zaha hadid completes london aquatics center

zaha hadid completes london aquatics center all images © hufton + crow

construction for the ‘london aquatics centre’ for the london 2012 summer olympics by zaha hadid architects is now complete. capable of holding 17,500 individuals at one moment, this facility will be the venue for the swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo events. sheltering the sports events, athletes and supporters is an aluminum clad steel roof which spans 160 meters in length and 90 meters at its widest point. three substantial concrete columns effortlessly support the 3,000 ton sweeping overhead structure. the double curvature parabolic structure visually evokes the form of an undulating wave. on the interior, 850,000 tiles surface the pools, changing facilities and and floors. the cluster of concrete towers including the three meter springboards and diving platforms were formed and cast onsite.

main diving and swimming event pools

a pedestrian landbridge crosses over the training pool supported by a monolithic concrete roof. a repetitive pattern of penetrations within the construction form work generate voids for skylights allowing daylight to uniformly illuminate the space. ground granulated blast furnace slag, a by-product of steel production, was recycled and added as an aggregate to reduce the necessary concrete content by 50%. the pools’ collective volume is ten million liters of water, redirecting excess pool water to be used as toilet water within the restrooms. once the games are completed, the facilities capacity will be reduced to 2,500 individuals while swimming pools, moveable floors and practice diving areas will be added for use by the community.

olympic pools, diving platforms and stands

diving pool

diving platforms

holding area behind the platforms

monolithic concrete bases

view of pool and stands between the platform bases

view from platforms

glass enclosure viewing diving platforms

stairs

overhead voids provide views of the stands

training pool

voids within monolithic concrete ceilings allow natural illumination

concrete ceiling detail

project info:

program: aquatics centre for 2012 summer olympics and future use client: olympic delivery authority architect: design zaha hadid architects project director: jim heverin project architect: glenn moorley, sara klomps project team: alex bilton, alex marcoulides, barbara bochnak, carlos garijo, clay shorthall, ertu erbay, george king, giorgia cannici, hannes schafelner, hee seung lee, kasia townend, nannette jackowski, nicolas gdalewitch, seth handley, thomas soo, tom locke, torsten broeder, tristan job, yamac korfali, yeena yoon project team [competition]: saffet kaya bekiroglu, agnes koltay, feng chen, gemma douglas, kakakrai suthadarat, karim muallem, marco vanucci, mariana ibanez, sujit nair

consultants:

sports architects: s+p architects (london) structural engineer: ove arup & partners (london, newcastle) services: ove arup & partners (london) fire safety: arup fire (london) acoustics: arup acoustics (london) façade engineers: robert-jan van santen associates (lille) lighting design: arup lighting (london) kitchen design: winton nightingale (london) maintenance access: reef (london) temporary construction: edwin shirley staging (london) security consultant: arup security (london) av + it consultants: mark johnson consultants (london) access consultant: access = design (london) cdm co-coordinator: total cdm solutions (cardigan) breeam consultant: ove arup & partners (london) contractor: main contractor: balfour beatty (uk) timber sub-contractor: finnforest merk gmbh site area: 36,875 m2