UK Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell has cracked down hard on the design team of the aquatic centre for the London 2012 Olympics, overruling plans which could have seen the project cost double.
In a speech to the Thames Gateway Forum, reported by
Construction News, Jowell said that she had sent architect Zaha Hadid, who designed the venue, “back to the drawing board because a change in the specification has almost doubled costs, which is simply unacceptable.”
The 20,000-seat arena, which has been co-designed by architects, S & P, was originally costed at around £75m – a pricetag that Jowell is determined to stick to if at all possible: “In our bid, we pledged that the centre would cost £75m and that is precisely what it will do, with appropriate allowance for inflation.”
Jowell added that she would be “absolutely ruthless in ensuring that any potential overspend, no matter how small, is caught early and driven down where possible.”
The centre – which is the first of the new facilities for the 2012 Games to have started work on site – will include two 50m pools.
Significant changes to the building are not anticipated and sources at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport have suggested that the minister’s action is no reflection upon the design team, who will remain in place.
The main funding partners for the scheme are the London Development Agency and Sport England, which is fronting £40m of the total cost.
