Delivering London 2012:

the Aquatics Centre

Proceedings of ICE
Civil Engineering 164 November 2011
Pages 44–50 Paper 11-00038
[Link]

Keywords
buildings, structures & design;
olympics; sustainability

Delivering London Wing areas

(a)

2012: the Aquatics Central area

Centre
Ian Crockford
BEng(Hons), MBA

is project sponsor with the Olympic The Aquatics Centre for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Kink in plan geometry
of compression hoop,
Southern horizontal
transfer truss
Delivery Authority Games is an iconic venue designed by acclaimed architect Zaha generating a transverse
tie across the roof

Hadid. It is dominated by a spectacular 11 000 m2 wave-form roof

supported on just two concrete cores to the north and a 22 m Northern
horizontal
wall to the south. In games time, temporary wings augment the transfer truss

(b)

Malcolm Nelson
capacity to 17 500, including a permanent capacity of 2500 seats
BSc
in legacy use. Foundation solutions were challenging due to the
is project manager with CLM
relatively high loadings, critical nature of maintaining horizontal pool Tension ties and
compression struts
tanks and new power line tunnels underneath. Over 150 000 t formed on roof to support
vertical load on wing areas
Figure 1. The Aquatics Centre in games mode (top), with temporary seating
of concrete was poured using an innovative mix of 40% cement wings and temporarily widened footbridge passing in front of it, and in legacy Figure 2. The central and wing areas of roof (a) and flow of forces from vertical
mode (bottom) load on wing areas (b)
replacement and up to 76% recycled aggregate, resulting in
Stuart Fraser significant savings in embodied carbon dioxide. Architectural design arches along the pool axis. Its double- One of the key challenges was devel-
MCIOB
curvature, parabolic form is generated oping a structure for the spectacular
is project director for the London The architectural concept of the Aquat- by the sightlines for spectators in games 11 000 m2 wave-form roof, which is sup-
Aquatics Centre During the London 2012 Olympic and the London Development Agency and ics Centre is inspired by the fluid geometry mode and the undulating shape helps ported on only two concrete cores to the
Paralympic Games, the Aquatics Centre the bid company. The designs and team of water in motion, creating spaces and creates a visual separation between the north and along a 22 m length of wall to
will host swimming, diving, synchronised were inherited by The Olympic Delivery a surrounding environment in sympathy competition and diving pool areas within the south. The lower surface dips between
swimming and the swimming element of Authority (ODA) when it was formally with the river landscape of the Olympic the pool hall. the diving and competition pools and the
the modern pentathlon. It is the gateway established in April 2006. Selecting such Park. An undulating roof sweeps up from The roof extends beyond the pool hall two sides sweep upwards, providing col-
to the Olympic Park, with more than an iconic ‘gateway’ building for both the ground as a wave, enclosing the swim- to external areas and the main entrance umn-free sightlines to all 17 500 specta-
two-thirds of spectators expected to enter games and legacy was an important sign ming and diving pools with a unifying ges- plaza on the bridge. Structurally, the roof tors to the far-side lane of the competition
the park via a major temporarily widened of commitment during the bidding pro- ture of fluidity. The venue is located on the is grounded at three primary positions, the pool in games mode.
Gordon Mungal
BSc, CEng, MICE footbridge that runs alongside the north- cess to building a world-class facility and south-eastern edge of the park with direct remaining space between the roof and the The roof structure comprises a singly
Is project design director for ern part of the venue (Figure 1). a commitment to quality. proximity to Stratford. One of the main podium being infilled with a glass facade symmetric three-dimensional system
structural concrete at Arup During the games, most spectators will The brief for the Aquatics Centre pro- pedestrian accesses to the park is over an providing substantial natural lighting. of relatively simple two-dimensional
be seated in two temporary wings (15 000 ject comprised two key design, construc- east–west river crossing called Stratford trusses (Figure 2). These span the 120 m
capacity). Post games, the venue will then tion and operational phases City Bridge, which is integrated with the Structural design between the southern support wall and
be transformed into a 2500 capacity facil- main entrance plaza of the centre. northern stair and service cores. The
ity for use by the local community, clubs n building for the games, including tem- The building is planned on an orthogo- The Aquatics Centre is constructed structural action of the roof is a combi-
and schools as well as elite swimmers. The porary seating structures for a total nal axis perpendicular to the bridge. on one of the most challenging and nation of simple trusses in the central
two temporary wings will be removed 17 500 spectators The three pools are aligned on this axis, constrained sites of the Olympic Park. area spanning north–south between
but it will still be possible to increase the n conversion post-games to a viable with the training pool situated under the The building is tightly wedged between primary trusses, and a more complex
John Nicholson capacity for major competitions to 3500. 2500 capacity facility for both com- entrance plaza and the competition and railway lines to the east and Waterworks arching and compression hoop action for
munity and elite use in legacy. diving pools within a large pool hall. The River to the west. Two new power line wing areas that flank the central zone.
Is project sponsor at ODA Design brief overall architectural strategy was to frame tunnels were constructed beneath the The outer trusses in the wing areas are
The brief broadly included a welcome the base of the pool hall as a podium, centre site prior to works beginning on kinked in plan, with a resulting line of
The original design brief and interna- zone, a 50 m ten-lane competition pool, which emerges from underneath the the building (Twine et al., 2011). At the tension across the roof at the widest
tional competition was launched and run a 50 m eight-lane training pool, a 5 m bridge to cascade around the pool hall to northern end of the site, the building is point resisted by a cross-tie element.
as part of the bidding process to bring deep diving pool, and elite sports dry-land the lower level of the riverside. integral with the Stratford City Bridge The northern end of the roof is support-
the games to London. This was led by training and auxiliary venue facilities. The pool hall features a large roof that that crosses both the river and railway. ed on fixed spherical bearings to act as

