If the Rio Olympics has shown us anything, it’s that visitors, guests and delegates are looking for fully immersive and inspiring ‘experiences’ – they’re no longer just interested in attending ‘events’. The London 2012 Games, where we had the honour of building the Athletes’ Dining Hall and the Olympic Hospitality Centre, inspired a generation of event professionals to deliver globally renowned experiences. The most recent games in Rio have only added to that desire.

Our job is to deliver thrilling event spaces, which give visitors a truly memorable experience that will stay with them for a very long time. This is certainly something we have enjoyed working on with our partners at some of the UK’s and Europe’s major events, ranging from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the Ryder Cup, Mobile World Congress, Barcelona Open Tennis and the opening of the APM Terminal Maasvlakte 2 in the Port of Rotterdam.

Awe-inspiring venues

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is a major international event in the horticultural calendar, drawing 165,000 visitors over the course of the show. Every year 100 exhibitors from around the world create show-stopping displays in the Great Pavilion, the Show’s centrepiece built by De Boer – creating an unforgettable yet completely functional exhibition facility.

In 2000, we were tasked with creating a horticultural palace to replace the much-loved Great Marquee, which had been used at RHS Chelsea Flower Show since the 1950s and likely to be the biggest visual change in the Show’s history. In 2016, we celebrated our 16^th consecutive year supplying the Great Pavilion, which uses our iconic Delta structure to provide more space and light.

At its tallest, the Great Pavilion reaches 13 m high spanning the Royal Hospital’s obelisk. . The structure also uses state-of-the-art technology to ensure that floral exhibits stay at peak condition including 205 mesh roof panels and 5m ‘butcher’ doors to control air circulation and regulate inside humidity.

After winning the contract earlier in 2016, De Boer also created the Ranelagh Restaurant at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, providing 2,800 sq m of hospitality space using its signature Premier and Anova Vista structures. The Ranelagh Restaurant tapped into the traditional garden party experience and featured a decked terrace, allowing guests some respite from the Show whilst listening to music from the specially created bandstand in the Ranelagh Gardens.

Every element of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show from airy first impressions of the Great Pavilion; to the magnificent exhibits; and the garden party-inspired Ranelagh Restaurant, have all been designed to create an awe-inspiring experience for exhibitors and visitors.

At the heart of the action

The Ryder Cup, is one of the world’s largest sporting events and organised by PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe, is described as ‘the greatest golf show on earth.’ In 2014, it was held at the Gleneagles resort in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Organisers worked tirelessly alongside their suppliers, including De Boer, to ensure that participants and spectators enjoyed the ‘best ever staging of a Ryder Cup by media, public and organisers alike.’

De Boer supplied approximately 20,000 sq m of temporary accommodation including the Ryder Cup Tented Village, which housed retailers and food service outlets including the Champagne and Seafood Restaurant, the enormous Ryder Cup Striding Man Bar and various interactive facilities for visitors to get involved with. The Village was also divided into three distinct areas; the Public Catering Pavilion, Tay Club Hospitality Pavilion and the Merchandise Pavilion. All of the these structures were shoehorned into a space normally occupied by the Driving Range, so there was a very tight build schedule to adhere to in order to minimise the lost practice facility for golfers.

On the second hole, De Boer built a new structure especially for the event: the curved roof Anova Vista Double Decker, to house the Tweed Club hospitality pavilion. By using innovative curved roof technology, we created a 5m integrated canopy, which spanned the terrace overlooking the 2^nd hole from tee to green. Combining this with our ground floor structure, the Premier, this produced the ideal space for spectator sport. It doubled the usual capacity of the structure whilst ensuring unrestricted views, and catapulting guests into the heart of the action.

As a result of the impeccable planning from Ryder Cup organisers and their strong supplier bonds, a report from Sheffield Hallam University's Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC) has since backed up claims of Scotland hosting the “best ever” Ryder Cup. The report found high levels of spectator satisfaction with their Ryder Cup experiences (92 per cent), with 71 per cent of those attending reporting their experiences as excellent.

