Six teams of architects have come up with timber structures to help promote and drum up public support for London’s bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.
The architects were taking part in a design masterclass organised by the magazine Architecture Today and sponsored by wood. for good.
They were given six hours last weekend to produce draft designs for temporary or permanent structures which would help raise the profile of the Olympic bid. They could use other materials, but the principal components had to be in European softwood.
One of the teams, from Nicholas Burwell architects, came up with the idea for a series of structures to link the centre of Stratford, east London, with the proposed site for the Olympics nearby. These included a bridge and a viewing platform with a giant screen to show events from this year’s games in Athens.
Jonathan Woolf Architects came up with the idea for a timber-framed café on the roof of an existing office tower in Stratford which could be used to view all the Olympics redevelopment as it progresses.
The team from Jamie Fobert Architects designed a timber-framed exhibition structure which would be built around a multi-storey carpark in Stratford. Cars would drive through the exhibition as they went up the car park ramps and pedestrians would be catered for with a lift leading to a cafe and exhibition space at the top.
All the designs will be featured in Architecture Today’s September edition.
