UNITED KINGDOM
Lend Lease’s development of the 2012 Olympic athletes’ village in East London will be financed by the British government after the group failed to attract private investors for the project. Financiers say the $2 million project is “not conductive to private funding” in the current market environment. The size of the village has been scaled back to cut costs and will be converted into a sustainable community after the Games. Lend Lease will continue to design, develop and build the village under the existing development agreement.
CHINA
A fire has delayed work on Zaha Hadid’s Guangzhou Opera House in China. No one was injured by the blaze, which was put out in less than an hour by the local fire department. Development of the 70,000sqm opera house, which was set for completion later this year, has since been stalled until further notice. Investigations to determine the cause of the blaze are now underway. A revised completion date will be finalised when the investigation is complete.
UNITED STATES
The latest model for the World Trade Centre transport hub has been launched at the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute in Manhattan. Santiago Calatrava unveiled plans for the train and bus redevelopment in 2004, but budget restrictions stopped the project from going ahead. Inspired by “a bird being released by a child’s hand”, the development will form the heart of the Ground Zero regeneration plan. Critics have attacked the design, describing it as “a monument to the creative ego that celebrates Mr Calatrava’s engineering prowess but little else”. The design is yet to get the go-ahead and the development is still in planning.
GERMANY
Foster + Partners has unveiled its masterplan to overhaul a 36-hectare business site in Duisburg. The Aurelis masterplan will extend the city centre and create a new business community with shops, cafes and residential developments. The development will feature a huge public square and create workplaces for around 10,000 people. The project will use a range of sustainable initiatives such as green roofs, rainwater harvesting and solar panels. It will also feature a large cascading pond that uses grey water to contribute to the overall environmental strategy.
UNITED KINGDOM
A major road in Stonehenge will be closed and grassed over to make the World Heritage Site more appealing to visitors ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games. The UK government’s hotly-debated plan aims to link the mysterious stone circle to the rest of the site and make the area more tranquil. The development is part of major improvements to update the popular tourist destination and prepare for hordes of visitors ahead of the Games. Officials expect the plan will cost about $37.5 million.
