached.

Legacy-give people the best you can to live with afterwards.It isn't just about function or cost.It is quality of life and environment.The locals are paying for this.Make it worth it because clearly it is only going to happen once.

If there wasn't enough room for the initial design then don't design what you don't have space for ! COST was the factor here.Not space.

[DarJoLe]

Originally Posted by EnglishKevin

If there wasn't enough room for the initial design then don't design what you don't have space for ! COST was the factor here.Not space.

Cost was a factor but they didn't know how much space they had on the site until after they had won the bid and had to rethink the design of every venue to include various factors, as like I said, the Loop Road, security areas, etc.

The legacy mode is perfect for the local community. Considering how huge the current building is looking I dread to think how oversized the original design would have been, it would have looked bigger than the stadium and Stratford City put together!

[DarJoLe]

Originally Posted by Horizon911

Never seen the original design before, it's stunning and would have made a fantastic venue at least equaling the Water Cube.

As as already been said, it wouldn't have turned out anything like that render and been scaled down just as the Hadid centre has. There is no way it would have had that much glass or even been that orientated in that direction if it had won the competition.

[EnglishKevin]

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

Cost was a factor but they didn't know how much space they had on the site until after they had won the bid and had to rethink the design of every venue to include various factors, as like I said, the Loop Road, security areas, etc.

The legacy mode is perfect for the local community. Considering how huge the current building is looking I dread to think how oversized the original design would have been, it would have looked bigger than the stadium and Stratford City put together!

I've only ever seen and heard cost being the catalyst for redesign here.That may be inadequate PR.

I've upset RobH again with my comments about the aquatics centre.Why is he so 'upsettable' ? lol HOW DARE YOU CRITICISE THE AQUATICS CENTRE YOU ABJECT IDIOT !!!! YOU WILL NOT CRITICISE WHAT I BELIEVE FOR I AM AM ME ! Not a verbatim quote but that's the thinking .

I think most people that use this forum are not objective.They're swept along with the dream in a somewhat superficial and unthinking manner.I say unthinking because it seems that criticism is not accepted here however valid and that makes some people here more extreme then they seem to think I am .They want to read what they want to read.Valid points are not recognised.The merest criticism is seized upon and all hell breaks loose.I'M IGNORING YOU ! ( it has to be a proclamation ) lol ! It is funny sometimes.

It is immature to greet criticism with foul language,personal attacks ,sarcasm and hysteria.All very childish.Mind you,some of the criticism levelled at the logo included the word SWASTIKA.Perhaps they're right.These issues should be discussed as adults that are entitled to free speech and entitled to express a different viewpoint.Having said that,I'll out-bitch anyone that wants to take me on if they can't respond to points raised like an adult when and if I can be bothered.

My attitude,as a proud Englishman and Brit,is that I want the very best olympics for everyone.For my country,my capital city and the local people left with the legacy.That won't necessitate agreeing with everything the ODA does .

The ODA,Seb and Tessa need to be monitored carefully and they need objective criticism for they are in the eye of the storm and perhaps cannot always see things from a clear perspective-from the outside.People get lost in their own agendas and their own mantras .Reputations are at stake.We all know what is at stake here and we all have a voice.

I am supporting 2012.I have done so since the bid was announced.I am supporting it directly through government spending,indirectly through the lottery and,more personally if you will,through my choice from DAY ONE to buy the Dream Number lottery ticket.I like the Dream Number.I know exactly where my money is going-directly to London 2012.

So,I will have my say completely regardless of what anyone thinks or says on this forum.If anyone wants to throw their bottle out of the pram then go for it.

[madjackmcmad]

All fine and well Kev, but heed your own advice and bear in mind plenty of people disagree with you.

[ferge]

For me, our Aquatic centre wins hands down against the Cube.. even more so in Legacy mode, where it really shines..

[RobH]

It's an interesting point of comparison.

The Cube looked amazing at night but nothing special during the day. We know what London's will look like in the day, but I wonder how they will light it when it gets darker.

[DarJoLe]

The wings will glow.

[RobH]

Really? Like some sort of weird angel? Or are you pulling my leg?

[DarJoLe]

I thought it was in the planning app; there will be lights inside the temporary wings under the seating structure that will give the wings an ethereal glow at night through the fabric. I imagine there will also be permanent uplighters placed in the ground around the structure itself to create some kind of glow on the underside of the roof.

[maughr]

[/QUOTE]

I see that picture and I just can't understand all the people complaining about London's stadium and aquatics centre or anything to do with the park. That ugly concrete park with some cheap blue box and an unused stadium is what they're left with, for 20bn. London gets (hopefully) a beautiful and huge green space and some lasting regeneration for less than 10bn. No contest.

[Mo Rush]

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

I thought it was in the planning app; there will be lights inside the temporary wings under the seating structure that will give the wings an ethereal glow at night through the fabric. I imagine there will also be permanent uplighters placed in the ground around the structure itself to create some kind of glow on the underside of the roof.

check!.dont get us excited for nothing

[RobH]

Roof going up...




http://www.london2012.com/plans/olym...e-close-up.php

[DarJoLe]

When you look at how huge this structure is and how much land it takes up it makes perfect sense why they scaled it down from the massively oversized version presented in the bid. It would have been colossal, bigger than the stadium and totally swamped the lower end of the Park.

