Athlete's Village

Olympia 2012 - a new district arises

All eyes are on England’s capital city, where the great Summer Games 2012 are taking place. London has set itself a very ambitious target. Besides the athletes achievements, the Summer Games shall be remembered for the project’s pioneering approach to sustainability.

When it was decided to locate the international train station, which connects London to the European continent, in the old industrial area of Stratford, plans were already made to build a new city quarter there. This new urban settlement was to set very high standards in terms of sustainability and quality of living. The city was planning an outstanding new district: with the biggest shopping mall in Europe, an educational facility for over 1800 students from ages 3-19, a medical centre with over 60 specialized treatment facilities and green recreational space of over 100 hectare.

The new intention, to build this city quarter for Olympic athlete’s village and to then remodel it into a residential area after the games, played an important role in London being awarded the privilege of hosting the Sommer Games 2012. Hence, the initial plan for a new district development turned into a mega project of an investment volume of 9.3 billion British pounds and only 7 years to plan and fully complete.

The Athlete’s Village will be renamed “East Village” after the Olympics and includes over 2800 flats, designed and planned by 16 renowned architects. Furthermore, one of the largest parks to be built in London for the last 150 year was to be designed by landscape architect Gunther Vogt. The “Woodlands” of this park will serve as London’s new green lung and are home to over 3000 native trees. The lake area, the “Wetlands”, were designed as a rain water reservoir for the parks vegetation and will additionally act as a flooding area, protecting the residential area during heavy rain. Under regular conditions, the Wetlands serve as recreational area for the East Villages and will offer cosy picnic spots and cycle paths along the water.

When it came to choosing pavement materials, plants and functional infrastructure elements, so called Public Elements ©, special emphasis was placed not only on the aesthetics, but also on sustainability and optimized lifecycle costs.

After initial assessments in 2010, BURRI public elements was asked to send a park bench of the type BURRI 02 to London for evaluation and testing. An innovative solution with a sophisticated design was sought, which would fulfil high sustainability standards and had optimized lifecycle costs.

After intensive material testing, including blast tests, the project entered its second phase. Numerous evaluations followed, addressing compliance, colouration, fixation possibilities and maintenance. To guarantee accessibility, certain models received slight modifications, in order to fulfil the norms of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

The optimized release-mechanism of the Public Bin, with hydraulic damper and flexible installation possibilities was crucial for the decision to choose Public Bin and Dog Bin as waste disposal systems. The Public Bin can be easily expanded, as one installation post holds up to 4 waste bins, allowing for different recycling options or increased storage volume. This was of great importance for the decision makers, since high growth is predicted for the area – plans have been made for over 8000 additional flats.

Uniform Bollards were sought, which offered a removable, as well as a permanently installable version, to be used as zoning elements and traffic barriers. The BURRI Public Bollard, with its predetermined breaking point and a bayonet locking mechanism satisfied the planners on technical and aesthetical levels alike. They were looking for a sustainable solution, that was easy to replace and would not damage the pavement in the event of a collision.

After selecting all elements, different decision makers and sustainability experts of the city of London visited the production facilities of BURRI in Switzerland. Material quality, manufacturing processes, quality controls and the origin of all parts were evaluated and verified.

Afterwards, the different installation options were determined, together with the lead design. Since many different parties were involved in the realization of the project, a model park was created, where all pavement types and installation variations were realized on a 1:1 scale. It served as a benchmark for the construction quality throughout the project.

Within only 4 months, all Public Elements were produced and delivered to London. They were all coated with special “London Black” paint, imported directly from England.

The many beautiful, but temporary Stadiums exemplify the world class English architecture. The permanent, repurposed “East Village” however, will set high standards for sustainable city planning and functional urban design for many years to come. Project “East Village” is proof of the power of a grand vision, making the impossible possible while combining sustainability with aesthetics and economic efficiency.