Olympic stadium unwrapped

Proposals submitted in a planning application reveal for the first time the stadium's layout, scale, appearance and the external materials.

Much of the design work has focused on the best solution for a venue that will be scaled down to a 25,000 capacity after the Games to avoid it becoming a white elephant.

Designed by HOK Sport and architect Peter Cook, the stadium is expected to be surrounded by a fabric "wrap", possibly made of hemp.

Images also show plans for the temporary wrap to feature giant "slits" to allow the public to walk through the facade rather than under it as originally planned.

The application also suggests recycled ship containers could be used as internal toilet pods.

The application reads: "The emphasis in the design has been and will continue to be on minimising the quantity of material, while still producing the required performance.

"By designing a lean, compact and lightweight stadium, the amount of materials used, and the associated embodied energy have been significantly reduced."

The exact type of fabric wrap which forms the stadium's surround has not been finalised. "Sustainable materials, options for the roof and wrap fabrics are currently being investigated," the application says.

"These include materials using recycled polymer-based fabric, hemp and where the polymer-based fabric can be recycled after use. Many of these materials could also be re-used after the Games for other purposes."

Ellis Woodman, architecture critic of Building Design magazine, said: "This is all about the stadium's green credentials but the issue about its formal expression is one that the designers-have still failed to address. They are still short of an idea. At the very least, the Olympic Delivery Authority should be commissioning artists to create the wrap rather than using third-rate graphic designers."

The designs have received mixed online reviews. Referring to the possible use of hemp, part of the cannabis family of plants, one said: "There goes our last hope of a drugfree Olympics."

£12M COST ROW HITS VISITOR CENTRE

PLANS for an Olympic visitor centre have been thrown into doubt following a dispute over the estimated £12 million cost.

The venue was originally conceived as a national attraction with views over the Olympic Park to show the 2012 project unfolding to the public. Design company Studio Egret West had tabled proposals for a futuristic capsule on a platform above Stratford shopping centre car park. But the plan may now be scrapped and replaced by a Portakabin-style solution as the Department of Culture, Media and Sport has ordered costs to be cut from £12 million to £3.5 million.

Project consultant Jim Roberts said: "£3.5 million will not deliver a facility worth visiting."