Start getting your pencils sharpened, make sure the coffee is hot....

"As many as 15 design competitions will be triggered if London is announced as the host of the 2012 Olympic Games next summer."

as reported in BD based upon the 16 Nov - 600 page document submitted by London to IOC Lausanne, Switzerland.

Jason Prior, European regional vice-president of Edaw, told BD the bid team envisaged a stream of contests launched late next year using standard Ojec procedures for schemes including the main stadium, venues for other sporting events, the Olympic village and major bridge structures.

A 600-page document presented to the International Olympic Committee this week focuses on the technical aspects of the event and does not cover detailed design information.

“[The Olympics] is an extraordinary opportunity to showcase the best designs we can get our hands on,” Prior said. “It gives opportunities to a wide range of practices of varying sizes to get involved. There are good mechanisms to do that.” He added that on the Olympic Village, for example, the work would be packaged to involve a range of housing architects.

A team including Foreign Office Architects, HOK and Allies & Morrison has worked up a design vision for the games, in east London's Lower Lea Valley, which will form the basis of briefs for the design competitions. But the existing briefs could change between now and next year's decision being made, said Prior.

The bid team will spend the next few months working on the conditions set by local planners when planning permission was granted in September. These will include environmental-impact assessments and negotiations to relocate businesses.

Work has also started on programming the project should the bid win. A build programme is already being drawn up, including the “early starts”, such as ground investigations and infrastructure works, which could be kicked off weeks after the decision is made.

Even if unsuccessful, the bid will have gone a long way to transforming the Lower Lea Valley, Prior claimed. “We've got an extraordinary level of commitment for seeing change,” he said.

Olympic timetable

November 15 2004:
London submits its 600-page bid to the IOC in Lausanne, Switzerland.

February 16-19 2005:
IOC technical evaluation team visits London to assess its bid.

July 6 2005:
IOC to announce who will host 2012 Olympics at IOC session in Singapore.