The Olympic Velodrome building has been nominated for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize 2011, an award that recognises excellence in new building design. The impressive building, which was completed and unveiled earlier this year, looks set to be the jewel in the crown of the 2012 Games. Photographs and film footage do not do justice to the dramatic look and feel of the building, designed by Hopkins Architects, a firm best-known for the Mound Stand at Lord’s cricket ground.
The £90m London velodrome was completed earlier this year on time and on budget.
It is being touted as the fastest in the world; Team GB, including riders Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton, are currently training on the track before they take to the boards next summer in front of 6,000 cheering fans.
Environmentally sympathetic
The ‘feel’ of the velodrome is down in large part to the use of natural materials; the dramatic swooping design of the building’s exterior is clad in cedar wood, which is given its distinctive rosy hue by staining it with rhubarb.
The facility is designed to be environmentally-sympathetic; as well as looking beautiful it features numerous vents in the external timber cladding to minimise the need for air conditioning and rainwater recycling system.
42 degree pitch pine
The building’s shape echoes that of the track, the surface of which is an impressive 42 degrees at its steepest point. It is constructed from sustainably-sourced Siberian pine grown in such an extreme climate that it will not shrink or contract over the forty years that the track is expected to last.
A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “The bicycle is often referred to as the ultimate design because it so beautifully efficient – this velodrome works so well because it marries form and function in much the same way.”
| London 2012 Velodrome | |
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See Team GB take to the track… |
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