IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 38

Adaptive and Functional

Quiet and Compelling

Designing for multiple clients amid a thorny bureaucracy
means that even the best-laid plans can be thwarted. Take
the London Olympic Stadium. Though it initially won positive
reviews, in the years of post-Games bidding it has become
a flashpoint for ineffective planning. It's now scheduled to
become the home of the West Ham United soccer club. But
because it wasn't explicitly designed as a soccer stadium,
the cost of conversion rose from $134 million to $184 million,
on top of the initial $686 million construction cost. It proves
that despite designers' best efforts, good concepts can be
overshadowed by external forces beyond their control.

Beyond concerns about adaptability, budget constraints
and rigorous IOC guidelines mean that Olympic venue design
is largely driven by functionality. The ability to deliver
spectators safely and securely, plus separate VIPs from press
and Olympic federations involves moving pieces with surgical
precision. Every constituency seems to exist in multiples, even
the spectators. There are the fans in the physical seats, but
they aren't always accommodated by highly elegant designs.
Critics of the 2012 Games noted that the spectacular interior
of the Aquatics Center was ultimately marred by stands of
seating that had to be installed on two sides to fit spectators.
(They were removed post-Games.)

Partly to combat the problem of post-Game redesign,
AECOM's plan for the Rio Games relies heavily on nomadic
architecture, with modular components that can be transformed for entirely different purposes on the same site.
Adaptive reuse and nomadic architecture suit an Olympic
city that relies on the Games for revitalization. Practically
speaking, however, they're another challenge for interior
designers who must design for the present and the future.
"You have to have a layout that transforms into something
else without any major intervention, because you simply
can't afford to go in after the Games and build anything
significant," says WilkinsonEyre's Wright.
And even when firms know going in that a structure will
be temporary, they often don't know precisely what it will
be reused for, further complicating the design approach.
WilkinsonEyre's 12,000-seat basketball arena was one
temporary structure whose materials found a new life postcompetition, but that destiny wasn't clear from the outset.
"We had to think ahead and submit four different solutions
for how individual components like the seats, changing rooms,
temporary accommodation units-even the lights and
heating--would go back into higher markets," says Wright.

Then there are the three billion-plus fans watching globally on
big-screen TVs and mobile devices. Capturing their attention
is big business, so naturally one of the biggest influences on
interior schema is the broadcast contingent. To optimize
quality of light for high-definition television, networks prefer
to block out all natural daylight and ventilation, opting for a
dark, temperature-controlled grid. "Sometimes you would like
structures to be expressive, say through steel work, but
broadcasters don't want that contrast," notes Wright.
Also complicating things is the overlay necessary in each
venue. Prolific branding and merchandising stalls mean
that designers are tasked with creating interiors that are
compelling but not overly-imposing. "You can have a beautiful
simple structure, but the spectacle is the event itself and
the athletes," says Hanway. "You don't want to draw away
from that."
That's why concourses often become the magic transitional
spaces where designers can play with the tension and drama
inherent in the games. In 2012, for example, the massive
London Olympic Stadium was situated in park space that
lent itself to a summer festival atmosphere.
"We did look at all manner of 'English Traditions' from maypole
ribbons to Victorian circus tents when researching design
concepts," says Megan Ashfield, an interior designer and
Principal of the London office of Populous, which steered the
Stirling-prize shortlisted stadium from bidding stage to
design, through its current transition into legacy mode. "One
of the overall themes for the stadium was 'theatre,' where we
wanted to create a dramatic sense of arrival."

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016