Olympic aquatic centre cost revealed

Balfour Beatty will build the 2012 Olympic Aquatic Centre for £303m, it has been revealed.

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) released the final cost of the project today, putting a £242m price tag on the complex itself and £61m on the construction of a bridge that will form part of the roof and link the centre with Stratford City.

The Zaha Hadid-designed building includes the main swimming pool, diving pool and training pool and was originally estimated to cost £75m.

Balfour Beatty was the sole bidder for the contract after rivals Hochtief and Eiffel pulled out last year.

The centre will have a seating capacity of 17,500 during the Games, which will later be reduced to 2,500.

The ODA said the total of £303m had not changed throughout the procurement process and is within its baseline budget announced December 2007.

It also confirmed ‘Team Stadium’, consisting of Sir Robert McAlpine, HOK Sport and Buro Happold as the contractor for the £496m Olympic Stadium.

The budget for the Velopark, including the velodrome and BMX circuit, was also revealed to be £80m. A contractor is due to be announced for the velodrome in the coming weeks, with construction to start in 2009.

ODA chief executive David Higgins said the contract announcements were good news for the site and good news for British industry with so many UK firms involved.

London 2012 Organising Committee chairman Sebastian Coe said 2008 would be the year of “big build” at Olympic Park: “(It will be) the year that construction starts in earnest and a new urban park in London starts to take shape with sport at its heart. In four years time London will have a world class Aquatics Centre, a state of the art Velopark and a new athletics stadium, providing much needed facilities for London and the south east.”