Inspiring innovation

It is my belief that innovation lies at the heart of internationally acclaimed events and exhibitions and it is our responsibility, as suppliers, to constantly deliver creative and innovative solutions to enhance the user experience.

At the 2016 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, one of the largest conventions in the world, we teamed up with the Congress organisers to provide absolutely perfect acoustics and mobile communications – an absolute expectation from exhibitors and guests. In addition, with seven different auditoria, each offering simultaneous presentations, it was essential that each one was soundproof.

Developed by De Boer’s Research and Development division alongside French specialists, we used an ‘Acoustic Barrier Mat’ system throughout the Congress to absorb sound. The Barrier Mat system prevents sound bouncing between hard surfaces and reduces sound reflection meaning that all our structures benefited from improved sound quality. Noise between interiors and exteriors was also heavily reduced, meaning that the seven auditoria benefited from more comfortable sound levels.

Exhilarating Experiences

Ultimately, it is the exhilarating experiences that guests will remember, like the spectacular automated show that launched the opening of the new APM Terminal Maasvlakte 2 in the Port of Rotterdam – the most advanced shipping terminal in the world.

Working alongside BIND, our team based in the Netherlands built a floating theatre for the opening. The robotic terminal was opened by King Willem-Alexandar and international guests were treated to an extraordinary show watched from the floating theatre that featured 16 large lit up video screens mounted on containers that moved through the terminal.

Similarly our Spanish team built a glamorous two storey structure to house the hospitality pavilion at the Real Club de Tennis Barcelona, Spain’s oldest tennis club, for the Barcelona Open Banc Sadadell championships. The ATP World Tour 500 clay-court tournament is one of the most important events in Spanish tennis and on the Barcelona social calendar.

De Boer designed the hospitality pavilion and splendid interiors for the upscale restaurant on the first floor and the village lounge on the ground floor, both with a sophisticated atmosphere that reflected the overall tone of the championships. Tennis fans enjoyed varied cuisine, glittering parties and concerts that lasted until dawn.

In today’s competitive events industry, only the very best events will stand out from the crowd and leave a lasting impression on visitors, organisers and exhibitors. It is our responsibility, as suppliers, to develop new innovative solutions that continue to enhance events and deliver world class experiences – it’s time to #getinspired.

The ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 in London took on special significance in 2016, with Andy and Jamie Murray creating tennis history by achieving World Number One rankings in singles and doubles.

Behind the scenes, UK-based Arena Group supported the event rights holder ATP and venue operator AEG to produce a new look for the tournament, having secured a three year contract with the ATP Tour.

After the 2015 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, AEG informed the ATP that the space previously used for the Fan Zone was no longer available and conversations between the ATP and Arena Group began to redesign the event’s footprint. It was decided to relocate the Fan Zone inside the venue and move the players and sponsors facilities, including the practice courts and players restaurant, to a temporary facility adjacent to The O2.

Arena Group responded to this brief to create over 8,500sqm of temporary venues in keeping with the environment. The new I-Novation system was used to create a flat-roof structure for the VIP reception and security area.

“There was a lot of consultation, planning, investment, innovative engineering and creative thought behind this project and I think it has paid off with the best structure we’ve ever produced for an event,” says project manager Dan Bluff.

Using its I-Novation system, Arena Group designed and built a 40m x 50m structure with 13m high legs, giving the headroom the client requested and delivering a temporary venue with a permanent feel.

This external building mirrored the style of The O2 arena, forming an outer skin comfortably accommodating the players and sponsors’ facilities inside it, which were comprised of two 40m x 15m Arena triple-decker hospitality structures either side of a practice court.

Arena Interiors created well-appointed players’ lounges and bespoke sponsors’ hospitality suites, with Arena Group supplying event furniture from Spaceworks.

I-Novation’s improved insulation properties were appreciated in the November climate, as were Arena’s new wooden staircases and walling system, all of which contributed to the overall quality of the temporary venue.

