London Olympics Handball Arena Contractor Appointed

Buckingham Group Contracting has been appointed to build the London 2012 Handball Arena.Planning permission for the Handball Arena was granted last month and the site has been cleared ready for construction to start this summer.

Buckingham Group will be working with HOK Sport on the detailed design and construction of the Handball Arena. Olympic Delivery Authority Chief Executive David Higgins said: “This appointment takes us a step closer towards a simple, sustainable and flexible Handball Arena that works for Games and legacy. Construction is on track to start this summer on the Arena which will provide a great experience for competitors and spectators during the Games and offer a new facility for local people to enjoy a range of sports in legacy.”

Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee, said: “This is another example of the Games acting as a catalyst for change. This facility will be a high-quality venue at Games-time but also provides a legacy for sport in London and the UK. The fact that Handball will have its own arena at Games-time will be a great boost to the sport in this country, and it will be a much used multi-purpose arena after the Games.”

The Handball Arena will be in the west of the Olympic Park, to the south of the Hockey Centre, within four minutes of the Olympic Village. It will have up to 7,000 seats during the Games, hosting the Handball preliminaries and quarter finals as well as the Modern Pentathlon discipline of Fencing. It will also be the Goalball venue during the Paralympic Games.

In legacy mode after the Games, the Arena will become a multi-sports venue with retractable seating for 6,000 spectators and flexible facilities to hold a range of training and competition events of all levels. It will cater for a wide-range of indoor sports including Basketball, Wheelchair Basketball, Boxing, Handball, Badminton, Netball and Volleyball, boosting the sporting facilities provided across the Olympic Park.

The Handball Arena, designed by Make Architects with PTW and Arup, features external copper cladding to give it a distinctive appearance . The concourse level features glazing which encircles the building, enabling visitors to the Olympic Park to view sport taking place inside, and illuminating the venue when lit at night.