C I V I L ENG I NEER I NG
issn 0965 089 X ProCeedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – CIVIL ENGINEERING, 2011, 164, No. CE6 45
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 CROCKFORD, NELSON, FRASER, MUNGAL Delivering London 2012:
and Nicholson the Aquatics Centre

Offset pile
Central pile

Terrace deposit

Lambeth
group
Thanet sand
Tunnel

Figure 4. Geotechnical three-dimensional

finite-element models were used to study the Figure 8. Competition pool looking towards the welcome zone structure – all
Figure 3. Three-dimensional structural model showing podium structure under roof, with supports provided interaction of piled foundations and underlying pool tanks had to integrate water-supply pipe work, lights, foot rests, floating
by southern wall and northern stair and service cores power line tunnels Figure 7. Three-dimensional model of competition and dive pool tank – piles floors and deck-level transfer channels required to provide an Olympic-
had to work in tension as well as compression standard aquatics facility
true pins. The southern end is supported and temporary stands are supported on without exceeding the tunnel design
on three sliding spherical bearings along a total of 1800 contiguous flight auger loads (Figure 4). However, under the Concrete structures Of all the engineering components of The remaining 150 m length of the super-
the top of the southern wall, with the (CFA) piles and 26 driven steel piles for entrance plaza bridge and roof-support the Aquatics Centre, the reinforced con- structure (Figure 9) is jointless in the final
central bearing only allowed to slide along the part of the stands over the river. The cores, below-ground transfer structures The pool tank structures of the crete superstructure is the only one that state but had phased construction joints to
the central axis of the building (Figure 3). method and diameter of piling was cho- were required to span the tunnels. Aquatics Centre have two principal remains publicly visible on the completed limit shrinkage effects. This superstructure
sen following detailed negotiation with These had to be decoupled from the effects to resist. The first is to prevent facility (Figure 8). The quality, visual is stabilised for lateral loads by the roof sup-
Foundations the power line tunnel owners National pile caps using concrete hinges located water leakage and the second is to shape and appearance were the starting port cores and a number of concrete shear
Grid and EDF Energy. The permitted centrally on the pile caps (Figure 5). The prevent water ingress from the high point for developing the structural design walls positioned and integral with the visible
The ground conditions were poor, with development rights agreement allowed transfer slabs were designed to follow the groundwater level plus potential river to ensure that all could be met while also rhomboidal exposed walls.
alluvium overlying London Clay and construction over the tunnels, provided alignment of the tunnels and were used flood levels due to climate change and achieving the required structural perfor- At the north end, the dramatic complex
Thanet Sand at depth. The relatively high the load over the tunnels did not affect to resolve the non-orthogonal position 1:100 storm conditions. mance in a safe and buildable solution. geometry and exposed soffit form the wel-
loads imposed by the building and the their integrity. It stipulated that all piles and arrangement of above-ground plaza The groundwater level resulted in the The concrete superstructure has a come zone bowl, which joins the upper
critical nature of maintaining horizontal within a 45° influence zone required to bridge supports and north-eastern roof- need for all basement areas, including single movement joint that separates the pool hall to the plaza bridge deck. In
pool tanks meant pile foundations were be sleeved to tunnel invert. support core (Figure 6). pool tanks that could be empty due plaza bridge structure from the remainder addition to providing support and shape
needed to transfer load to the competent Detailed finite-element analysis of The transfer structures were the two to maintenance, to be supported on of the building. The plaza bridge struc- to the bowl, the slab is also required to
underlying strata. The foundation solu- the tunnels, ground and piling loads largest single concrete pours carried out both vertical bearing and tension piles ture is designed as a continuous portal resist the permanent arch thrust from the
tion was further complicated by the pres- demonstrated that conventional CFA on the Aquatics Centre and required (Figure 7). All pool tanks had to integrate frame, the central span of which crosses roof truss arch that spans the cores. As
ence of the power line tunnels (Twine piling could be installed close to and, in 1311 m³ and 1225 m³ of concrete water-supply pipe work, lights, foot rests, the 50 m training and warm-up pool (see the cores were constructed early to allow
et al., 2011). As a result, the permanent some instances directly over, the tunnels respectively. floating floors and deck-level transfer Figure 5). The inner span support walls roof construction, a temporary tie was
channels required to provide an Olympic- and slab soffit are visually exposed and required to resist the arch thrust for the
Plaza EDF Energy North-eastern core transfer structure standard aquatics facility. provide ambiance to the pool hall. roof (Figure 10).
tunnel

