Work on the Rio Olympic Park for 2016 is well under way, with many lessons drawn from the London Games being applied in the masterplaning. Celeste Morgan, Head of Sustainability, Europe, AECOM, explores further…
Introduction
In autumn 2011, AECOM won Brazil’s first international architecture competition to design the masterplan for Rio’s 2016 Olympic Park, making it the first company to design the parks for two consecutive Olympic and Paralympic Games Parks – London in 2012 and Rio 2016.
Whilst the headline of both projects is the use of the Olympic and Paralympic Games as the catalyst for regeneration, how similar are the two projects really? Here we examine the similarities and differences between the two projects, and provide an update on the progress being made on the Rio Olympic Park and the Legacy Communities Scheme in London.
Let’s all fly down to Rio
Throughout the development of AECOM’s masterplan for Rio, you can see how our team has been applying the lessons it learnt from working on London 2012. This includes our work with the wide range of stakeholders to ensure they are all part of the process and can contribute to the Games, to the way we are utilising our knowledge of what is required to run such a huge event from the crowd-management and traffic strategies, to meeting the needs of the athletes and visitors and the extended Olympic management and support system.
In fact, AECOM has taken on an even larger role in Rio than in London, where we are also responsible for the preliminary design of the nine sporting venues and the detailed design of the International Broadcast Centre, in addition to the architectural, masterplanning, landscaping, engineering, cost consultancy, project management, and sustainability and transportation-strategy design services that we also provided in London.
Located on a former Formula 1 race track in Barra da Tijuca, the Rio site does not present the same issues as London did, where more than two million tonnes of contaminated soil had to be cleaned before construction could even begin. However, it does provide its own challenges with regard to building the infrastructure required.
Every Olympics needs to reflect the character and ambitions of the host city and this is where the differences between the two projects is most pronounced. While London was about demonstrating how a short global event can lead to the long-term regeneration of one of the most neglected and deprived areas of the city, with Rio we will be celebrating Brazil’s emergence as a world power as well as making sure there is a strong legacy plan in place.
Set in one of the most beautiful areas on Earth, our masterplan takes its inspiration from the dramatic natural setting of Rio and is starting to become a reality with work well under way. The main Olympic park site is spectacular. It’s a triangular space with water on either side. During Games time, at the southern peninsula of the site we are planning an entertainment area for around 12,000 people to watch the events on big screens.
Our approach to the park’s design draws from the Atlantica Forrest that surrounds Rio de Janeiro. This context provides the conceptual inspiration and influences the architecture and landscape design as will the Brazilian culture and strong design heritage. Our masterplan sets out to respect and reinforce the balance between native ecology, the city and its people while delivering the platform for sporting excellence. The design is based around a central park where all of the sporting venues will be accessed.
The vision for the future is not just to create a global stage for the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2016, but also, in the longer term, to create a new legacy district with new homes, jobs and places for leisure activities with a new central park and a thriving and beautiful waterfront. It is also set to become a global centre of sporting excellence, with a Legacy Olympic Training Centre utilising the Games’ permanent sporting venues.
After the Games, the site will evolve into a compact urban environment built around a network of streets and open spaces, which encourages a diverse mix of living, working and recreational uses. We have taken reference from the grid, linearity, axis and contrasting organic forms which permeates Rio’s unique urban environment to propose a responsive flexible framework that resonates with and echoes the specific local characteristic of Barra and Rio. The masterplan provides an opportunity to enhance environmental quality and bring Costa’s original concept into the 21st century as an example of new urbanism for a new era.
Meanwhile in London…
…the focus has truly shifted to delivering on the promise of legacy and the regeneration of the Lower Lea Valley in East London. We are looking forward to the one year anniversary of the opening ceremonies of “the greatest games ever” with the Open East Festival and the opening of the north of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on 27 July.
While this is certainly a time to celebrate, work continues on bringing the Legacy Communities Scheme (LCS) to life. The success in securing planning permission for the LCS masterplan is the result of collaborative working between the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), their multidisciplinary consultant team including AECOM and Allies + Morrison, the ODA Planning Decisions Team, the host boroughs and the local communities.
The LCS represents a uniquely ambitious and sophisticated regeneration programme to maximise the social, economic and environmental legacy of the Games. The masterplan is far more than just a physical plan. It is accompanied by a range of detailed strategies for a wide range of topics including social infrastructure, economic impact, employment and training, strategic sustainability, green infrastructure, energy and climate-change mitigation and adaptation.
The Olympic site aims to retain its global profile as an iconic destination which strengthens London’s ‘World City’ status. It will also form a focal point for local communities and become a new piece of London, with its own series of diverse, mixed and balanced new neighbourhoods.
From the outset the focus has been on economic and social regeneration as much as physical transformation and the LCS is founded on the principles of convergence – ensuring that the people of east London have the same opportunities as those in west London.
Whilst it is a residential-led regeneration permission, it will also deliver over 4,000 jobs in a range of business spaces complementing existing and proposed local employment centres, in addition to jobs from the retained sporting venues and transformation of the press centre and broadcast centre into a 90,000sq m commercial district. Coupled with training and skills initiatives for local people, the LCS will balance and enhance the local economy helping to reverse the flow of economically mobile people to other parts of the capital. Three new schools will help transform the ‘learning landscape’ within the Lower Lea Valley, raising the quality and prominence of local education facilities.
The first of the Park’s five new neighbourhoods to be delivered under the LCS permission will start receiving residents in 2015. Chobham Manor is situated in the North Park, bordering the green, open spaces that will open later this year. It will feature tree-lined avenues, intimate streets, mews houses and terraced homes with private gardens and open squares.
Finally, we would be remiss not to mention the inheritance of world-class sporting venues, and the LCS promotes active and healthy lifestyles. New parkland and improved waterways will provide opportunities for relaxation and informal sport, while networks of paths, cycleways and bridges provide exceptional opportunities for movement within and between neighbourhoods.
