The Primary Substation that will help power the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has won a Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Award for architectural excellence.
The Substation, switched on in October to keep power flowing across the Olympic Park, was named Commercial and Industrial Building of the Year and was shortlisted for Project of the Year.
Built by EDF Energy Networks, the Primary Substation will distribute electricity across the Olympic Park through more than 100km of electrical cabling. It was the first completed building on the Olympic Park, and already supplies electricity to the Olympic Stadium and Stratford City construction sites. During the London 2012 Games, the substation will help power venues across the Park and it will help deliver long-term regeneration.
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and Stratford City Developments Limited (SCDL) awarded the contract to design and build the substation to EDF Energy Contracting Ltd in June 2007. EDF Energy appointed Glasgow-based NORD Architecture to design the building as part of their delivery team and construction started in February 2008. The Substation is now owned and operated by EDF Energy.
ODA Director of Infrastructure and Utilities, Simon Wright, said: 'Not only is the Substation a key part of the new backbone of infrastructure that will power the Olympic Park for generations to come, it also delivers another striking piece of architecture in the heart of the Park.
'Winning this award is a significant achievement for everyone involved in the planning and design of the project and shows that we are using innovative and sustainable architecture in functional buildings in the Olympic Park, not just the world-class venues we are building.'
EDF Energy Networks Head of London 2012, Brian Stratton, said: 'EDF Energy Networks is extremely proud of this prestigious award which, in the context of utility infrastructure, is a remarkable achievement. Our team of civil, electrical, mechanical, architectural and programme delivery specialists found innovative solutions to the many challenges we faced and developed the heritage theme for other utility infrastructure buildings in the Park, leaving a truly lasting legacy.'
The jury of the RIBA Awards said: 'The architects developed a brief for a team of client, engineer, architect and contractor prepared to go the distance necessary to make a lasting local monument. The close collaboration has produced a thoroughbred, a beautifully detailed and executed scheme where function becomes sculptural landmark; a convincing celebration of energy infrastructure.'
Emphasis was placed on the architectural design of the electrical substation to ensure it fitted in with the wider design of the Olympic Park. The substation was designed as a dark brick building to create a sense of solidity appropriate to the building’s role as a key part of the utilities infrastructure in the Olympic Park. The dark brick also reflects the window and corner details on the former King’s Yard industrial buildings on the site where the new Substation was built.
Sustainability is at the heart of the plans and the Substation reused crushed materials from the demolition of the former King’s Yard buildings in the Olympic Park. The building also includes a ‘brown roof’ which involves crushed materials, laid down on a flat roof, which allow species to colonise naturally. The brown roof will help enhance the ecological value and biodiversity of the Park site by attracting local wildlife including black redstarts, a rare bird that thrives on brownfield land.
The Substation takes power from the 132,000 volt electrical network outside the Olympic Park site. Main transformers within the substation then ‘step-down’ the power to 11,000 volts so that it can be distributed and used by venues and buildings across the Park and in the Stratford City development.
Substation Fact file
- More than 130,000 bricks were used in the construction of the Substation
- The building is 80m long and 14m wide. The building height varies, the highest point being 15.9m at the western end and lowest point is 4.875m in the central portion of the building
- The substation will distribute electricity across the Olympic Park and Stratford City site through new electrical networks consisting of more than 100km of electrical cabling, enough to cover 250 laps of the Olympic Stadium track
- The substation’s eastern tower is lower in height to avoid blocking a viewing corridor from the north-east corner of the Olympic Park to the Olympic Stadium in south-west, as well as a view out towards central London, to St Paul’s Cathedral and the Swiss Re tower (‘the Gherkin’)
Notes to editors:
Images of the substation can be downloaded from
http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?nav=pr128893725 EDF Energy
EDF Energy is one of the UK’s largest energy companies, producing around one-fifth of the nation's electricity from its nuclear, coal and gas power stations, as well as combined heat and power plants and wind farms. The company provides power to a quarter of the UK’s population via its electricity distribution networks and supplies gas and electricity to more than 5.5 million business and residential customers. It is the number one supplier of electricity to major business in the UK.
EDF Energy’s safe and secure operation of its eight existing nuclear power stations at sites across the country makes it the UK’s largest generator of low carbon electricity. EDF Energy is also leading the UK's nuclear renaissance and has published plans to build four new nuclear reactors, subject to the right investment framework. These new plants would generate enough low carbon electricity for about 40 per cent of Britain’s homes. They would make an important contribution to the UK’s future needs for clean, secure and affordable energy. The project is already creating business and job opportunities for British companies and workers.
Through Our Climate and Social Commitments EDF Energy has launched the biggest environmental and social programme of any UK energy company. EDF is the official energy utilities partner and sustainability partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The company is also helping its customers and others use energy more sustainably through products and initiatives such as Read, Reduce, Reward and Team Green Britain.
EDF Energy is part of EDF Group, one of Europe’s largest power companies. Following the integration with British Energy in 2009, the company employs nearly 20,000 people at locations across the UK
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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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