basic_millennium-stadium

More than 40,000 people were employed on the Olympic Park and Olympic Village during the big build, with a workforce of more than 12,000 at the peak of construction.

The Primary Substation has won three awards, including one from the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2010.

At night, the building glows through the latticework brick structure.

The Primary Substation links to a new 100km network of electrical cables distributing electricity across the Olympic Park and Stratford.

130,000 bricks were used in the construction of the Primary Substation.

Thirteen bird and bat boxes have been integrated with the concrete shaft to encourage biodiversity.

The building’s illuminated chimney neutralises odours, but also serves as a beacon at night.

The two pink tanks were nicknamed pinky and perky by construction workers.

The Pumping Station is the first-ever circular building of its type in the world.

The combined weight of the two hot water boilers in the Energy Centre is 120 tonnes.

3,200m of existing gas mains were removed or diverted during the redevelopment of the site – the equivalent of eight laps around the Olympic Stadium.

There are 130 bird and bat boxes on the Main Press Centre.

The level of the site of the IBC and MPC was lowered before construction began, with up to 7,000 cubic metres of soil removed every week – enough to fill almost 85,000 wheelbarrows.

The Main Press Centre has a ‘brown roof’, which uses seeds and logs reclaimed from the Olympic Park construction site to create new wildlife habitats.

The temporary Catering Village in the IBC/MPC Complex will serve an estimated 50,000 meals during the Games.

The steel frame of the IBC is big enough to house five jumbo jets placed wing-tip to wing-tip.

The Water Polo Arena’s sloping roof is designed to provide extra insulation and reduce condensation.

The Velodrome designers worked closely with track designers to tailor the track geometry, temperature and environmental conditions with the aim of creating a record-breaking track.

Fifty-six kilometres of timber was laid to form the Velodrome track surface, fixed in place using more than 300,000 nails.

The stadium was one of the host venues of the 1966 FIFA World Cup, which was won by an England side where several Manchester United players had a starring role.

Old Trafford is over 100 years old, having celebrated its centenary in 2010.

Since opening in June 1999, the Millennium Stadium has welcomed, on average, more than 1.3 million visitors per year.

Time Trial featured as a track event on the Cycling programme at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896.

An incredible 149,415 spectators watched a Scotland v England match at Hampden Park in 1937. The game ended 0-0!

William Shakespeare and his company once performed at Hampton Court Palace for King James I.

Hyde Park is also hosting a range of music, theatre, film and cultural events throughout the summer of 2012.

The Serpentine Lake has hosted a 100-yard (91.4-metre) swimming race every Christmas morning since 1864. Known as the Peter Pan Cup, it is only open to members of the Serpentine Swimming Club.

The park covers more than 350 acres and contains more than 4,000 trees.

London 2012 donated the 2,247 tonnes of sand used in the Beach Volleyball test event in August 2011 to three different sports centres to create new courts.

In addition to hosting Athletics at the London 1948 Olympic Games, Wembley Stadium hosted parts of the Equestrian, Football and Hockey competitions – plus a lacrosse demonstration event!

The original Wembley Stadium was built in 1923 as part of the British Empire Exhibition.

There are more than 2,000 toilets in Wembley Stadium – a stadium world record!

The venue has a long history of hosting badminton events: the All England Badminton Championships were held at the arena from 1957 to 1993.

Madonna, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder and even The Beatles are some of the stars who have performed at Wembley Arena.

The Beijing Olympic Torch Relay passed North Greenwich Arena on the evening of 6 April 2008.

The venue has hosted a wide range of events, from the Indian Film Academy Awards, to a Led Zeppelin reunion, to the ATP World Tour Finals.

North Greenwich Arena sits on the Prime Meridian Line.

ExCeL will host seven Olympic sports and six Paralympic sports during the London 2012 Games.

The earliest known cricket match played at Lord's Cricket Ground was 1814.

Each competition lane in the lake is 13.5m wide.

