September 2011 Archives

Great images have been released today by the Olympic Delivery Authority showing the parklands that are beginning to take shape around the 2012 venues.

The vast majority of pictures up to now have understandably focused on the construction works as they progress.

But it is nice to see a bit more of the natural surroundings coming forward.

The ODA says more than 60,000 plants, grasses, herbs and flowers from across the globe have been grown in an Ashford nursery and planted along with 60,000 bulbs in the Olympic Park London 2012 Garden.

The riverside garden stretches for half a mile between the Aquatics Centre and Olympic Stadium.

More than 120,000 plants from 250 different species across the world have been arranged into four temperate regions in the garden: Europe, Americas, Asia and the Southern Hemisphere.

There are over ten football fields worth of nectar-rich annual and perennial wildflower meadows in the Olympic Park, designed by international wildflower experts from the University of Sheffield.

ODA chairman John Armitt says: "The 2012 Garden and wildflower meadows will help create a festival atmosphere right at the entrance to the Olympic Park during and after the Games.

"The riverside gardens are a colourful celebration of the British passion for gardening as well as the world-leading work of the UK horticultural companies helping to create this fantastic new park."

Here is a selection of pics:

Hats off to artists including Tracey Emin, Marc Quinn and Peter Blake who have contributed work to an auction tonight to raise cash for a new adventure playground in the Olympic Park.

The artists have decorated bicycle helmets which will go under the hammer at Sotheby's tonight with the aim of raising £100,000 for a new playground next to the 3 Mills film studios.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has also decorated a helmet which he will be added to the auction.

The new playground will be the first project for new charity The Legacy List being launched alongside the auction at the Four Seasons hotel in Mayfair tonight.

The shortlist of companies to design open spaces similar to that of London's South Bank in the Olympic Park doesn't seem so short when you look at first glance.

It is an impressive list of consortiums made up of companies from across Europe, Asia and North America, which have been shortlisted by the OPLC from more than 100 expressions of interest - see below.

It is great to see the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is continuing to attract such international interest in making it a success.

The North and South Parks at the 500-acre Olympic Park will be crucial in making it a desirable place to live.

Some 55-acres will be transformed in East London's answer to the South Bank, alongside the Thames. The space will be used to host cultural events and recreational activities.

Anyway, that long, shortlist which I mentioned is as follows:

South Park Competition:

• Agence Ter (Paris) in collaboration with architects Heneghan Peng (Ireland), engineering consultants (park) Buro Happold (Bath), engineering consultants (buildings) ARUP (London), lighting designers Bartenbach LichtLabor (Austria), and quantity surveyors Gardiner & Theobald

• Gustafson Porter (London) in collaboration with architect Niall McLaughlin (Ireland), engineers ARUP (London) and quantity surveyors Davis Langdon

• James Corner Field Operations in collaboration with engineers ARUP (London), Make Architects (London), identity and graphics by tomato, planting and horticulture by Piet Oudolf, lighting designers and consultants L'Observatoire International (New York), events and live activity planning by Groundbreaking, play consultants Playlink, quantity surveyors Deloitte

• Ken Smith Landscape Architect in collaboration with Michael Maltzan Architecture (California), civil, structural and sustainable engineers Buro Happold (Bath), landscape designer Piet Oudolf, public space program and management ETM associates (New Jersey) and cost consultant, design project manager, specification consultant Davis Langdon

• West 8 (Netherlands) in collaboration with architect Benthem Crouwel Architekten BV bna (Netherlands), engineer Buro Happold (Bath), and quantity surveyor Davis Langdon (Australia)

North Park Competition:

• Cottrell &Vermeulen Architecture Ltd (London) in collaboration with structural engineer Engineers HRW (London), services consultant OR Consulting (London) and quality surveyor Stockdale

• David Kohn Architects (London) in collaboration with landscape architects David Buck (London), Davies White (Surrey), consultancy Alan Baxer & Associates LLP (London) and project managers and cost consultants Jackson Coles (London)

• erect architecture (London) in collaboration with consulting structural engineers Tall engineers (London), service engineers Max Fordham (London), landscape consultants Land Use Consultants (London), artist and enabler Ashley McMormick (London), quantity surveyor Huntley Cartwright (Surrey) and play safety experts Children's Play Advisory Service (Coventry)

• The Landscape Partnership (London) in collaboration with Sarah Wigglesworth Architects (London), structural engineers Jane Wernick Associates (London), M&E engineers Skelly&Couch (London), and cost management by Turner & Townsend (London)

• Ushida Findlay architects (London) in collaboration with landscape architect and masterplanner Grant associates (Bath), structural and services engineer ARUP (London), lighting designer Speirs and Major (London), quantity surveyor Davis Langdon and play design best practice and enabling by Play England (London)

New Olympic Park Legacy Company design chief Kathryn Firth has an important job ahead of her, and she will need to hit the ground running.

The OPLC today announced the appointment of Firth as chief of design, an experienced head who has worked for more than 25 years in the design industry.

One of her key projects will be the legacy communities scheme - the development of a masterplan for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to cover the next 20 years.

And her work will begin straight away with an outline planning application currently being worked up ready for submission potentially by the end of the month.

Firth will also get straight to work on helping with designs for the first phase of housing to be built in the park.

Tenders to find a development partner for around 800 new homes are due to go out in the coming weeks.

Good to see Firth is clearly not underestimating the profile of her role.

The masters graduate of urban design at Harvard University in the USA said: "Being able to influence one of the most important regeneration projects of the century is a truly extraordinary opportunity for any urban designer."