There’s even more to the Olympic Park than the new world-class sporting venues we’ve been highlighting this week. After the Games, the parkland will be open for all to enjoy: a beautiful 250 acre park full of plants and animals.
One of the biggest urban parks created in over a century, the Olympic Park includes more than eight kilometres of waterway, more than 4,000 new trees, 300,000 wetland plants and over 650 bird and bat boxes.
It’s great new for visitors, and even better for local wildlife, which is already making itself at home there. Plus, the parkland will help London cope with changing weather patterns, acting as a giant sponge to soak up rainwater and prevent flooding.
Watch the film to find out more about how the park was created.
Olympic and Paralympic Village
“The Village is the heart and soul of everything, where you rest your head at night and it’s a vital part of your preparation. You need to come back to a place that you feel comfortable, where you feel there’s a sense of belonging and I think London has certainly managed to get that right for 2012.” Colin Jackson, Olympian & sports commentator
With London 2012 nearly here, you’re going to see a lot of the Olympic Park and its amazing venues. Today, we look at arguably the most important venue of all – the Athletes Village where the world’s top talent will rest their head.
In fact, 16,000 athletes and team officials will stay at the Olympic Village during the Olympics, with a further 6,200 during the Paralympics. They will get home-from-home comforts mixed with some five-star services to make sure they’re 100% ready for action. Facilities include a 24-hour dining area, a state-of-the-art gym, an extensive entertainment room and a multi-faith centre.
After the Games, the Olympic and Paralympic Village will be a lasting legacy of essential new housing for east London. It will be transformed into 2,818 new homes, including 1,379 affordable homes and houses for sale and rent. They will create a new residential quarter to be known as East Village.
Communities will be supported by new parklands, open space, new transport links and public services, including Chobham Academy – a world-class new education campus – and a new health centre.
London 2012 Copper Box
With London 2012 nearly here, you’re going to see a lot of the Olympic Park and its amazing venues. Each day this week, find out how one of the venues will be used after the Games are over. Today, it’s the Copper Box which will host the handball and the fencing stage of the modern pentathlon.
The stunning Copper Box, with its 3,000 sq m of copper cladding, took less than two years to complete. That is pretty fast, but with our time lapse footage you can watch it take shape in less than a minute and a half.
After the games the Copper Box will become a multi-use sports centre for community use, athlete training and events, operated by Greenwich Leisure Limited.
Its flexible design and retractable seating mean it will be suitable for activities ranging from international competition to community sports, and for a wide range of indoor sports, including basketball, handball, badminton, boxing, martial arts, netball, table tennis, wheelchair rugby and volleyball.
A health and fitness club with changing facilities and a cafe for use by the local community are also planned.
London 2012 Velodrome
With London 2012 nearly here, you’re going to see a lot of the Olympic Park and its amazing venues in the weeks ahead. So each day in the run-up to the Opening Ceremony, we’re finding out how each venue will be used after the Games. Today, it’s the Velodrome.
The super-stylish Velodrome was a whisker away from winning the prestigious Stirling Prize for architecture this year.
After the Games, it will combine with a reconfigured BMX Track and new facilities for road cycling and mountain bike. This will form the new Lee Valley VeloPark, which will be available for the public and elite cyclists to use, transforming cycling facilities in the capital.
Find out more about the Velodrome on the London 2012 website.