Training pool

Concrete Concrete National Grid

hinges hinge tunnel

National Grid EDF Energy

tunnel tunnel Plaza pier transfer 0 20 m
structure
0 5m 10 m
Figure 6. Plan of transfer structures supporting Figure 10. A temporary tie was needed between the roof-support cores
Figure 5. Section through entrance plaza bridge showing transfer structures spanning power line tunnels – the entrance plaza bridge piers and roof-support Figure 9. Three-dimensional model of the level 01 reinforced concrete podium during construction to resist the thrust from the roof truss arch – this was
note central hinges on pile caps cores over the power line tunnels and welcome zone structure subsequently carried by the welcome zone structure

46 ProCeedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – CIVIL ENGINEERING, 2011, 164, No. CE6 issn 0965 089 X issn 0965 089 X ProCeedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – CIVIL ENGINEERING, 2011, 164, No. CE6 47
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 CROCKFORD, NELSON, FRASER, MUNGAL Delivering London 2012:
and Nicholson the Aquatics Centre

Diving boards Roof void ventilation Highly insulated roof

The challenges set by the geometry of

the sculptural reinforced concrete div-
High
ing boards were unique (Figure 11). To performance
Facade Spectators’ cooler
ensure adequate performance of all four integrated fresh air supply Underfloor heating
glazed facade
critical requirements – structural stabil- heating
Pool and pool
ity, deflection, vibration and aesthetic surroundings 28˚C
Plantroom Plantroom
appearance – accurate analysis of the 60% relative humidity
constantly varying geometry was needed
along with a reinforcement arrangement
that permitted placement prior to closure Figure 14. Three-dimensional drawing of the
temporary west stand structural steelwork Figure 15. Diagram of main pool hall microclimates in legacy mode
of the glass-reinforced plastic formwork
moulds.
The three-dimensional design geometry The structure comprises braced bolted legacy conversion, allowing a number of poured with 55% and 70% substitutions.
was cut into sections along the length structural steel frames (Figure 14). At lighting scenarios, ranging from 200 lux Maximising the sustainability of the con-
of the boards, which were then used to ground level, a complex framing system for normal use up to 4000 lux for televi- crete achieved savings of over 4000 t of
establish the section properties for the had to be developed, both to cantilever sion coverage. embodied carbon dioxide.
analysis models (Figure 12). the west stand over Waterworks River and Daylight in legacy is filtered by the Timber was used extensively on the
To ensure the reinforcement could be to bridge the east stand over the Olympic facades, which have been designed to project. At concept design, the architect’s
bent and placed, the best-fit single-plane Park ring road. minimise glare. A pattern of fritted intent for a timber ceiling and external
radius bar was inserted through the three- Suspended levels are formed from (enamelled) glass was derived from sun cladding was well developed. However,
dimensional bar position at each section. plywood decking fixed to trapezoidal angles and sky brightness so that the the tier 2 contractor proposed a solution
Additional sections were then created to profiled steel decking. Raking steel beams luminance of the hall falls within a com- combining an internal red lauro veneer
suit link reinforcement locations. In total, then support a folded steel–polymer com- fortable range and maximises the use of on birch plywood with solid timber
the diving boards required more than posite sandwich terrace system. natural light. external cladding. This innovative pro-
300 unique link sections, all with varying posal enabled the ceiling to be delivered
geometry but with all links manufactured Pool environment and lighting Sustainability with 50% less red lauro, all sourced
using standard-radii bars. from a credible supply certified by the
Main bar coordinate data were supplied The main pool hall environment is The co-located project team, assisted Forestry Stewardship Council.
from the bar geometry model (Figure 13) conditioned by creating a system of by specialist sustainability advisors, devel- Early proposals to change the 3200 t
