2012 Olympic Stadium design unveiled

A team of officials has unveiled the design for the 80,000-seat London 2012 Olympic Stadium this morning.

At a press conferece today, London Organising Committee chairman Lord Coe said:

"It’s a stadium that delivers on everything we said we would deliver on; a stadium with track and field as its primary legacy; a stadium that will be reduced from 80,000 seats in Olympic mode to a 25,000-seater community base."

The entire project is expected to cost £496m, up from initial estimates of £280m.

But chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority John Armitt said the rise in cost was easily explained by inflation since the intial estimate of the cost detailed in London’s bid, as well as VAT.

He also fended off enquiries about who the ‘anchor tenant’ - whoever will occupy the stadium after the Olympic Games have finished - would be, claiming discussions were still at the early stages.

Rod Sheard, senior principal of HOK Sport which designed the stadium commented: "I think there’s a beauty to it, that means when people get to know it they’ll see it’s an unbelievably complex stadium that’s been resolved in a very simple way."

But he refused to be drawn on precisely how much the build cost for the stadium was, in relation to a project cost of £496m.

Meanwhile Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell who was also at the conference said: "No-one can say we’ve compromised on design, comprised on sustainability or comprised on the legacy potential."

Construction work on the stadium, which will be built in Stratford in East London, will start in April 2008, around three months ahead of schedule.

Related internet links:

Design video:

http://www.london2012.com/blog/2007/11/07/video-olympic-stadium-design.php