Handball Arena foundations complete

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Handball Arena foundations complete

22 Dec 2009

The foundations of the London 2012 Handball Arena are complete and the first parts of the venue have been built above ground.

Handball Arena foundations

The Handball Arena coming out of the ground

Construction started on the Arena in July 2009 and now two hundred concrete columns have been drilled 25m into the ground to form the foundations. The venue has started coming out of the ground with the lifting into place of 13 of 30 concrete walls.

Work is underway on the venue’s 1,000-tonne steel frame, which is being fabricated in Bolton. This frame is on track to be complete by summer 2010 when work will also have started on the roof and external cladding, with the distinctive copper layer added later in the year.

During the Olympic Games the Handball Arena will host the preliminary rounds and quarter-finals of the Handball competition (the semi-finals and final will be held in the larger Basketball Arena. It will also be the venue for the Fencing discipline of the Modern Pentathlon. In the Paralympic Games it will be the venue for Goalball.

After the Games the Arena will be adapted to become a multi-use sports centre for community use, athlete training and small- to medium-sized events.

Olympic Delivery Authority Chief Executive David Higgins said: ‘We are right on track to deliver a distinctive Handball Arena that will provide a great experience for competitors and spectators during the Games and offer a new sustainable and flexible facility for local people to enjoy a wide range of sports in legacy.’

A new webcam is capturing the construction of the distinctive Arena, which will include sustainable features such as 88 ceiling light pipes feeding natural light into the venue.

David added: ‘Our new webcam enables people to watch first-hand the Arena coming out of the ground as well as the other permanent Olympic Park venues as the project enters its toughest year.’

Read the full media release