The 2012 London Olympics will go down in history for a lot of reasons, and not simply because Queen Elizabeth became the oldest Bond Girl (to date).
London is a world-class city, but it does not have an overabundance of space. A creative way to deal with the issue of making sure that a suitable venue was available for the basketball events without having to dedicate a permanent site to the structure was to construct a temporary arena.
These Olympic Games will also be known as the greenest event of its kind to date, and this type of structure certainly supports the idea of the three R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle). Organizers wanted to ensure that building materials were as environmentally friendly as possible and sustainability was an important consideration when planning the Games.
The structure was completed a full year before the start date of the Games. The facility was built by Sinclair Knight Merz in partnership with Wilkinson Eyre and KSS.
These Olympic Games will also be known as the greenest event of its kind to date, and this type of structure certainly supports the idea of the three R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle). After the Games have concluded, the arena will be deconstructed and used at another location.
Constructing a temporary facility for the games which can be moved when it is no longer needed makes perfect sense in the circumstances. Clearly, the host city needs to provide facilities for all the events at the Games, but future use must be considered when making decisions about allocating resources to pay for the cost of hosting them.
All Photo Credits: Tuvie.com
