MARCH | COVER FEATURE
with the first flats being built there
as part of a major project.
The East Bank site, meanwhile, is
among the area’s most impressive
accomplishments. It will bring an
additional 1.5 million visitors to the
Park and surrounding area each
year and more than 2,500 jobs will
be created in East Bank, and an
estimated £1.5bn generation for
the local economy. This is thanks
to Sadler's Wells East which will
open as a 550-seat theatre, UAL's
London College of Fashion, which
will accommodate 6,500 students
and V&A East, which will display
its world-famous collections at
two sites with a new museum at
Stratford Waterfront and the V&A
Collection and Research at Here
East.
Meanwhile, a state-of-the-art
BBC music studios will provide
a hub from which to celebrate
music of all genres and UCL will
create a new campus, UCL East,
providing innovation in areas such
as robotics, smart cities, culture
and conservation, for around
4,000 students. The area’s new
and improved roads, railways, and
upcoming Crossrail service will also
boost these institutions.
All this would not have been
economically viable without the
‘event-factor’, says Tudor: “The
Olympics and its legacy are what
bought the impetus for this major
investment. It was otherwise a
very arduous and costly area to
regenerate. It was contaminated,
had a lot of pylons, safety
considerations and waterways that
needed crossings. It would’ve been
too costly to do this as a normal
regeneration project.”
And, yet, the cultural and
economic benefits are being
realised. “The Major League
Baseball weekend alone gave the
UK £47m in economic impact,
then there’s the office blocks, which
include the Financial Conduct
30
Authority, and bring in 25,000
workers and a £1.3bn benefit to
the area. Former London Mayor
Ken Livingstone said he wasn’t
interested in two weeks of sport, he
was interested in what it would do
for the area.”
From the outset, London’s
proposition was unique, says Tudor:
“Different Olympics have different
parks, and we ended up with a lovely
560 acre park. For the upcoming
Tokyo 2020 (24 July - 9 August)
the Games are much more spread
out and they’re even re-using some
venues from their 1968 Games.
London, in contrast, only re-used
one venue from its 1948 Games:
Wembley Arena, which in those
days was a swimming pool, but in
2012 was used for badminton.”
Making sure your event in the
Park is greenlighted involves
much co-ordination. Each venue
has its own operator, and for the
Park your first port of call is often
Sara-Ellen Williams, who has been
the Park’s head of events for seven
years, and originally was head of
casting for the ceremonies. “She has
some great stories from her time
organising the Opening Ceremony,”
says Tudor. “With her team she
manages the calendar and makes
sure everything fits together – how
events can run in parallel across
the Park, and working with the
venue management teams on how
the wider issues of licensing and
construction will be affected. It’s
very easy to just say ‘yes do your
event here’, but there’s more to it.
There’s a cumulative impact across
the Park, and it’s about keeping
residents happy and ensuring the
quality of the destination.
“When the Major League Baseball
is on in the Stadium, for example,
we also have Pro League Hockey
in the North of the park, and a big
community event… and it’s also
the opening weekend of the UEFA
European Championships, so there’s
"It would’ve
been too
costly to
do this as
a normal
regeneration
project"
much to consider across the city.”
Access’ tour ends at the top
of the Anish Kapoor-designed
ArcelorMittal Orbit, which doubles
as an event venue in its own right.
Up here we get a full panorama of
the Olympic site, which eight years
on, has housed as many memories
as the Games itself. Meanwhile,
the vast numbers of cranes and
construction work going on around
us is testament that much more is
to come.
STRUCTURED LEGACY
Ben Keast, managing director,
Neptunus
The 2012 Olympics and
ParaOlympics are still the greatest
occasions the UK events industry
has produced. Over the last eight
years, Neptunus has provided
structures across the Olympic Park
for numerous events ranging from
science fairs to the Major League
Baseball and international hockey
tournaments, including both the
Men’s and Women’s World Cups.
The differing applications has
allowed Neptunus to maintain the
quality of our Olympic offering as
well as utilising the diversity of our
product range.