London 2012 - Revised Aquatics Centre Design

The design retains the eye catching wave shaped roof symbolising the flow of water in aquatic sports and confirms the Aquatics Centre will be a showpiece venue for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

The design also ensures the Aquatics Centre will remain a landmark for London long after the Games as a much needed permanent new world class swimming and sports facility for local communities as well as elite athletes.

Contractors are already working on the Aquatics Centre site to prepare the land for construction to start in mid-2008, with the venue due to be completed for testing in the Summer of 2011, as outlined in the Olympic Park Delivery schedule earlier this year.

During the Games the Aquatics Centre will host Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming and the swimming discipline of the Modern Pentathlon, as well as the swimming events in the Paralympic Games.

London 2012 Organising Committee Chairman Sebastian Coe, described the updated design as "a big moment" in planning for the 2012 Games.

"These designs show that Aquatics Centre will provide a stunning landmark for the Olympic Park, for the London 2012 Games and for local communities after the Games. We will now move forward to the next stage of detailed design and pre-construction work on schedule, as planned," Coe said.

"Sport matters hugely in this country, and, as this design shows, we will celebrate the world’s biggest and most important sporting and cultural event in venues that inspire the world, especially athletes and young people.

"The venues as well as the athletes will be the stars of the 2012 Games."

Coe said further progress on the Aquatic Centre design and construction of the facility would incorporate cutting-edge thinking and technology in pool performance and involve a close working relationship between LOCOG, the ODA, British Swimming and FINA, the world governing body, and the BOA.

Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said: "I would like to congratulate and thank Zaha Hadid and her team for the inspirational design being published today.

"This will provide both a functional and beautiful venue for the Games, a legacy for the local community and will, no doubt, in time become a distinctive landmark in the Olympic Park."

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said: "Zaha and her team have carefully recrafted their original concept and produced a truly world class Aquatics Centre design for a world class city.

"Long after the 2012 Games are over we will have a centre that we can all be proud of and which can be used by Londoners as well as for major domestic and international aquatics events in the future."

ODA Chief Executive David Higgins said:

"London 2012 has design at its heart. We are producing world class venues that are fit for the prize of holding the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

"The revised design, while just as visionary and exciting, is smaller than the original, reflecting the new constraints of the site, and is now fully integrated with the bridge from Stratford City to the Olympic Park. These are world-class designs and the Aquatics Centre will be a magnificent Gateway to the Games.”

Architect Zaha Hadid said: "I was delighted when we won the competition to design London's first Olympic venue in February 2005.

"It has been an exciting challenge for my office to create an innovative design which will provide an outstanding building for the Games themselves, as well as a world-class aquatics complex for the community afterwards.

"The architectural concept of the London Aquatic Centre is inspired by the fluid geometry of water in motion, creating spaces and a surrounding environment in sympathy with the river landscape."

David Sparkes, CEO of British Swimming, said:
"The wave roof design will be a spectacular piece of aquatic architecture that will inspire the nation to follow and participate in swimming at all levels and reflects Britain's emergence as a new force in world swimming."

The core facilities of the Aquatics Centre are two 50m pools, one for training and one for competition, plus a diving pool. The main Water Polo events will be held separately in temporary buildings close by.

For the Games the Aquatics Centre is extended with temporary seating and canopies to accommodate 15,000 people watching swimming and 5,000 diving. After the Games temporary seating will be removed and the building will be converted to a 2500 seat venue providing a major swimming venue for London. This can be expanded to 3500 seats for European events.

Discussions are ongoing with the Boroughs, but it is planned that the Aquatics Centre will also accommodate health and fitness facilities, a cafeteria fronting on to Stratford Bridge and a swimming training centre.

The Aquatics Centre is situated close to Stratford in the South East of the Olympic Park.

Notes to editors:

1. The design concept of a sweeping sculptural arched roof and key visual imagery from the original bid has been retained, but the Aquatics Centre will now be accessible directly from the bridge and after the Games it will also be accessible by car from a new loop road around the Olympic park.

2. The Aquatics Centre is smaller. For example, the roof is now 14,000 square metres, compared to 35,000 metres originally.

The pool sizes are:-

• Competition pool: 50m x 25m – 10 lanes
• Training pool 50m x 21m - 8 lanes
• Diving pool 21m x 25m x 5 m deep

3. The competition pool will have 2 booms and 2 moveable floors to allow a large number of configurations and different swimming uses ranging from shallow water for children to swimming training. The training pool will also have a boom and a moveable floor and the diving pool will have a moveable floor. These options will give maximum flexibility of use and allow a full range of different swimming programmes after the games.

4. Zaha Hadid Architects are working with swimming pool architects S&P to design the Aquatics Centre and Arup on the Structural and Services design.

5. The outline designs will be included within the park-wide outline planning application due to be submitted at the end of January 2007. The design team will continue to progress detailed designs to allow a detailed planning submission to be made circa September 2007. Early in the new year, OJEU procurement procedures will be initiated to appoint a Main Contractor to work alongside the design team & assist in developing final proposals. Construction work is programmed for commencement Mid 2008. Completion in 2011 will allow elite training use prior to final conversion for the Games.

6. The ODA plan to hold an industry day with the construction industry in the New Year to talk through the project and the procurement process.

Media Enquiries

Contact the Olympic Delivery Authority Press Office on 020 3 2012 700

International Media can download broadcast quality video animation and images of the new London 2012 Aquatics Centre designs and highlights of the design launch media conference featuring comments from London 2012 Chairman Sebastian Coe, ODA CEO, David Higgins, and architect, Zaha Hadid free of charge later this afternoon by visiting the Newsmarket website at or by contacting Christine Ostrowski, at the Newsmarket, on +44 (0)20 7612 3984 or Christine.ostrowski@thenewsmarket.com or Patrizia Re, also of the Newsmarket at patrizia.re@thenewsmarket.com