Guests arrived through a VIP reception and a security area. These new structures were designed in line with the client’s wish to have a building that didn’t have an apex, to fit in with the local environment. Arena Structures’ in-house structural engineers adapted the company’s triple deck base system to create a flat roof venue covering a 250sqm area with no internal pillars.

The second practice court was housed within the O2 Arena’s Tensile Fabric Structure at the core of the relocated Fan Zone, alongside the double decker media facility.

Three broadcast studios were installed over the seating at one end of the O2 Arena. The event was broadcast to millions of viewers, who enjoyed a spectacular week of tennis culminating with Andy Murray being crowned both Barclays ATP World Tour Finals champion and the year-end world number one.

“The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is the climax of the men’s professional tennis season. As such, we strive to deliver the best possible experience for all stakeholders at the tournament, whether that be the players, sponsors, media or fans,” says event director Adam Hogg.

“Working closely this year with AEG and Arena Group we were able to deliver a world-class event that provided all of these groups with an enhanced offering and a positive experience for their time at The O2.”

Building on a relationship dating back over over 26 years with The Jockey Club, Arena Group has been awarded a three year contract to supply Cheltenham, Aintree, Epsom Downs and Newmarket racecourses with temporary structures, interior design , furniture and tableware, spectator seating and scaffolding to the most notable dates in the equestrian calendar.

Ian Sidgwick, Group Purchasing Director, The Jockey Club, said: “Arena Group has worked closely with Jockey Club Racecourses over several years, advising on and delivering temporary environments.  They support us in continuously raising the bar with new ideas to get the best value from our budgets, with flexibility to change their infrastructure to best suit our needs. I’m confident they will continue to help us exceed the hospitality expectations of both our brand sponsors and event guests alike.”

The contract provides additional scope and  comes after a record year including Arena Structures installing the largest triple deck hospitality temporary structure in the world totalling 125m long and spanning 12,400sqm, along the home straight at The Festival – Jump Racing’s equivalent of the Olympics, staged at Cheltenham Racecourse.

Arena Group also proved pivotal in supporting The Jockey Club’s transformation of this year’s Grand National at Aintree Racecourse, with the installation of more than 7,750sqm of temporary structures complete with bespoke interior fit out, and more than 5,000 tiered grandstand seats offering prime visibility for the revered racing. Arena Group will be the exclusive provider at this event.

Grahame Muir, CEO Arena UK & Europe commented: “We are delighted to announce the further extension of our already excellent relationship with Jockey Club racecourses over the next three years. At Arena Group we pride ourselves with delivering temporary infrastructure of the highest standard to the most prestigious sporting venues and events in the UK, and this contract win is testament to the value, forward-thinking innovation and expertise we bring to clients. We look forward to further pushing the boundaries of customer experience with improved facilities, technology and bespoke design.”

Bristol Rovers’ Memorial Stadium has an expanded capacity with two new look stands designed and installed by Arena Seating for the 2016/17 season.

The use of Arena’s demountable, or semi-permanent, seating systems meant the Club’s upgrades could be achieved quickly and economically.

Following consecutive promotions from Conference Premiership and League 2, the club was taken over by the Al Qadi family in February this year, and has since enjoyed an impressive third promotion into League 1. With the team performing well on the pitch the demand for tickets is up and the new owners have invested in upgrading the aging ground.

In line with advice from the local City Council and the Safety Advisory Group, the club took the decision to lower the control room at the cost of about £10,000 to the football club, enabling a 20 per cent increase in capacity.

“I have dealt with Arena Seating for 18 years, so there is a lot of trust and understanding between us. Their director Bradley Merchant is absolutely superb for this football club, he has always looked after us,” said Ian Holtby, Stadium General Manager.

“Arena have always made themselves available, given fantastic service and been a professional company from start to finish.”