Eton Dorney hosted the Rowing World Championships in 2006 and the FISA World Rowing Junior Championships in 2011.

At its eastern end, The Mall runs on to Horse Guards Parade – venue for the London 2012 Beach Volleyball competition.

Greenwich Park is home to The Royal Observatory and National Maritime Museum, and is part of the Greenwich World Heritage Site.

Wimbledon hosted the London 1908 Olympic Tennis competition – but missed out on being a venue in London 1948 as Tennis was not on the Olympic programme.

The Marathon distance was changed from 24 miles to 26.2 miles at the London 1908 Olympic Games so that the race could finish in front of the Royal Box.

The hilly countryside at Hadleigh Farm offers superb viewing opportunities, including many panoramic views of the Thames Estuary.

The hilly countryside at Hadleigh Farm offers superb viewing opportunities, including many panoramic views of the Thames Estuary.

Horse Guards Parade is roughly the same size as five football pitches.

The lake at the start of the canoe slalom courses is larger than the area of a football pitch.

Enough water will flow into the 300m competition course to fill a 50m swimming pool every minute.

The 300m competition course drops 5.5m from start to finish.

Spectators will enter the venue with views of the world-famous military base – the longest continuous Georgian building façade in the UK.

Earls Court was designed by American architect C. Howard Crane, who specialized in the design of large, elaborate cinemas – or picture palaces – in the 1920s.

Earls Court hosted the Royal Tournament, the first, oldest and biggest military tattoo in the world, every summer from 1950 to 1999.

An empty swimming pool is located under the concrete exhibition floor of Earls Court.

Preparatory works began on site in January 2008 but, to avoid disturbing sea birds that spend winter in the area, construction started later that spring.

50,000 tonnes of local Portland stone were used to construct the slipway at Weymouth and Portland.

Weymouth and Portland is ideal for sailing as it is exposed to reliable winds from most directions, but is sheltered from large waves and currents.

The stadium has also been selected to host games in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Coventry is also home to a London 2012 Live Site, allowing local residents and visitors to see live coverage of the Games on a big screen installed in the city centre.

During the Olympic Games, 12 matches will be staged at City of Coventry Stadium over eight days.

The soil used to create the BMX Track would fill three 50m swimming pools.

In just 48 hours, the Copper Box will be transformed into the venue for the fencing element of the Modern Pentathlon after the Handball competition finishes.

A gigantic sculpture, RUN – part of the London 2012 Art in the Park programme – has been built outside the Copper Box.

The venue’s name reflects its iconic boxed-shape and distinctive copper cladding.

The venue is 115,000 cubic metres in size – larger than the Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank.

The two Panasonic TV screens inside the Olympic Stadium are 723 inches in size.

To meet high-definition TV standards, the Olympic Stadium is lit by 532 individual floodlights housed in 14 towers, each 28m high.

More than 240 UK businesses, from Devon to Scotland, won contracts on the construction of the Olympic Stadium.

6,500 cubic metres of crushed concrete – recycled from other parts of the Olympic Park – was spread on top of the ground to create a solid platform for the Stadium’s construction.

More than 30 buildings were demolished on the site to make way for the construction of the venue.

There are more than 700 rooms within the Stadium, including eight changing rooms and four prayer rooms.

The athletics track in the Olympic Stadium was laid to an accuracy of 1mm.

To reduce the amount of water used in the Aquatics Centre, pool water will be reused to flush the venue's toilets.

The Aquatics Centre's 2,800-tonne roof rests on just two concrete supports at the northern end of the venue and a single wall at the southern end.

Before construction began on the site of the Aquatics Centre, archaeological investigations discovered evidence of an Iron Age settlement; including an ancient burial site with four skeletons.

The BMX Track is an outdoor venue – make sure you check the weather forecast before you set off.

Going to the Copper Box? The Olympic Park is very big – make sure you leave plenty of time for getting through security and for the walk to the venue.

Going to the Aquatics Centre? Make sure you're in your seat at least 30 minutes before your session starts, in time for the build-up.