Study Tour B – London 2012 Olympic site and Stratford (East London)

Starts: Tuesday 15th June at 9.45am (0945) in London's award-winning St Pancras station (details of exact venue will be sent to those registering for this tour).

Finishes: Approximately 4pm (1600 hours) at St Pancras station.

Tour outline: The tour begins with a 6 minute ride on one of the Shinkansen-based high speed trains that will link Central London with the Olympic Park. London is proud to be the first city in the world to host a third Olympic Games and for 2012 the site for the Olympic stadium and many facilities is in East London's Lower Lea Valley adjacent to Stratford. The Olympic Park is more than 230 hectares (about 570 acres) surrounding the River Lea. This is very much a brownfield site with extensive industrial infrastructure and significant contamination. Some was used as landfill for rubble from the London Blitz in World War II and other parts were low value industry. All this despite being only five miles (8 kilometres) from Central London.

The new Olympic Park has at its heart the Olympic Stadium, aquatics centre, velodrome and other sporting facilities as well as the Olympic Village.  The vision for the site goes far beyond creating facilities just for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It seeks to create a long term legacy through repairs to the urban fabric and the creation of new communities in a green environment that improves the quality of life for existing residents and businesses. Some 1.5 million cubic metres (53 million cubic feet) of soil on the site has been excavated and cleaned and around 90% of materials generated from demolition on the site have been reused whilst extensive work has been done to improve the wildlife habitat. Masterplanning for the site was undertaken by EDAW/AECOM Design and Planning. The tour includes an extended visit to the Olympic Viewing Gallery to see work in progress.

Immediately adjacent to the new Olympic Park is the existing town centre of Stratford, in the London Borough of Newham, and its international station. Westfield are currently constructing the largest urban shopping centre in Europe (1.9 million square feet - 176,000 square metres) to revolutionise Stratford's retail offer. The London Borough of Newham has its own development and sustainable community strategies aimed at capitalising on the new development taking place and the enhanced transport infrastructure that supports it to make Newham a place people choose to live, work and stay.

The tour will include site visits, presentations and discussion so you can understand the context of London 2012 and what it will mean for the regeneration of this part of East London.

The tour concludes with a return journey on the high speed train service to St Pancras. This tour is offered in partnership with the London Borough of Newham and AECOM Design and Planning.

Cost per person (includes escorted return rail travel on the high speed train service to and from London St. Pancras to Stratford, buffet-style lunch, visit to the Olympic Viewing Gallery, presentations, briefings and guided tours) £85 plus VAT

 

To download a Study Tours booking form, please click here.  Please complete the form and return it to Jordan Ley - jordan.ley@atcm.org