New images show the seating structure taking shape inside the 12,000-capacity venue before the first section of black and orange seating – designed to represent the colours of a basketball - is put into place.

The Arena, which will be dismantled after the Games and potentially reused elsewhere, is set to be one of the quickest venues to finish in the 500-acre Olympic Park. Construction of the 1,000-tonne steel frame only started in March – just over a year before the expected project completion date in April 2011.

Basketball preliminary matches and Women’s quarter finals will be staged at the Arena, in addition to the Handball men’s quarter finals, all semi finals and medal matches. It will also host Wheelchair Basketball and Wheelchair Rugby during the Paralympic Games.

Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) Chairman John Armitt said: 'The Basketball Arena is going up rapidly and has been a feature of the east London skyline for some time now. Just seven months after work started on the structure, the seats are ready to be fitted.

'As the fourth largest sports venue on the Olympic Park by capacity, it is encouraging that work is continuing at an excellent rate and it is on track to complete next year in time for Test Events.'

London 2012 Organising Committee Chair Seb Coe said: 'It is exciting to see the fast progress on the Basketball Arena over the last seven months. Basketball is one of the most popular Olympic sports and spectators will be able to see the game played out in spectacular surroundings. It is a superb venue which will be the centre of some of the best team action during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.'

Work is currently underway preparing the foundations for the seating on the Arena.

The main internal steelwork providing the framework for the building’s services and amenities below is nearly complete, while the installation of scaffolding required to support the seating has now begun.

The seating frame and seats will then be put into place a section at a time so work can start on installing facilities underneath - including lifts, toilet blocks, corridors and VIP access rooms. It is planned that the first block of seating will be complete by early September to make way for the construction of the first of eight spectator toilet blocks.

The venue, which is as high as the Tate Modern at 35 metres and longer than a football pitch at 115 metres, is wrapped in 20,000sqm of recyclable white PVC membrane that has been stretched over three different variations of arched panels. During the games the exterior will act as a canvas for an artistic and innovative lighting design.

After the Games the venue will be dismantled by the company which built and owns the temporary structure, with the option of potentially using elements of the arena at other UK and overseas events.

Notes to Editors:

Sports to be staged at the Basketball Arena include:

Digital and construction images of the Basketball can be downloaded at: http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?nav=pr140201004
 
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For further information please contact the Olympic Delivery Authority Press Office on +44 (0)20 3 2012 700.

The construction of the venues and infrastructure of the London 2012 Games is funded by the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor, The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Mayor of London and the London Development Agency.

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• Basketball: The Olympic Basketball competition will have 288 athletes competing for two gold medals - 144 men and 144 women, and 12 teams of 12 players in each competition.
• Handball: Two teams of seven players pass and dribble a small synthetic or leather ball using only their hands. The aim is to score a goal by throwing the ball past the defending goalkeeper. The team with the most goals wins.
• Wheelchair Basketball: Played by two teams of five. It is similar to the running game, with the same size court, basket height and near-identical rules.
• Wheelchair Rugby: Played indoors on a regulation size basketball court using a white ball identical in size and shape to a volleyball. Teams have four players on the court and the object of the game is to carry the ball across the opposition’s goal line.

• Scotland: Barr Construction in Glasgow built the structure.
• West Midlands: Slick Seating in Redditch is providing the temporary seating.
• South West: Base from Bristol provided the membrane cladding for the outside of the Arena.
• South East: Envirowrap from Tenterden in Kent is providing the wrapping for the seats; Sevenoaks-based Volker Fitzpatrick is erecting the steelwork, building the toilet blocks and internal fit-out, including lifts.
• Northern Ireland: McAvoy from Dungannon is building the temporary accommodation.
• Yorkshire: Fullflow Group Ltd in Sheffield is a sub-contractor to Barr Construction and will be installing the syphonic drainage.