Hargreaves Associates: Hargreaves Associates led the design for the 274 acre parklands that formed the centerpiece for the London Games, recognized as the ‘Greenest Games’ in history, with the park declared the ‘winner of the Games’ by the Mayor of London. The largest new park created in Europe for over 150 years, the design synthesizes centuries of British park tradition, the reality of post-industrial brownfields, advances in sustainability and resilience thinking to create a new type of park for the 21st Century. Focused around the restoration of the River Lea, the park includes a northern environmental park and a southern festival park that showcases the Olympic Gardens, which are themed around the countries who participate in the Games.
The environmental north park converts the channelized industrial canal into a naturalized meandering river corridor with lowland meadows and wetlands, sweeping lawns for gathering, and sculpted banks for viewing. The South Park creates gently terraced river banks and includes the themed Olympic Gardens – a rich and colorful tribute to the plants of the countries that gather for the Games. The Transformation Plan set the framework for the park post-Games, replacing paving and temporary sporting venues with park programming including a cycle track and outdoor performance area, and additional habitat landscapes. The Transformation Plan stitches the park to the surrounding neighborhoods and creates a regenerated regional landscape for this and future generations.
Landscape Architecture: Hargreaves Associates George Hargreaves, Hargreaves Associates Mary Margaret Jones, Hargreaves Associates Gavin McMillan,
Hargreaves Associates Collaborators:
LDA Design – Master Planning and Landscape Architecture
Sarah Price – Garden Plant Design
Dr Peter Shepard – Ecologist
Dr Nigel Dunnet & James Hitchmough – Meadow Horticulture
START YEAR: 2008 YEAR END: 2012
Cost: 252 €/m²
Area: 274 acre
Client: Olympic Delivery Authority (Pública)
Construction Company: Lendlease
