Constructing a legacy

09/07/2012  -  11.08

Chris Williams, Head of the Built Environment department

Whilst a number of the venues for the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012 are around the country, most of the events will be held in or around the Olympic Park in Stratford, East London.

Some of the venues are new – such as the Aquatic centre (swimming/diving), Olympic stadium, (athletics) and the Velo Park, (cycling) – and some events are at existing venues – such as Earls Court (volleyball), Greenwich Park (equestrian events) and the Millennium Dome, (gymnastics and badminton).

From the moment it was announced on 6 July 2005 that the London 2012 bid had been successful, work started straight away so that seven years later the Games would have a home and leave a legacy for the future.

This would entail a lot of construction and infrastructure work. Construction, re-construction or adaptation on this scale is great for the country as it creates work and generates income.

The risk potential in time, cost and quality on this scale of work is significant but overall construction performance has been impressive.

Hand over to the Olympic Authority was over a year prior to the start of the Games; the construction budget was £9.3bn, with some £500m of uncommitted funding still remaining.

How good the venues will be in terms of record breaking stadiums we will have to wait and see.