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London Stadium

London, UK

º£½ÇÊÓƵ worked closely with London Stadium and architect Populous to develop a design for the conversion of the London 2012 Olympic Stadium.

The legacy plan originally involved reducing the stadium’s capacity to host mainly track and field events, but the proposed adaption of the stadium into a multipurpose sports and entertainment venue led to a change in brief and required a far more substantial transformation.

Challenge

The London 2012 Olympic Stadium formed the centrepiece of the largest new park created in Europe for a century. Designed with an 80,000 capacity for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the original stadium was designed such that it can be dismantled down to a 25,000-capacity venue if required for its longer-term use. Our multidisciplinary team worked across the original stadium design for the Olympics. We were brought back to the project for its legacy conversion after the games.

The aim of the conversion was to enable the venue to host Premiership football and rugby matches in one mode, and cricket, baseball, and track and field events in another. The stadium and its immediate surroundings also needed to accommodate ongoing community sports events and regular large concerts.

Another key challenge faced by our team was that a new roof was required to support the multipurpose use of the stadium, and our client was keen for the original Olympic Stadium steelwork to be reused.

Solution

In response to our client’s aims, we worked closely with the architect to develop a design that incorporated key features to facilitate these transitions. These included substantial new spectator facilities both inside and outside the stadium, movable seating, and a modified bowl that enables the stadium to function in all modes of operation.

Faced with the problem of the roof, our multidisciplinary team applied extensive knowledge in the sports and entertainment area to find a suitable solution. The result is an innovative, gravity-stressed cable net concept that utilised the original steelwork, which supports the largest cantilever roof in the world at the time of its completion.

In 2024, we provided further support to the installation of 6,500m² of solar membrane panels on the stadium’s roof. The LLDC Solar Membrane Project was the first to receive funding from the £500m Mayor of London’s Green Finance Fund, which offers financing to help public sector bodies decarbonise and accelerate London’s transition to Net Zero. The £4.35m project will enable the stadium to save more than 200 tonnes of carbon emissions a year and generate enough to power all the venue’s major events. The venue required a bespoke system using light-weight thin film photovoltaic (PV) panels to minimise the roof weight loading, maximise energy generation and ensure compliance with fire regulations.

The project is part of a range of measures to reduce energy costs and carbon emissions at London Stadium. These also include LED lighting, chiller and air handling improvements and kiosk energy-saving devices, backed up by a campaign to encourage stadium staff to reduce energy consumption.

These measures will reduce the stadium’s energy use by 1.9 million kWh by March 2025, and at that point the roof solar savings will drive a further reduction of at least 0.8 million kWh, and a further saving of between 10% -15% on electricity costs. In total, between 2022 and 2026 the stadium will reduce energy drawn from the national grid by three million kWh – from 11.5 million kWh per annum to 8.5 million.

Ameresco won the contract to install, operate and maintain the solar membrane panels. The installation will be completed by summer 2025 and start generating electricity immediately.

Value

º£½ÇÊÓƵ collaborated with the architect to carry out the detailed design work necessary to transform and futureproof the iconic London Olympic Stadium. Our input helped London Stadium to become one of the world’s finest multipurpose outdoor sports and entertainment venues.

We were brought back to the project in 2024, to support the development of a design for a roof-mounted solar PV array. The annual 850,000 kWh generated by the solar panels is equivalent to the power used for the major events each year (approximately 20 football matches, four concerts, two MLB games and one international athletics meet). The solar energy will save more than 200 tonnes of carbon emissions a year.

We have maintained a close relationship with London Stadium and were invited to join their first professional services framework, specifically designed to support the future of the stadium and its ongoing evolution.