Arena Seating’s in-house CAD design and structural engineering teams combined to ensure the plans were fully approved by the clients and local licensing authorities before the South Stand was totally refurbished and given a 20 per cent expansion in capacity from 850 to 1,056 seats. On the adjacent corner a smaller South West Stand was also installed by Arena, adding 360 seats and taking the ground’s capacity to 12,300.

Success on the pitch means Bristol Rovers has the opportunity to accommodate increased demand.

“Let’s be honest, this is an old, antiquated stadium, so Arena have once again been a very valuable part in upgrading the facilities we can offer,” said Holtby.

“We have also got 18 executive boxes and we have sold all of those, the new owners are probably spending in the region of another £100,000 to make good those facilities.

“With the new stadium plans well underway we are only planning on being here for two years all being well, and obviously we need to maximise the facilities we have, not just on a normal Rovers match day but also non-match day for conferences, meetings, weddings, banquets – that’s what we are looking to achieve. Fingers crossed we get there!”

Global event supplier Arena Group has bought Hong Kong based event production company Ironmonger Marquees, to create Arena Hong Kong, extending its Asian capabilities with a new office and hub in Northern Asia.

Ironmonger Marquees was introduced to Arena Group in 2015, when the companies collaborated on the Art Central project in Hong Kong.

Tom Evans, Managing Director of Arena Asia said: “We worked very well together, identifying a shared ethos of giving our clients the best possible event space.

Arena Group acquired Malaysian company Asia Tent International for £3.5m in June 2013.

“Arena Middle East and Asia Tents Arena work hand in glove serving the growing events market in North Asia and identified Ironmonger as an ideal acquisition to help grow the Arena brand in the region,” said Evans. 

Key Ironmonger Marquee contracts that have been delivered recently include the Cathay Pacific HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, European Tour (HK Golf Open), IMG’s Taste Food Festival and shortly to be delivered by Arena Hong Kong, the new Formula E Grand Prix in Hong Kong.

Rob Derry, Arena Hong Kong Managing Director said: “Arena Group has the expertise that has seen it deliver the finest events in the world, which gives us a huge knowledge and skill base to draw on, coupled with the finest structures inventory in the world, so our Hong Kong clients will see a vast expansion in type and quality of equipment available.”

“The success of the Arena/Ironmonger Marquee collaboration over the past 18 months means that Arena Hong Kong launches as the number one event design and delivery business for major events by market share in Hong Kong. Global brands coming into Hong Kong now have a proven world class delivery partner they can trust to create their event spaces.”

Paul Berger, CEO of Arena Middle East and Asia said: “We are delighted to welcome Rob and the Ironmonger team to the Arena Middle East and Asia division and also to the Arena Group. Hong Kong is an important marketplace for the events industry and strategically very important for Arena Group to have a strong presence. Our focus is to grow our footprint in North Asia, as the region builds up to hosting the Olympic Games in 2020.”

Marathons in cities such as Valencia, Berlin, Frankfurt, New York, Linz and Vienna are major attractions and a mainstay in many a runner's calendar. Organisers make these sporting events highly memorable, with flexible infrastructure enabling athletes and spectators to take in the most scenic and historical attractions alongside a programme of entertainment.
In the Divina Pastora Marathon, taking place in the Spanish city of Valencia each November, competitors run the final 200 meters on the water for an unforgettable home stretch, cheered on by spectators. This experience is made possible by NUSSLI laying down 2,000 sq m of running track in the water in front of the Museum in the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias. 
There are also event structures for spectators, including a grandstand with 1,000 seats, plus platforms for VIPs and the media and a stage for concerts and shows — all built in the water.
Public races are a great way of enabling a large number of people to truly experience a city or region. In Linz, more than 100,000 fans cheered competitors on last April. In New York it is estimated that there are more than two million spectators each year. 
In order to offer competitors and spectators the most engaging experience possible, organisers not only choose routes with breath-taking scenery but also provide an entertainment programme.

