London design practice walks away with Olympic Park contract

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has today announced that Adams and Sutherland architectural practice will re-design the main public walkway currently running through the Olympic Park.

The Greenway is a 3km public walkway that runs from Victoria Park to West Ham which is currently poorly-lit and in a state of disrepair, making it underused by the local community.

The multi-million pound Greenway project is key to regenerating the neglected public spaces in and around the Olympic Park area and will improve access with the creation of a key walking and cycling route before, during and after the 2012 Games.

Sustainability and promoting walking and cycling are at the heart of the ODA's Transport Plans and the routes create by the Greenway will be a key part in ensuring London 2012 is the best connected Games ever.

The ODA encouraged up-and-coming design practices to bid for the work which will see the walkway cleaned, cleared and re-designed. Adams and Sutherland, a small architecture practice from North London, were selected by the judging panel as the winning designers.

Jerome Frost, Head of Design for the ODA said:

"This important project is an opportunity for a designer to use their creativity and imagination to support the transformation of an area desperately in need of regeneration.

"The judging panel had a tough decision to make as we were all incredibly impressed with the standard of the short-listed practices.

"Adams and Sutherland’s ideas around the re-use of demolition materials from other parts of the Olympic Park to create different surface textures along the Greenway helped make a winning submission. Their designs showed real innovation and character and fit with the ODA’s goal to make London 2012 the greenest games in modern times."

John Herman, Head of Regeneration and Design at Newham Council and a member of the judging panel, said:

"The Greenway is a really important route for local people and I am looking forward to see it transformed. The plans that the judging panel agreed on are going to make this public space more vibrant and accessible for local people - as well as visitors in 2012."

Elizabeth Adams, Director from Adams & Sutherland said:

"Our team is delighted to win this project. This is an excellent opportunity to be involved in the 2012 Games and to engage with local people in the creation of a meaningful legacy.

"The Greenway is already an extraordinary place and we look forward to working with and strengthening its qualities, within a context of great change."

Adams and Sutherland will start working on the designs immediately with the hope of have the designs implemented by next summer.

Joanne McCartney, London Assembly Member for Enfield and Haringey, said:

"I am delighted that a local business has been awarded this contract and this is another example of the benefits that the Olympics are bringing to Haringey and the Capital."

Ends

Notes to Editors

Designers were invited to submit expressions of interest in the Greenway design contract in February.

Over 70 applications were received which were reviewed and scored by a design panel.

Five companies were short listed - Kinnear Landscape Architects, Adams and Sutherland, Erect Architecture, Alison Brookes Architects Ltd and PLUS. They were all issued a design brief and invited to present their concept designs to a selection panel.

Media Enquiries

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