Olympic Velopark Presentation: the future of cycling in London
by Simon Bateson ~ September 11th, 2008. Filed under: Track News.
According to Mike Taylor, the Olympic legacy Velopark in East London will be like nothing else in the world: a facility that will be totally dedicated to cycling – and a clubhouse for London cyclists.
Mike is the director of Hopkins Architects, and I had come out to Hackney Wick Community Centre, located appropriately enough on the Eastway road, to hear his company’s plans for the post Olympics legacy.
Mike was introduced by Richard Arnold, the Project Sponsor for the Olympic Development Authority, who talked engagingly about his memories of being taken to Fallowfield track with his Dad, and seeing Merckx race at Eastway.
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The new Olympic Velodrome
Mike told us about how his company specialized in one-off designs, and enjoyed the challenge of thinking from scratch. The centerpiece of his presentation was the indoor track, and the building that housed it: glass walled, eco-friendly, and curvaceously echoing the shape of the track enclosed within.
From his references to the velodromes at Newport, Manchester, and Beijing, it’s clear that they have looked at these tracks, and how they can improve them.
Inside the new velodrome
Designed with input from Chris Hoy, the building will contain two tiers of seating to allow a 6000 capacity audience, the 250 metre track, and a 100 metre flat warm up track in the centre. It will not be used for other sports (Newport Track has football and tennis courts in the centre), echoing his commitment to a facility that is just for cyclists.
The current planning application is for the Velodrome and part of the road circuit, and so although the plan for the MTB trails were not as advanced, we did get some interesting details. The trails have been designed in consultation with Daffyd Davis, innovative Welsh trailbuilder, and the man behind mountain bike Mecca Coed-y-Brenin. Plans are for 6.3 kilometres of trails, built on a sold substrate base, giving a 5.1 kilometre continuous circuit, with lots of passing places.
Judging by the lack of hostile questions afterwards, and the murmur of approval as we drank tea and ate biscuits, the plans were received positively.
The only downside to these exciting plans is the wait: although the velodrome will be ready in 2010, and used for a test event (possibly the Junior World Champs) in 2011, the public won’t be able to ride there until after the Olympics. The road circuit will use some of the roads already laid for the Olympic park, but the majority of it, and all of the MTB trails, will not be constructed until after the Olympics, and are expected to be opened 8-12 months after the Olympics.