Vienna City Marathon
Vienna’s impressive marathon route takes runners past UN skyscrapers, over the Danube and through the Prater Park – all to the sound of waltzes by Strauss. Spectators get to experience everything up close, thanks to three 500-person standing grandstands set up by NUSSLI along the running route.
In last year’s Vienna City Marathon there were also special sponsor structures. These included a roofed 4 m high 72 sq m platform on which sponsor OMV provided guests with catering and a great view of the race; and Coca Cola’s 6 m high and 4 by 4 m wide tower surrounded by a winding staircase.
NUSSLI developed a flexible, high-quality system for branding the facades of these and other sponsor structures. Giant images displayed advertising messages on the sides of the structures. Printed sheets of mesh fabric were stretched over piping rails and looked great even up close. 
The difficulty was not getting event structures to look good, but being able to build them in the first place. Since 2016, the finish area has been located directly on the Ringstrasse between the town hall and the Burgtheater in Vienna's city centre. The Ringstrasse is one of Vienna's busiest streets with car and bicycle lanes, as well as several lines for trams that pass by every minute. 
"The assembly team had to build up to a distance of 20 cm from the street trams. Full concentration and attentiveness were required at all times," Gerfried Salzer, the NUSSLI project manager says. 
"Furthermore, it also meant that we could only set up from behind, where we had very little space to manoeuvre due to the tents, containers, equipment, and toilet installations."

A stadium for the triathlon
Beautiful surroundings attract more participants, which is why triathlons often take place in areas with spectacular scenery.
The DATEV Challenge in Roth, Bavaria, Germany is the biggest long-distance triathlon in the world. The challenge of a 3.8 km swim, 180 km bicycle race, and a 42.2 km run drew 5,300 competitors and attracted 200,000 spectators last year. The best finished in less than eight hours. 
Once again, there was a wide range of entertainment programmes for athletes and spectators. 
NUSSLI builds a complete stadium each year for the shows before and after the triathlon, and for the finish area itself. Called the Rother Triathlon Park, it houses 3,000 seats for spectators and the media, a stage, a big screen, sound, light, and camera towers, and a catering area. 
This is where shows, concerts, and prize presentations take place. It is also the athletes' final goal. Last year, there were a thousand participants and more than a quarter of a million enthusiastic fans.
 

This article, written by Nussli, appeared in the Spring 2016 issue of Host City magazine.

During the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games the Future Arena will host the handball events and be packed with 12,000 spectators. When the Games are over its structure will be dismantled and used in the construction of four state schools for two thousand children in the city of Rio de Janeiro. 
Three schools will be constructed in Barra da Tijuca and one in Maracanã - each accommodating 500 students – as part of a US$77m legacy project.
The brief for the handball arena was to build something that would contribute to the city of Rio beyond the 2016 Olympic Games. A first for the Olympics, the venue will make use of an innovative technique called "nomadic architecture", thus ensuring that even a temporary structure can leave a lasting legacy. 
The arena will be dismantled and the components transported to four separate locations to be rebuilt into state schools. The main elements that will be reused are the roof, rainscreen cladding, main structural steel elements and disabled ramps, which will form the shells of the four schools. The open nature of the rainscreen and external ramp that create the distinctive architecture of the arena will be recognisable in the new schools. 
UK-based firm AndArchitects led by Rio-based practice Lopes, Santos & Ferreira Gomes provided the design for the handball arena. AndArchitects’ experience with six temporary buildings at London 2012 helped them jointly win the bid for this ground-breaking project. 
Careful thought was given to what materials and systems of construction would allow this transition with minimal wasted material. The schools were designed simultaneously with the arena. The grid for the floor plates and the roof were all designed from the outset for both buildings so that the panels on the façade and on the floor and roof could be easily relocated in order for the modules to work for both buildings.
After the Games, once the arena has been converted into schools, the students will be reminded of their schools’ role in the Olympic Games. One idea that is being reviewed is that the names of the stars of the Brazilian team are engraved onto the cladding of the building and these names will remain on the walls of the classroom to inspire students. 
 

