LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC VENUES PART 4 - Velodrome

gulfnews.com | Tuesday, July 24, 2012 | Gulf News Gulf News | Tuesday, July 24, 2012| gulfnews.com OLYMPIC VENUES PART 4 THE VELODROME Award-winning venue Efficient structure The Velodrome was the first Olympic Park venue to be completed in February 2011. Due to its lightweight and compact construction that reflects the efficient design of a bicycle, the venue has been awarded a number of prizes like the British Construction Industry Award, The Prime Minister's Better Public Building 2011, AJ100 Building of the Year Award 2011 and the RIBA Stirling Prize 2011, people's poll winner. The roof surface is made of 1090 timber cassettes. The distinct Velodrome roof shape gave it the nickname of "The Pringle". The hyperbolic paraboloid-shape has been designed to reflect the geometry of the cycling track. Gearing up for a wheel spectacle *Legacy: The Velopark After the Games, the Velodrome will become the centrepiece of the new Velopark, which is managed by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and will be opened for elite athletes as well as the local community. The facility will include a cycle workshop, a storage area for over 300 bikes, changing rooms, bike hire outlet and a legacy café. The velopark will be linked to cycle routes across London. The BMX track will be adapted to make it suitable for people of all ages. Collects rainwater, reducing the water usage by more than 70%o. Glass rooflight The upper roof is supported by 16 km of interlaced cabling, emulating a tennis racket, covering a 12,000m2 surface. This reduced the amount of material required, making the structure considerably lighter. State-of-the-art Velodrome will provide optimum comfort for cycling participants and spectators alike, reflecting Britain's two-wheeled dominance -2,500 sections of steelwork form the Velodrome structure, rising in height by 12 metres from the shallowest point to the highest part of the structure, DUBAI By HUGO A. SANCHEZ 3D modeler & infographic artist and ÁLARIC GOMES Senior Reporter 5000m2 of sustainably sourced western red cedar were used to clad the velodrome exterior. The wood is Main acces8 certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. The compact design allows the energy consumed to heat the main arena to be minimised. ycling was Great Britain's most successful sports at Beijing 2008 and the organisers have pulled out all the stops to provide the best possible environment for the event in London. The Velopark is home to both the BMX Track and Velodrome, the latter being one of the park's most sustainable, state- of-the-art venues. Designed to offer optimum comfort for spectators and competitors alike, the cycling ventilation, light- ing and even atmosphere are primed for the best possible ex- one of Ventilation louvers The roof structure weight is supported by 48 concrete columns. 22m 7.8m Side view Front view 129m 120m The roof lights have been strategically positioned to take advantage of the abundant daylight. venue's perience. Ventilation louvers Outside the Velopark, com- peting cyclists will race in royal locale, with the cycling road the men's on July 28 and the women's on July 29 beginning and finishing in The Mall, home of so many historic races 6,000 seats split into two tiers ............... 250m UCI (International Cycling Union) approved track celebrations. The marathon and race walks will take a similar route, while competing cyclists will get to explore more of Britain's royal heritage with the start and fin- ish of the individual time trial on August 1 taking place in the grand surroundings of Hamp- ton Court Palace. The Eastway Cycle Circuit has been demolished to make way for the Park. Though mooted to be much bigger in size, the present Velopark is only a third of its original size after it was re-scaled. The facilities built for the Safety Zone The venue features a unique 360-degree glass wall that allows a glimpse of the track-cycling action going on inside. Landscaped berm Olympics were constructed be- tween 2009 and 2011, and the first event in the Velopark was the London round of the 2011 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup series. Inside the facility, there are eight changing rooms, the venue media centre, athletes lounges, medical areas, International Federation offices, commentator control rooms and a power plant. 48,000 cubic metres of material were excavated to create the Velodrome's bowl, enough to fill nineteen 50m swimming pools. Track The designers worked closely with professionals such as the Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist, Sir Chris Hoy, to prepare the heart of the Velodrome, with the aim of it being the world's fastest track. BMX track The Velodrome site also has an international competition BMX circuit, covering a total area of 160m by 90m. The construction includes a 450m-long track for men and a 440m-long one for women. It took around six months to complete the construction in time for the UCI BMX supercross World Cup, a test competition for the London 2012 events. Ventilation louvers 56km of sustainably-sourced Siberian Pine were used for the 250m track 8m high start ramp The track levels can reach up to 4m These kind of trees are straight and tall, making them perfect for the cut lengths of the timber that the track shape requires. The wood is very stable to the enviromental conditions, because the pine resists the extreme climate of Siberia, so the timber will not shrink or deform. Natural ventilation A natural ventilation system eliminates the need for air Steel Ventilation entrances in the balcony of the upper tier. Air-handling unit conditioning in summer. It was installed below the red cedar structure wood layer which has a group of ventilation louvers aligned in several columns across its surface, allowing the air enter the venue. The louvers also form part of the design. The venue also has mechanical ventilation system to heat it in winter. The goal is to obtain the ideal temperature and environmental conditions to achieve record-breaking competitions during the Olympic Games. to -The lower grandstands are placed closely all around the track to create the best crowd atmosphere in the competitions. exterior a Cross section 14,000 cubic metres of soil excavated from the Olympic Park site were cleaned and reused in the BMX track Support column 356 vertical timber support 350,000 nails were used to join the timber sections in the track. trusses with variation in size and angle were installed by a team of 26 specialist carpenters. Sources: http://planning london2012.com, www.london2012.com www.londonlegacy.co.uk. www.hopkins.co.uk/s/projects/3/131 Legacy photo: http://www.londonlegacy.co.uk