[london lad]

The big lift: the 2012 Olympics aquatics centre gets a roof
building.co.uk
27 March 2009

By Thomas Lane

The Olympic aquatics centre is now being fitted with its lid. Thomas Lane found out how the structure is being assembled

This week the construction of the Olympic park shifted into a more exciting phase. Until now, most of the building work has been notable for scale rather than technical complexity, and mainly involved shifting mountains of earth. Even the most advanced building on the site, the main stadium, is not very exciting – it was designed for risk-free, simple and efficient construction, which meant studiously avoiding technical and architectural innovation.

This mundane stage is now over and the first structural elements of the aquatics centre’s roof are now being positioned. Designed by Zaha Hadid, this venue is probably the most exciting project on the park, despite the original design being shrunk to make it more practical and cut costs.

The pièce de résistance is its roof, which gives the building its visual identity. It sweeps upwards in a smooth curve from the south end and gently down again at the north, while the east and west sides flare upwards at each edge.

This dramatic shape provides challenges. The 11,000m2 roof structure spans 120m from a concrete wall at the south end to two concrete cores 54m apart at the north. It cantilevers 30m beyond this and two wings cantilever 27m on the sides. This freeform shape will be supported on just three points.

There will be 2,550 seats inside a permanent building and 15,000 in two temporary structures on the sides. To allow the spectators at the back of the temporary venues a clear view, the roof had to be higher in the middle than at the edges.

“We also needed a column-free space on the east and west sides of the building to allow the extra seats an unobstructed view of the events,” says Mike King, Arup’s structural engineer for the building. “Determining how to do this has been a challenge from the beginning.”

The construction process is not helped by site constraints. It is bordered by a railway line to the east, a canal to the west and the water polo site just to the north. Two large tunnels housing the high voltage cables that were originally carried by pylons pass underneath. Furthermore, no other work can be carried out while the roof is under construction.

The structural solution needed to be simple to make it easy to build. “Our strong message was to simplify the roof as much as possible for construction,” says King.

The main roof structure consists of long trusses shaped to follow the curves of the roof in the north–south direction. The upper roof surface sweeps up towards the centre and down again, but it is a different story below. The underside of the roof curves up to clear the diving pool at the south end, then down again in a wave before sweeping up even higher to clear the main competition pool.

Structurally this helps, as it mean the trusses are deeper at the central point of the roof than at the edges. “While it looks complex all the trusses are straightforward 2D elements,” says King.

“When the roof is finished the support towers will be taken down. To simplify this, the whole roof will be lifted up 2m at the southern end”

The trusses incline progressively outwards from the centre of the roof towards the edges like a fan. This supports the cantilevered wings at the sides as the trusses act like an inclined tied arch anchored by the support points.

The size of the three support points has been minimised by tying the forces generated by the arch back into the main roof structure. The roof structure is also attached to a sliding joint on its south end so the lateral forces generated by wind and snow loading are not transferred back into the foundations.

Stuart Fraser, the project director for contractor Balfour Beatty, says he initially considered building the whole structure on the ground. “We looked at strand-jacking the entire roof up from the ground, but the curved shape meant you would have needed as many temporary supports for this as you would have to build it at height and it wouldn’t have been any safer,” he says. “Instead we’ve developed a method with minimal impact on the programme.”

That method involves building the roof in situ, a job that started on Tuesday. The roof elements are made from fabricated steel H-shaped sections by Rowecord Structural Engineering and the first elements were prefabricated in its factory. This included the first primary truss, which sits on the south wall and supports the fan trusses that span the entire length of the roof. The fan trusses will be built in sections and held up by temporary towers arranged in five rows between the south and north support nodes.

The first parts of the fan trusses are going in now and once this is completed the next section will start. The trusses will be assembled on site from the fabricated elements brought in from Rowecord then craned into position.

This construction method has two main benefits. The first is that is does not matter that the two concrete cores that support the northern end of the roof are not finished. “The cores at the north end have taken a long time to build because they sit on top of the power line tunnels. They need massive concrete transfer structures to deal with the loads on the tunnels,” says Fraser.

The idea is that the cores will be completed by the time the roof team reaches the north end of the building. The second benefit is that the first line of support towers can be taken down once the roof gets to the middle point. Crucially, this will allow Balfour Beatty to get on with the time-consuming job of excavating the diving pool at the southern end of the site before the whole roof is completed.

When the roof structure is finished at the beginning of August, the support towers will be taken down. To simplify this, the whole roof will be lifted up 2m at the southern end (it hinges on the cores to the north) so the towers can be taken out. The roof will then be dropped back so work can start on the Kalzip standing seam roofing. Services will be fitted inside the roof void and finally timber cladding will be fixed to the underside of the roof early next year.

[RobH]

Great find!

[Mo Rush]

Originally Posted by london lad

The big lift: the 2012 Olympics aquatics centre gets a roof
building.co.uk
27 March 2009

That makes me want to create that!