HOST CITY: What prompted De Boer to commission the study of event professionals’ views about the state of the events industry? 
John Cochrane: We have to listen to our peers and potential customers to really understand what we have to do keep ahead of the game. This independent study provided objective views for us to consider with open minds. De Boer listens to the market, which is essential for us to make progress.

HOST CITY: 2015 saw the number of events increase. What do you think drove this growth and can we expect this positive trend to continue? 
John Cochrane: The UK has been in a fairly positive mood for the past few years, given a real springboard by the London Olympic Games in 2012, and so there is great faith and trust in our Event Industry to make these events as positive as possible. 
In short, if someone is prepared to fund an event in the UK, the chances are it will not be a waste of money and effort. Provided we keep delivering good service and the political climate stays calm, there is no reason to believe this pattern of growth will stop.

HOST CITY: The event professionals surveyed said third party suppliers – especially temporary structure specialists – were central to making 2015 a successful year. How has De Boer in particular contributed to this positive trend?
John Cochrane: De Boer has a terrific range of innovative and structurally impressive temporary buildings. We are fortunate to be involved with some of the most high profile projects in the world and so a there is an extended audience who can see what we do. 
Event professionals speak to each other and they really know what is going on in the business and who to go to for quality and service.

HOST CITY: Good breadth of experience topped the list of qualities valued in suppliers. How important is a diverse portfolio to De Boer’s success? 
John Cochrane: It is very important to De Boer to have a flexible approach to business. Our experience has been growing for over 92 years, from private parties for 50 guests to 85,000 sqm of temporary cover at The Farnborough International Air Show, and everything in between. 
Diverse events exist and have to be serviced with a diverse portfolio of materials and experience. At De Boer we can do that really well.

HOST CITY: The survey highlighted recruitment as an area of concern for 2016. How challenging is it for the events industry to hire and retain high calibre employees? 
John Cochrane: I don’t know how difficult it is for the events industry in general because each company has a different set of values to maintain. 
At De Boer we always look for integrity, enthusiasm and a good attitude. People like this do exist and we are pleased to be able to attract their attention with our reputation and existing long serving workforce as happy examples of what could be in store if they ‘join up’.

HOST CITY: How can temporary structure specialists work with developments in technology and social media to boost the events sector? 
John Cochrane: Every industry specialist has to keep in step with technology and social media. At De Boer we make the most of our international colleague’s experience to understand that what can work for us in Barcelona for example, could work equally well for us in Birmingham or Berlin. 
This very tangible link with our European and international business units means that we are more aware of any technological developments that could and do help to boost business.
 

With just two months to go until the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the host city is “on the cusp” of reaping the same legacy benefits enjoyed by London, according to AECOM, the company behind both cities’ Olympic masterplans.
“Despite Brazil’s current economic and political challenges, the guiding principle has always been for the Games to serve Rio and boost its development, improving the quality of life for all its citizens,” said Bill Hanway, Global Sports Leader at AECOM.
Rio is aiming to stage the world’s best value Olympic Games by reducing public cost through partnership with the private sector, and by delivering a simple and sustainable venue plan that applies many of the legacy planning strategies of the London 2012 Games. 
According to the IOC, 75 per cent of capital expenditure relating to London’s preparations for hosting the 2012 Olympic Games was invested in transport and utilities infrastructure, land and water clean-up, public open spaces, new homes, and permanent sports and leisure facilities. 
A similar approach has been adopted in Rio. The Games is boosting the development of public transport, with Linha 4 of the metro to Barra, the site of the Olympic Park, due to be completed just in time for the Games. 
Power and data facilities installed to cater for 20,000 journalists from the international media will make the Olympic Park one of the best connected districts in Rio.
“The Games are a catalyst for changing not only the city, but the aspirations of future generations. As with London, our approach is to take a long-term view that sees the Games as a milestone in the ongoing legacy programme,” said Hanway.
“The Games and the success of the event are the primary focus, but also serve as a driver for the future. It’s an opportunity to invest in underdeveloped areas and significantly upgrade transport and infrastructure. Rio is now on the cusp of reaping the legacy benefits.”

