Handball Arena

Find the venue on the London 2012 map:

Getting ready

The venue has been designed to be simple, efficient and flexible.


The Handball Arena features external copper cladding to give it a distinctive appearance that will develop a rich natural colour as it ages. The concourse level features glazing which encircles the building, enabling visitors to the Olympic Park to view sport taking place inside, and illuminating the venue when lit at night. The venue also has a vibrant and multi-coloured interior, with retractable seating to create a flexible space and 100 light pipes in the ceiling to allow natural light into the venue.

Building work will finish in 2011 in time for test events before the Games.

During the Games

The Arena will host Handball preliminaries and quarter-finals, as well as Modern Pentathlon disciplines of Fencing and Shooting, during the Olympic Games. It will also be the venue for Goalball during the Paralympic Games.

After the Games

After the Games, the Arena will become a multi-sports venue with retractable seating for 6,000 spectators and flexible facilities to hold a range of training and competition events of all levels. It will cater for a wide-range of indoor sports including basketball, handball, badminton, netball and volleyball, boosting the sporting facilities provided across the Olympic Park.