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Olympic plans unveiled

Catherine Deshayes

The Olympic Delivery Authority and main contractor Lend Lease have revealed the latest look for the London 2012 Olympic village, despite not having the necessary funding secured...

Mayor of London Boris Johnson announced that he wanted the 2012 Olympic village to be ‘truly groundbreaking,' and today, the Olympic Delivery Authority have revealed the progress on site.

The Olympic village is going to be one of the strongest lasting legacies from the Olympic Games. During the event, the village will provide accommodation for athletes during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and after the event, it will provide around 3,300 quality new homes for Londoners, many of which will be affordable, together with new parks, public squares and community facilities.

The village will become part of the overall Stratford City regeneration scheme, boasting an Academy education campus for all ages, multi-use community facilities and new infrastructure to connect the new communities with the Olympic Park, one of the largest new urban parks in Europe for 150 years.

The Village will also include an International Zone where athletes can meet with friends and family. The plan retains London's tradition of building homes around communal squares and courtyards, with water features accentuating the closeness of the River Lea.

During the Games, athletes will have easy access to the travel and leisure facilities of the adjacent Stratford City complex, and the planned High Speed 1 Javelin shuttle service will link the Village to central London in just seven minutes.

Work began on the Olympic village site in June of this year and the latest designs reveal the residential schemes, three of which have recently received planning permission, despite funding not being 100 per cent secured as yet. The plans also detail the courtyard areas, pedestrian walkways and new open spaces. Piling works have been completed on the first block of the Olympic Village, with work underway on further blocks.

David Higgins, Chief Executive of the ODA, said, "Discussions on the funding of the Village are continuing, and although the economic environment is challenging, we expect to conclude these discussions around the turn of the year."

He continued, "These new images show the good progress being made in design and construction work on the Olympic Village to help maintain the momentum of this huge project."

Dan Johnson, Director of TheMoveChannel.com, said, "The so-called Olympic effect is all about infrastructure, which is one of the biggest drivers of gentrification and uplift in property prices.

"The timing of the Olympics could well coincide with the next sustained period of strong price growth, providing a double-whammy for investors that get in at the bottom of the market next year," added Mr Johnson.

Swiss landscape design firm Vogt Landschaftarchitekten and urban designers Patel Taylor are behind the village masterplan, and the schemes will be designed by designers including Ian Simpson and Glenn Howells.