to allow the reinforcement to be placed microclimates that provides an efficient oped a procurement ethos for second-tier steel roof structure to timber construc-
and the concrete to be cast. The main and effective method of heating and ven- procurement incorporating a sustain- tion were discarded as this would attract
bars were positioned and held in loca- tilation (Figure 15). The pool-surround ability action plan. The plan enabled significant risk and cost premiums from
tion by templates to allow the bars to be climate is controlled by a pool-side system broad level strategies to be translated into the market, largely due to the complex-
threaded through. that extracts air at the perimeter of the specific objectives with opportunities and ity and relative lack of UK experience in
Self-compacting concrete was used pool to limit the build-up of moist air. innovation from the supply chain vigor- large-scale timber construction. However,
throughout to ensure the concrete A displacement-type ventilation system ously pursued. other measures to improve the sustain-
Figure 11. The sculptural reinforced concrete dive boards are surrounded by a 14 m high sloping concrete wall
could be placed and compacted fully. maintains spectator comfort locally. The With regard to concrete, the Aquatics ability of the roof included ensuring that
All superstructures used cement facades and roof are separately heated Centre team was the first on the Olympic each member operated at 90% capacity
replacement to assist with technical with an integrated mullion heating system Park to push beyond 50% coarse aggre- and reducing the roof area by 10% by
and aesthetic performance along with to offset heat losses and to control con- gate substitution, to 76%, and the first relocating the training pool underneath
sustainability targets set for the project. densation. to pour visible concrete with aggregate the entrance plaza.
The superstructure concrete exceeded The microclimate solution allows replacements while achieving the complex With regard to water, a 32% reduction
the cement and course aggregate for temporary systems to be provided concrete geometries required by the iconic in potable water demand was achieved –
replacement contents set by the ODA for games mode without requiring any design. this is an equivalent 25-year lifecycle saving
as well as providing the light colour changes to the permanent ventilation Numerous trials were undertaken to of almost 450 Ml. This was mostly through
required for the Aquatics Centre. systems. All heating, in both games and establish the maximum ground granulated the specification of low-flow fixtures and
legacy mode, is fed from the Olympic blast-furnace slag cement substitution that fittings including 9 l/min flow-rate show-
Temporary stands Park district heating system (Maybank et could be achieved while still maintaining ers, 5 l/min flow-rate taps with auto-off
al., 2011). a high-class concrete finish. The slag is controls and 4·5 l single-flush toilets.
The brief for the temporary games-time The key principle of the lighting design a waste by-product from the steel indus- A greywater recycling system has also
stands was to create economical demount- for the Aquatics Centre was to integrate try and produces concrete with lower been provided to exploit the vast quanti-
able structures that could increase the the lighting system within the architecture embodied carbon dioxide. A 40% cement ties of wastewater produced through the
Figure 12. A three-dimensional model of each Figure 13. Each reinforcement bar in the diving gross seating capacity of the venue from of the ceiling, without additional suspend- substitution was finally settled on for the filter back-washing process. Approximate-
diving board was cut into sections using scripts boards was modelled in three dimensions to aid 2500 permanent seats to 17 500 seats in ed elements or gantries. All the lighting high-specification visible concrete, with ly one third of this process water, 67·5 Ml,
ready for export to analysis and design software the detailing process systems installed will be retained during other elements of visible superstructure is treated to a non-potable standard to
games mode.

