London 2012 media centre to leave green business and employment space in legacy
3/13/2009
The
media centre for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will
create just under 900,000 square feet of business space in legacy
with the potential to generate thousands of new jobs.
The
Olympic Delivery Authority today unveiled the designs for the
International Broadcast Centre (IBC) and Main Press Centre (MPC)
which will support around 20,000 broadcasters, photographers and
journalists communicating the Games to an audience of four billion
people worldwide.
The
IBC/MPC combines an innovative mixture of permanent and temporary
elements during the Games and has been designed to be as flexible as
possible to accommodate a range of legacy tenants and uses. The
London Development Agency is leading the legacy planning.
The
MPC will meet demanding green standards in legacy through innovations
including the use of recycled non-drinking water collected across the
Olympic Park and new habitats to attract wildlife including a ‘brown
roof’ and bird boxes.
A
planning application for the IBC/MPC has been submitted this week,
the site has been cleared and the contractor is currently preparing
to start construction on track this spring.
ODA
Chairman John Armitt said: “This innovative design provides a
quality working environment for the media during the Games while
delivering flexible and green employment space for a range of
potential business uses in legacy.”
Sebastian
Coe, Chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee said: “Today’s
announcement is a significant step towards delivering the best
possible working environment for the 20,000 members of the world’s
broadcasters, press and photographers in the summer of 2012. The
media will play a key role in how the world views London and the
Games. Billions of people around the world rely on the international
media to relay the stories of human endeavour on the field of play
and to capture the atmosphere at Games-time. The impressive
facilities we have planned will give us the best possible foundations
for the media to tell all the stories from the London 2012 Games
whilst leaving high performance workspace in legacy for the east of
London.”
Elected
Mayor of Hackney Jules Pipe, said: “We are pleased the IBC/MPC will
provide vital employment space in Hackney Wick after the Games. The
Council’s aim is for the new business space to allow for the
expansion of digital, media and creative industries that are thriving
in East London. Local businesses and media companies have expressed
strong interest in moving to the facilities in legacy, and we will
continue to work to secure the best possible legacy for our Borough,
residents and local businesses.”
The
MPC includes:
29,000
square metres of green office space by the River Lea Navigation,
providing four storeys of workspace for journalists and
photographers during the Games.
Innovatively
designed flexibility that enables the building to be adapted in
legacy for either a single tenant in the whole building or on each
floor, as well as multiple tenants on each floor.
A
connected single strip of single storey buildings facing the canal
that can be separated into ‘mews’ accommodation in legacy
offering another type of quality business space in legacy.
State-of-the-art
utilities, power and digital connectivity during the Games and in
legacy.
innovations
designed to meet demanding green building standards in legacy
including a 2,500 square metres ‘brown roof’ of gravel and moss
to encourage invertebrates; 60% of non-drinking water to be
collected from across the Olympic Park; habitats including over 100
bird and bat boxes.
The
IBC includes:
around
50,000 square metres of studio space of two 8-10m high floors during
the Games with a temporary gantry running along the building for
technical equipment.
8000
square metres of offices over five floors at the front of the
building.
The
flexibility in legacy to be separated into a number of units and for
design features to be altered such as cladding replaced with
windows.
Temporary
Games time elements, most of which reduce the Games and legacy
transformation costs, include:
A
12,000 square metre catering village serving 50,000 meals a day 24
hours.
A
200 metre long High Street between the MPC and IBC featuring outlets
such as banks, newsagents, travel agents and a post office.
A
temporary Main Press Conference room between the IBC and MPC for up
to 800 journalists.
A
Media Transport Mall providing coach drop-off and car parking,
accreditation and security screening during the Games will be halved
in legacy to provide car parking spaces to legacy tenants alongside
walking, cycling and public transport connections.
The
London Development Agency (LDA) is leading on the legacy uses of
the media centre site. This has included working closely with the ODA
to ensure the flexibility of legacy plans fit in with Games-time
arrangements.
The
overall masterplan for the Park and detailed uses and
designs will evolve over the coming years and the legacy of
the IBC/MPC site will be influenced by eventual occupiers
of the buildings.
Last
month, the LDA and London 2012 partners released outline legacy
plans for the park - called the Legacy Masterplan Framework - which
are currently being consulted on. It is part of a wider
regeneration strategy for the area which also takes into account
social and economic regeneration for the areas surrounding the
Olympic Park. For more information about the consultation visit
www.legacynow.co.uk
Tom Russell, Group Director for
Olympic Legacy at the LDA, said: "The media centre site
will become a major employment driver in legacy with a
main focus on the creative industries, while also looking at
higher educational use. The majority of the infrastructure being put
in at the moment is for the long term use of the area and will
therefore play an important role in the post 2012 development."
As
a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatim
texts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-related
organizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.
These
press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited
for spelling, grammar or punctuation.
Your
complete source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com,
for subscribers only.
(Copyright 1992 2008, all rights reserved. The information in this report may not
be published, excerpted, or otherwise distributed in print or broadcast without
the express prior consent of Around the Rings.)