Athletes' Village - N25 Car Park

82.3%

Whole Project Award

Project Team:
Client: Olympic Delivery Authority
Developer: Lend Lease
Design: Alford Hall Monaghan Morris
Construction: Bourne Construction Engineering Ltd

The Project

The Olympic Delivery Authority, in collaboration with Lend Lease, has been developing the Athletes’ Village for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Athletes’ Village is situated in Stratford, east London and is one of the most significant new urban developments in the UK and is part of a much wider regeneration project – the Stratford City Masterplan. The N25 Carpark is one of 14 number ‘development plots’ on the Athletes’ Village site.

The N25 Car park is located in the London Borough of Newham, to the north of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) control box and to the east of Stratford International Station, for which it provides parking facilities. The car park provides 850 parking facilities over six storeys. A total of 6% of the parking spaces have been allocated as accessible spaces and spare capacity has been provided within the mains power distribution board for the future installation of 10 electric vehicle charging stations. The car park also provides a secure and weather proof area for the storage of bicycles, and there is provision for car club and car hire operators to use the car park.

The car park consists of a pre-fabricated steel frame with pre-cast concrete cores and deck planks. The contractor (Bourne Construction Engineering Ltd) offered their Client a pre-fabricated solution which meant that the steel frame could be assembled on site quickly and efficiently, minimising impact on the projects closest and most sensitive receptor, CTRL.

In recognition of the potential impacts of an operational car park, the design allowed for a reservoir space for at least eight vehicles off the highway between the crossover point up to the entry barriers to avoid queuing on the highway. The design also succeeded in proving greater efficiency for the user by designing the internal circulation to allow for a maximum search pattern to allow vehicles to pass as many spaces as possible whilst providing a quick exit route.

High scores were achieved across all sections of the CEEQUAL Assessment, with 100% scored in Ecology & Biodiversity, Historic Environment, Waste and Community Relations. Some of the key achievements specific to the project are described below.

Ecology & Biodiversity
The Athletes’ Village worked to the UK and London Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). Ecological enhancements on the N25 site included enhancing ecology within the public realm landscaping and the installation of bird and bat boxes, which will be installed upon completion of the landscaping works.

A 10 year Management & Maintenance Plan has been established for the Athletes Village. The Plan outlines the establishment and monitoring regime which will determine the success, or otherwise, of the implementation of the biodiversity enhancements. At the time of completing the CEEQUAL Assessment, it was too early to ascertain the success of the biodiversity enhancements, however the 10 year Management Plan demonstrated that there is a robust plan in place to monitor the establishment and success of the biodiversity enhancements.

The Athletes’ Village site was of low ecological value. As part of the N25 works and the wider landscaping works, there will be an increase in wildlife habitat of >75% compared to site baseline.

Waste
The Athletes’ Village operated a Sustainable Waste Strategy from planning through to design and construction. There was a programme target for ≥90% of waste to be diverted from landfill. Each project plot on the Athletes’ Village was required to develop their own Site Waste Management Plan (SWMP). Waste volumes and movements were tracked and monitored through Lend Lease SmartWaste System – Minimise. The final SWMP for N25 car park confirmed that the target of ≥90% of waste was diverted from landfill.

Materials
Bourne Construction Engineering Ltd were required to achieve the following materials targets:

• 100% of timber to be FSC Certified with full Chain of Custody
• 20% of materials (by value) to have recycled content
• 25% of aggregates (by weight) to be from recycled or secondary sources
• 0% use of Prohibited and Referable Materials (Black & Grey Lists)
• Responsible sourcing of materials.

During construction the ODA and Lend Lease tracked the contractor’s performance against these targets. From the data received, sustainability dashboards were developed by Lend Lease to illustrate project performance against the targets (Figure 2 – Sustainability Monthly Performance dashboard).

The car park was part of the Project FSC^® Certification for the entire Athletes’ Village development (2009: TT-COC-002826). The auditors have confirmed Plot N25 Car park has met the requirements of FSC-STD-40-006. On completion of the other Athletes Village plots at the end of 2011, the car park is expected to form part of one of the largest projects to date to have achieved this standard, and the world’s first FSC^® certified car park.

The contractor achieved 25.71% recycled aggregates by weight. This was predominately achieved through the use of 40% recycled aggregate within in-situ concrete. Stent, a weathered granite and a by product of the Cornish Clay industry, was used as a replacement coarse aggregate in the piling mix design. Stent is classified as a secondary aggregate which does not attract the Aggregate Levy. 20% recycled aggregate was also used in the asphalt.

Against WRAP Net Waste tool, the N25 Carpark achieved 26% recycled content (by value). This target was predominately achieved due to the standard use of 60% recycled content within the steel frame, and the recycled content within the concrete.

Community Relations
The client (ODA) and the developer (Lend Lease) robustly managed community relations during planning, design and construction via an extensive community relations programme, which included the development of a Community Consultation Plan covering 2008 – 2011. Throughout construction Community Relations Events were held that allowed Athletes’ Village staff to volunteer for a range of events. This included mucking in on the local farms (Stepney City Farm, Stepping Stones Farm and Hackney City Farm), scrub clearance at Waterworks Nature Reserve or garden maintenance at Little Haven’s Children Hospice and helping students at Newham schools prepare for job interviews and working life.

 

For more information, about the Athletes Village please visit www.theathletesvillage.com/page/the-athletes-village or for more information on London 2012, please visit www.london2012.com.