East Village (Olympic Athletes Village)

London

​

Architects: Fletcher Priest Architects; Arup Urban Design; West 8

Client: Lendlease / The Olympic Delivery Authority

Project completion: 2013

 

David Bonnett Associates (DBA) has over a decade of experience of working in the Stratford development area and collaborating with local access groups and this continues. The scale of the Olympic Athletes’ Village, the high expectations for inclusive design and our Stratford City experience as a whole have left us well placed to apply this experience to future masterplan projects. 

​

The OAV site covered 73 hectares. It included Stratford International Station with high-speed rail connections between Kings Cross St Pancras and the Channel Tunnel. It provided a new mixed-tenure residential neighbourhood of 4,500 homes, complete with community buildings and supporting infrastructure.

Early Design Stage appointment 

​

DBA’s appointment as Access Consultants for the Olympic Athletes’ Village (OAV) was of key significance to our development as a multi-disciplinary Inclusive Design practice. Our early appointment began even before the Olympic choice had been announced for Stratford and commenced with our drafting of what we believe was the first Access and Inclusive Design Zonal Master Plan.

​

Following selection of the site for the Olympic Athletes’ Village, the scale, complexity and pace of the project all increased. DBA contributed to Masterplan design workshops, working with Fletcher Priest and Arup Urban Design, ensuring we had a thorough understanding of early design decisions. Critically this included a comprehensive understanding of rail, vehicular and pedestrian movement through the site as well as building design.

​

Inclusive Design Guidance

Based on DBA’s three Inclusive Design Guides - Inclusive Design Principle, Inclusive Urban Design, Inclusive Residential Design - we were able to set out the principles underpinning the standards to be adopted for the project. This proved to be a vital means of conveying design intentions to all stakeholders and providing practical guidance when design disputes or conflicts emerged.

​

Consultative Access Group 

Following the initial design stage, DBA assisted with setting up the Stratford City Consultative Access Group (SCCAG) and facilitated meetings with the group for the duration of the project. Our in-depth knowledge of the master plan’s objectives, coupled with our detailed understanding of the design programme deadlines was critical to our ability to maintain the project objectives while also acting as critical friend to SCCAG. 

 

Continuity of Appointment

DBA’s appointment to OAV led to further similar commissions in the Stratford development area, including the early design stages of the International Quarter for Lendlease. It also led to us being commissioned to draft an Inclusive Design Policy Document for EcoTowns for the Town and Country Planning Association