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ODA unveils plans for green spaces at Athletes' Village in London

Published: 26-Aug-2010

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has unveiled plans for thousands of new trees, new parks, play areas and open spaces to support the new homes being delivered in the Athletes’ Village site adjacent to the London Olympic Park.

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The announcement by ODA comes, as the first stage of landscaping work is presently underway in the village site with the creation of an extensive wetlands park. The Athletes’ Village is designed to accommodate athletes and officials during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The new homes being built and the landscaping and public realm project in the village site will create 10 hectares of new parklands, wetlands, and open space featuring more than 2,000 new trees and over 100,000 wetland and wild flower plants. The open space areas between the new homes will be intermingled with play areas, cycling facilities, picnic and recreation spaces for use by the new and existing local communities. The new green open spaces in the Athletes’ Village are in addition to the extensive landscaping works already underway in the Olympic Park site to create one of the largest new urban parks in the UK for over 100 years.

The 2.5 hectare wetlands park will feature a series of ponds and marshlands with pathways and seating areas throughout. Extensive planting and new trees will create a ‘green canopy’ through the area and help create new wildlife habitats.

A series of interconnected park areas are planned throughout the village site, which include a typical London square with an orchard of traditional British fruit trees; a formal square in front of the Chobham Academy school with seating areas and a gathering space that can be used for holding markets; a main public open space area at the heart of the Village with large areas for sitting, picnicking and recreation; a garden area with a central pathways meandering between three interconnected ponds as water features; and new wetlands area.

Work on a large ecology wetlands park to the south-west corner of the village site, which leads directly into the wider Olympic Park site, is currently underway. Wetlands park features three ponds and two marshland areas, with pathways and seating areas throughout. A large wildflower lawn area scattered with trees will form a picnic area. More than 700 new trees will create a ‘gateway’ into the wetlands area and a ‘green canopy’ throughout.

Native trees will be used including field maple, common alder, silver birch, black poplar, aspen, English oak, hornbeam and a variety of willow species. Planting will include more than 70,000 wild flower and aquatic plants. About 60 bird boxes will be installed and new habitats will be created for a range of species including dragonflies, butterflies, swifts, swallows, martins, kingfishers and bats.

Park areas will be intermingled with children’s play areas, including a neighbourhood play area in the centre of the village site with various play equipment and a sheltered seating area. A cycle network throughout the Athletes' Village site, integrated into the surrounding London Cycle Network, together with cycle parking spaces.

Landscaping is planned to flow diagonally from the north-east to south-west of the village site. This will form a visual connection towards the Olympic Park and the City of London to the south west of the site.

The various landscaping and public realm elements in the Athletes' Village will be delivered in phases between 2010 and early 2012. Construction work started on the Athletes’ Village in June 2008 and more than three-quarters of the residential plots in the village are structurally complete. After the games the village will deliver the legacy of 2,818 new homes for east London, of which 1,379 will be affordable, owned and managed by Triathlon Homes.

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