London 2012 Equestrian Facilities

Greenwich

Temporary arena and ancillary facilities for equestrian events to be held in Greenwich Park during the 2012 London Olympic Games. Designed by Allies and Morrison Architects.

We continue to support this scheme in the round, and think it will create a spectacular venue for equestrian events at the 2012 Olympics. We are pleased to hear about the managed pedestrian crossing on Romney Road and the plans to commemorate the Games in some way as part of a children’s play area. As part of this project, we think there might be a case for a horse sculpture to be used by children, as a marker of Britain’s greatest equestrian event. Whilst offering our support to the planning application, we make the following comments about the seating stands and value of eye level views, which we are confident can be dealt with by the design team.

We are pleased to hear about the ongoing investigation of the detailed design of the seating stands. As this work continues, we think it will be essential that the design of the super risers at the front of the stands is kept clear of moving advertising or flapping canvas banners. This will be important in ensuring that nothing distracts spectators or TV viewers from the equestrian events. We also wish to note our strong view that the exterior of the stands should not be clad or wrapped. We are very encouraged by LOCOG’s emerging design thinking about revealing the open latticework structure of their temporary arena, and the potential of design devices to add order and coherence.

Our concluding comment is that it would be useful for all concerned if eye level views are generated as part of the detailed design process, to test the how spectators will experience the equestrian venue, and its extraordinary setting at Greenwich.