48 ProCeedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – CIVIL ENGINEERING, 2011, 164, No. CE6 issn 0965 089 X issn 0965 089 X ProCeedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – CIVIL ENGINEERING, 2011, 164, No. CE6 49
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 CROCKFORD, NELSON, FRASER, MUNGAL
and Nicholson

meet toilet and urinal flushing demand, works). Nevertheless, this complex, iconic, n ODA (client)
substituting mains water use. high-quality sports facility was delivered n CLM (programme and project man-
on schedule a full year before the London ager)
Implementation 2012 games (Figure 16). n ZHA (architect)
n S&P Architects (pool consultant)
The procurement of the tier 1 contrac- Legacy n Arup (structural engineer)
tor was carried out using the competi- n Tony Gee & Partners (bridge design
tive dialogue route, which resulted in an Future operational use was a priority and design checks)
NEC3 Engineering and Construction consideration for the Aquatics Centre n Balfour Beatty (tier 1 contractor).
Contract option C being placed with Bal- design. Consultation with pool operators
four Beatty in March 2008 (ICE, 2005). during the design brief stage helped form Key specialist suppliers were
Work started in June 2008 and was com- the requirements for an accessible, flex-
pleted on programme in July 2011. ible and totally inclusive venue that would n AJ Morrisroe (concrete)
The original master plan was to build serve the needs of a legacy operator to n Europools (pool treatment)
the legacy core building to be complete ease operations and maximise use and n Finnforest (ceiling cladding)
in April 2011 and then add on the tem- revenue. n Hotchkiss (ductwork)
porary stands from August 2011 to May The degree of separation within the n Lakesmere (roof coverings)
2012. However, during value engineering changing rooms, the potential to use dif- n Marcoe Electrical (electrical installation)
discussions with the contractor during ferent pools as well as an array of move- n McGrath Bros Eng (balustrading)
competitive dialogue, a strategy was able booms and floors make the venue n Pipetec (waterside)
developed to build the two sections con- unique. Legacy owner Olympic Park Leg- n Rowecord (roof steel)
currently and finish them both by July acy Company is evaluating interest from n Seele Austria GmbH (curtain walling)
2011, saving approximately 10 months several potential legacy operators. n Variopools (moveable floors)
off the total build time and meeting the n Vetter (ceramic tiling)
strategy of ‘big build’ complete with Acknowledgements n Watson (temporary stand steelwork)
1 year to go. n WB Simpson (wet area tiling works).
The anticipated final cost is £269 mil- The principal participants in the design
lion (including legacy transformation and construction teams were

References
ICE (Institution of Civil Engineers)(2005) NEC3
Engineering and Construction Contract Option C.
Thomas Telford, London, UK.
Maybank R, Roe J, Guest I, Laidlaw B and Hatton D
(2011) Delivering London 2012: utilities. Proceedings
of the Institution of Civil Engineers – Civil Engineering
164(6): 17–22, [Link]
cien.2011.164.6.17.
Twine D, Shiplee H and Thurston M (2011) Delivering
London 2012: power lines undergrounding.
Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – Civil
Engineering 164(6): 11–16, [Link]
cien.2011.164.6.11

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Figure 16. The iconic £269 million venue, including its temporary game-time seating wings, was completed
happy to provide any help or advice you need.
on schedule in July 2011

50 ProCeedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – CIVIL ENGINEERING, 2011, 164, No. CE6 issn 0965 089 X

Complimentary access sponsored by ICE Publishing