Steel frame of 2012 media centre complete as ‘big build' accelerates

The London 2012 Olympic's International Broadcast Centre's 4500 tonne steel structure has been completed in just ten weeks.

The (International Broadcast Centre) IBC, combined with the Main Press Centre (MPC), will support around 20000 television and radio broadcasters, photographers and journalists during the Games, who will have an estimated audience of four billion people worldwide.

In legacy the facilities will create about 84000 m3 of business space with the potential to generate thousands of new jobs.

The steel frame of the IBC, which will provide studio and office space during the Games and in legacy is 275 m-long, 104 m-wide, 2-m tall and large enough to house five jumbo jets.

The IBC's foundations are now complete, while work is now underway on the roof lining. Elsewhere, work is about to start on the flooring and external cladding of the building.

The foundations of the MPC, which will provide office space during the Games and in legacy, are 50% complete and should be finished later this year. The media transport mall is making rapid progress with the foundations and ground floor columns already complete.

Commenting on progress so far, Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) chairman John Armitt said, "The ‘big build' is on track with construction underway on all permanent venues. The IBC/MPC is taking shape in the skyline as work accelerates on infrastructure and venues across the Olympic Park including the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Olympic Village, and Velodrome.

"The IBC/MPC is a challenging project with a tight deadline and were on track to provide a quality working environment for media during the Games and flexible employment space for a range of potential legacy tenants and users."

Big Build: IBC/MPC

The IBC/MPC combines an innovative mixture of permanent and temporary elements during the Games and has been designed to be as flexible as possible to accommodate a range of potential legacy tenants and uses. The London Development Agency (LDA) has been leading the legacy planning for the Olympic Park site. This work will be now be taken forward by the new Olympic Park Legacy Company.

The MPC includes:

• 29000 m2 of green office space by the River Lea Navigation, providing four storeys of workspace for journalists and photographers during the Games.
• Innovatively designed flexibility that enables the building to be adapted in legacy for either a single tenant in the whole building or on each floor, as well as multiple tenants on each floor.
• A connected single strip of single storey buildings facing the canal that can be separated into ‘mews' accommodation in legacy offering another type of quality business space in legacy.
• State-of-the-art utilities, power and digital connectivity during the Games and in legacy.
• Innovations designed to meet demanding green building standards in legacy including a 2,000 square metres ‘brown roof' of gravel and moss to encourage invertebrates; 60% of non-drinking water to be collected from across the Olympic Park; habitats including over 100 bird and bat boxes.

The IBC includes:

• Around 52000 m2 of studio space of two 8 to 10 m-high floors during the Games with a temporary gantry running along the building for technical equipment.
• 8000 m2 of offices over five floors at the front of the building.
• The flexibility in legacy to be separated into a number of units and for design features to be altered such as cladding replaced with windows.