Parallel lines: Games and legacy masterplanning
For the London 2012 Games, AECOM delivered masterplanning, landscape architecture, engineering and sustainability services. Working closely with its partners at Rio’s Municipal Olympic Company (EOM), AECOM has reprised these roles in Rio with additional responsibility for the preliminary design of the Barra Olympic Park’s sports arenas and detailed design of the International Broadcast Centre.
AECOM’s masterplan for Rio covers a 20-year period, with three distinct phases: preparation for the event; a transitional phase; and the long-term legacy. All phases were planned in parallel to smooth the transition between modes. AECOM points to the layout of roads and the capacity of utilities in the Barra Park, which were designed to cater for the planned residential, educational, commercial and sporting legacy.
The deconstruction and repurposing of temporary structures will take between five and seven years to complete after the Games. And in the legacy phase, more than three-quarters of the site will become a new neighbourhood. 
Just under a quarter of the Barra site will be occupied by permanent sports facilities, which in legacy mode will provide elite training facilities for the Brazilian Olympic team as well as a sports high school for future Olympians. 
AECOM delivered preliminary designs for six new sports venues: the new velodrome, Olympic Aquatics Stadium and Tennis Centre, as well as three adjoining Carioca Arenas that will host basketball, judo, taekwondo and wrestling competitions.
The velodrome will remain a cycling venue, the tennis centre will be adapted to host tournaments, and the Carioca Arenas will become a Sports Academy School and multi-sport training facility. The Olympic Aquatics Stadium will be rebuilt as two smaller community pools.
AECOM was also tasked with delivering the strategy for reusable, temporary structures that could be moved and rebuilt as community facilities and schools after the Games.
Venues including the Handball Arena and Olympic Aquatics Stadium employ efficient, highly standardised designs based on modular, stacked and repeated bolted steel structures to ease dismantling and reassembly. This “nomadic architecture” approach will allow the Handball Arena to be transformed after the Games into four new primary schools across the city.
AECOM also provided full architectural services for the International Broadcast Centre, which meets strict environmental and sustainability standards while also fulfilling broadcasters’ needs in terms of power and data connectivity, acoustics and temperature control.
The Olympic Park is designed for more than 150,000 spectators to move safely and freely on peak days during the Games. After the Games, the focus will switch to turning the site into parkland, with AECOM’s landscape design strategy transforming large spectator areas into a new linear park for the community.
 

“Nothing had really been done on this scale before,” Tom Jones, principal of Populous, the practice that designed London 2012’s temporary venues, told delegates at International Sport Event Management Conference in London.

“There was a significant amount of temporary venue work going on at golf championships, temporary music festivals and those sorts of things, but this was quite unique.”

London 2012’s venue masterplan was not just unique; it was nothing short of revolutionary. Historically, the majority of Olympic Games venues would be built to last, but designed with the requirements of the short-term event in mind. This meant a relatively small amount of temporary overlay was required; it also resulted in a legacy of underused venues.

London 2012 subverted this norm. Only six of London 2012’s venues were new and permanent. The remainder consisted of existing world-class venues like Wembley Stadium, Wimbledon and Lords, supplemented by more than 20 temporary venues.

“We had a very high dependence on temporary structures because of the ‘no white elephants’ approach – not building where there was no legacy use,” explains James Bulley, CEO of Trivandi and former director of venues and infrastructure at the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).

While this was clearly a revolution in terms of sustainability, it transferred huge responsibility onto the organising committee. “London delivered more temporary structures that Sydney, Athens and Beijing put together. That is a big shift; it puts massive onus on the organising committee to deliver substantial temporary structures.”

