Revolutionary relocatable venues to make Games more affordable

With the Pound Report clearly in mind London 2012 enlisted the services of a crack design team led by British firm Laing O'Rourke to come up with venues that could be easily deconstructed then transported to another region. They are certain to be used long after the Olympic flame has been extinguished. This novel concept is believed to be most cost efficient.

"We were asked to come up with a brief to look at avoiding having the white elephants of some previous olympics," says David Henderson, Laing O'Rourke Project Leader, " to come up with a design that would be relocatable, to give a legacy to other parts of the UK as well as London."

"It makes it more economical as far as the provision of stadia. They can then be reused within the wider aspect of the country or futher afield. If it was going to Africa, these Olympics, they could be used to enhance other African countries. It certainly does give that flexibility."

Along with the permanent state of the art Olympic Stadium currently under construction in east London there are plans for four smaller relocatable venues. Two of these will have a seating capacity of 12,000 spectators and will be used for volleyball, basketball and modern pentathlon's shooting and fencing events. The others will be used for rhythmic gymnastics, badminton and shooting.

They are not simply bleacher seats that will be stored away in a community warehouse someplace but fully usable stadia, comprised of bolted structural steel with precast planks and seating. And, they are extremely pleasant to the eye. The exterior walls are made of lightweight cladding panels which are designed especially so they can be erected and taken down in a quick and easy fashion.

"It's probably about the same cost (as permanent venues)," Henderson explains, "You have to invest in systems that allow them to be prefabricated and delivered into a lorry, put up into position and then taken down after use. Fundamentally the steel and the concrete are fairly good economic solutions in their own right so we haven't looked at something that are expensive."

"The roof is a teflon similar to the Millenium Dome that was built in the London Docklands, It's a durable material that has a life span of 20 - 25 years as well and it's a full structural steel frame, which allows for the loading for either snow depending on the time of year or for the rigging of lighting for the Olympics. The design allows for all the loading!"

Internal temperature and noise control can be controlled through the roof structure. They will also allow multiple lighting scoreboard and multimedia opportunities.

If London 2012 is successful when the IOC votes in Singapore July 6th, this innovative approach to relocatable venues would be a first in Olympic history and the first time a country truly shares in the legacy of its Olympics.