London 2012 Main Press Centre takes shape

The Olympic Delivery Authority issued new images today showing the London 2012 Main Press Centre (MPC) taking shape alongside the huge International Broadcast Centre (IBC).

Together the IBC/MPC will support around 20,000 broadcasters, photographers and journalists communicating the Games to an audience of four billion people worldwide. In legacy the facilities will create just under 900,000 square feet of sustainable business space with the potential to generate thousands of new jobs.

The venue is being delivered on track by a team of companies from across the UK. The concrete foundations of the IBC/MPC were built by a company from 2012 Host Borough Greenwich and 4,500 tonnes of steel was fabricated for the huge IBC frame in North Yorkshire and produced in Scunthorpe and Teesside. 

Around15,000sq m of wall and 26,000sq m of roof covering for the IBC were installed by a north-east based firm using cladding manufactured in Wales. A Teddington company is currently pouring over 30,000 tonnes of concrete to create the frame of the MPC and lifting 30,000sq m of concrete slabs and 300 concrete columns to create the multi-storey car park.

The MPC ‘big build’ can we viewed first-hand through a new webcam that went live today at: http://www.london2012.com/plans/olympic-park/webcams/main-press-centre.php

Olympic Delivery Authority Chairman John Armitt said:  'The "big build" is on track as we enter our toughest year with work accelerating on infrastructure and venues across the Olympic Park. 

'The IBC/MPC is taking shape due to the hard work of companies from across the UK and we’re on schedule to provide a quality working environment for media during the Games and flexible employment space for a range of potential legacy tenants and users.'

Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee said: 'These images show the progress we are making in delivering the best possible working environment for the 20,000 members of the world’s broadcasters, press and photographers in the summer of 2012.

'Billions of people around the world rely on the international media to relay the stories of human endeavour on the field of play and capture the atmosphere across the country during the Games. The impressive facilities we have planned will give us the best possible foundations for telling all the stories from the London 2012 Games whilst leaving high performance workspace in legacy for the east of London.'

Tessa Jowell, Minister for the Olympics, said: 'The Main Press Centre is a prime example of how the Games are benefiting the whole of the UK in the run-up to 2012, while also creating a new future hub for London’s growing digital and creative economies.

'The MPC and International Broadcast Centre is being delivered by a team of companies from across the UK, including businesses in Wolverhampton, Scunthorpe and Teeside.


'These state-of-the-art media facilities will ensure the Games reach an audience of four billion people worldwide and, as the largest venue on the Olympic Park, they will provide a significant legacy to the growing digital sector.'

Elected Mayor of Hackney Jules Pipe said: 'The International Broadcast Centre and Main Press Centre for 2012 in Hackney will provide permanent employment space after the Games, allowing the digital, creative and media industries the space they need to expand and creating high quality jobs. The progress on the MPC is the next step in the journey towards a vital economic legacy for Hackney and east London.'

Andrew Altman, Chief Executive of the Olympic Park Legacy Company, said: 'The media centre will become a major employment site after the Games.

'The buildings have been designed with flexibility in mind and can meet the needs of tenants by being split into different configurations depending on the requirements of market demand.'

Big Build: IBC/MPC

The IBC/MPC combines an innovative mixture of permanent and temporary elements during the Games and has been designed to be as flexible as possible to accommodate a range of potential legacy tenants and uses.

The MPC includes:

• 29,000sq m of green office space by the River Lea Navigation, providing four storeys of workspace for journalists and photographers during the Games.
• Innovatively designed flexibility that enables the building to be adapted in legacy for either a single tenant in the whole building or on each floor, as well as multiple tenants on each floor.
• A connected single strip of single storey buildings facing the canal that can be separated into ‘mews’ accommodation in legacy offering another type of quality business space in legacy.
• New utilities, power and digital connectivity during the Games and in legacy.
• Innovations designed to meet demanding green building standards in legacy including a 2,500sq m ‘brown roof’ of gravel and moss to encourage invertebrates; 60 per cent of non-drinking water to be collected from across the Olympic Park; habitats including over 100 bird and bat boxes

The IBC includes:

• Around 52,000sq m of studio space over two 8-10m high floors during the Games with a temporary gantry running along the 275m long, 104m wide building for technical equipment.
• 8,000sq m of offices over five floors at the front of the building.
• The flexibility in legacy to be separated into a number of units and for design features to be altered such as cladding replaced with windows
  

Temporary Games time elements, most of which reduce the Games and legacy transformation costs, include:

• A 12,000sq m catering village serving 50,000 meals a day 24 hours.
• A 200 metre-long High Street between the MPC and IBC featuring outlets such as banks, newsagents, travel agents and a post office.
•  A temporary Media Conference room between the IBC and MPC for up to 800 journalists.
• A Media Transport Mall  providing coach drop-off and car parking, accreditation and security screening during the Games will be halved in legacy to provide car parking spaces to legacy tenants alongside walking, cycling and public transport connections.
• The Olympic Park Legacy Company is responsible for the long term development planning, management and maintenance of the Olympic Park Site, including the Main Press Centre and the International Broadcast Centre, after the 2012 Games.

Notes to Editors

• Images of the IBC/MPC construction can be downloaded at: http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?nav=pr130652764
• Wolverhampton-based Carillion is building the IBC/MPC. Their previous projects include Government Communications HQ, the News International printing operation and the regeneration of a 138-acre site in Swindon. The design team is made up of Allies and Morrison, Buro Happold and RPS Group Burks Green.
• The concrete foundations of the IBC/MPC were built by O’Keefe from Greenwich. The IBC steel was fabricated in North Yorkshire by Severfield Reeve and produced in Scunthorpe and Teesside by Corus. The wall and roof covering for the IBC were installed by north-east based Hathaway using cladding manufactured in Wales by Euroclad. Byrne Brothers from Teddington are currently pouring the concrete for the MPC frame and lifting the concrete slabs and concrete columns to create the multi-storey car park.
• The Government Olympic Executive announced in January 2008 that following cost reductions of £25m, the total public funding for the IBC/MPC will be £355m which will all be met from the existing ODA budget. 
  

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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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