In only 18 months the area that hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Games was able to reopen as an inclusive, sustainable public park free for all to use, doubling the green space created for the Games. Alongside the conversion of venues, the public spaces and parklands were extensively redesigned for public use.
The north of the Park features a wild, lush stretch of meadows and pathways along the banks of the River Lea, and incorporates two new features designed with the community in mind.
The Tumbling Bay Playground is a richly planted playscape that offers woodlands that encourage den-making, sand and water areas that allow children to become water engineers, and climbing nets strung across organic tree-top pods.
The Timber Lodge provides a flexible community space and café and is designed to be accessible for all, winning awards for its inclusive design approach.
The south of the Park, once paved as the main pedestrian plaza for the London 2012 Games, is reinvented as a 21st Century ‘pleasure garden’ with 11.3 hectares of open space. The long, 12m wide tree-lined ‘Arc Promenade’ forms a new spine and social centerpiece along this area, hung with spherical lanterns and linking a series of exciting spaces surrounded by plantings that suggest outdoor ‘rooms’.
The Park’s role in driving regeneration in east London is just beginning. Five new neighbourhoods will be built in the coming years to provide more than 10,000 new households along with new schools, health centres and public buildings, and a brand new education and cultural centre will bring 3,000 jobs, 1.5 million more visitors and £2.8bn of economic value to the surrounding area.
Client: Phil Askew, London Legacy Development Corporation
Lead designer, landscape architect, master planner, multi-disciplinary team leadership, management and coordination of all sub-consultants: LDA Design with Hargreaves Associates (LDAH)
Technical landscape architecture and landscape engineering – multi-disciplinary engineering team leadership, design review, coordination of landscape and public realm consultant teams, production of detailed design, site coordination and implementation: Arup (South Park) and Atkins (North Park)
South Park Plaza: James Corner Field Operations
Tumbling Bay and Timber Lodge: Land Use
Consultants/Erect Architecture
