'Theatre' setting at ExCel
The ExCel London conference centre will provide a theatre-like setting at London 2012.
Last Updated: 16/11/11 4:17pm
The ExCel London conference centre will provide a theatre-like setting for combat sports including boxing at the London 2012 Games, the designers said on Wednesday.
ExCel will stage seven Olympic and six Paralympic sports next summer, hosting 143 sessions of Olympic and 94 sessions of Paralympic sport.
It will be transformed by five temporary arenas, including backroom facilities and spectator areas, to bring all the sports under one roof.
The east London venue gets its first try-out as a 2012 location when up to 104 athletes take part in the London Boxing International Invitational test event from November 24-27.
The multi-event venue layout for 2012 aims to make watching the competitions seem like "a theatre in a black box", according to Jeff Keas, principal of Populous, the design and architecture firm which has been working on ExCel.
The aim is to bring a little of the West End, the heart of London's theatreland, to it.
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He said: "In some regards ExCel has similarities to the Olympic Park in that it is a collection of arenas linked together with a common concourse.
"In this case the common concourse and sport arenas happen to be enclosed under the same roof, so we've used this to our advantage and developed a unique environment for each arena.
"In working with Locog (the London 2012 organisers), our intention is to bring a little of the West End to ExCeL and create the concept of 'a theatre in the black box'.
"Each of the Olympic and Paralympic sports being hosted at ExCel will have its own magical experience."
A new scoreboard, remote controlled cameras in the boxer's corner of the ring and a new competition schedule featuring women's boxing will be trialled at the boxing test event.
London 2012 will also be keen to see how the field of play, the timing and scoring plus the operation of the workforce are measuring up.
Table tennis and fencing test events, also at ExCel, will coincide with the boxing competition in November.
Test events for judo, taekwondo, wrestling and weightlifting, all taking place at ExCel, should have been completed by the end of 2011.
There will be 16 days of Olympic sport at the ExCel including table tennis, judo, wrestling, fencing, taekwondo, boxing and weightlifting in 2012.
The 10 days of Paralympic sport at ExCel will see athletes battling for gold in table tennis, judo, fencing, boccia, sitting volleyball and powerlifting.
Important venue
London 2012's venue director James Bulley said: "ExCel is a very important venue for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games as it houses so many sports under one roof.
"The design of the temporary arenas is key to providing a spectacular and memorable experience for the spectators, and we are delighted that the designs by Populous create a real sense of theatre."