LOCOG delivered more than 250,000 temporary seats for the London Games, all of which now have been taken down. A 23,000 seat arena was built in Greenwich Park for the equestrian events, plus a 15,000 seat arena in Horse Guards. The basketball arena in the Olympic Park was also completely temporary.

While temporary overlay traditionally fell under the watch of the organising committee, it tended to be a much smaller project. Major infrastructure works would be handled by a separate authority, while the organising committee would focus primarily on selling tickets, running the sports events and overall operations.

In the case of London 2012, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) delivered the permanent structures, but LOCOG also had a major build on its hands. According to Bulley, “it became very much focused and dependent on the very high risk elements of delivering construction.”

He questioned whether the split of work was reasonable. “We had the ODA delivering the permanent construction. Should they also have taken on the temporary construction? When you are looking at a city delivering immense infrastructure on this scale, whether that sits within the organising committee or outside it is something that should be thought through.”

The temporary nature of the structures meant that they had to be built quickly, and the elements were not on LOCOG’s side in the weeks running up to London 2012. “One of the key challenges was delivering temporary structures in greenfield sites in torrential weather,” said Bulley.

It wasn’t just the organising committee that was under strain. The temporary event commodity market was under pressure to deliver seats, tents, cabins, fences, temporary power supplies, barriers and much more.

“Under extreme pressure, the event supplier commodity market had to deliver huge amounts of infrastructure, which it perhaps wasn’t geared up to do so at the volume at which we needed to do it.”

Nonetheless, London 2012 raised the bar and the result is a faster, higher and stronger temporary infrastructure sector. Bulley points to advances in the seating industry in particular.

“We put in new standards for designs, because the market couldn’t supply what we were looking to achieve. A lot of the seating in London 2012 was new; it was manufactured for the event. We set new standards for safety and comfort, for example the 800mm seat-row depth, rather than the 720mm which you sometimes see in temporary stands.”

Jones adds: “We were keen to make the experience of going to a temporary venue as close as going to a permanent venue as possible, both in terms of comfort and quality.”

London 2012 also pushed the envelope when it came to sports surfaces. “We worked incredibly hard with the governing bodies and sports surface companies to deliver the fastest possible tracks and highest quality fields of play,” said Bulley.

Despite the large volumes and short timeframes, the local industry responded well to these demands. Bulley questions whether mega events in the immediate future will have the same resources to hand. “We had a very sophisticated event supply industry within Europe to tap into. For Brazil, it’s much more challenging.”

The big scale-down
Some of the permanent venues also had temporary aspects to them, with modular construction techniques being deployed to make them scalable. For example, the two “wings” that were plugged in to the aquatics centre to provide extra capacity during the Games are now being removed to leave the 1,500 to 2,000-seat community pool, in line with legacy plans.

Jones said: “The reduction in size of the aquatic centre, the opening of the copper box have all pretty much followed plan. The Olympic stadium is clearly different.”

The 80,000 seat stadium used in Games time was originally planned to be reduced to 25,000 seats, with a permanent athletics track. Bulley said: “We went to the market and said would a Premiership football club be prepared to take the stadium on? That was not the case at the time, so we followed the athletics legacy.”

After much wrangling, the stadium has been determined as the home ground of West Ham United. Having a top flight football club as a tenant will help to ensure regular custom in the Queen Elizabeth Park, as the Olympic Park will be known. “If you can retain it as a large facility it’s a much preferable solution,” said Bulley.

However, it does necessitate major changes. “We are managing to keep a significant amount of the structure,” said Jones. “When we were doing the original design we were trying to keep as much flexibility as possible. But clearly if the legacy use changes, then that is going to create challenges afterwards.”

These challenges include removing seating in the lower tier and extending the roof. The promise of an athletics legacy is also being honoured alongside the West Ham tenancy. “As the Olympic stadium, it will have to serve other uses than football,” said Bulley.

The revised designs for the stadium include a retractable lower tier that reveals will reveal the athletics track for events such as the World Athletics Championships, which the venue will host in 2017.