London Aquatics Centre: Guided Tour with Zaha Hadid Architects

Guided tour of the London Aquatics Centre.

Zaha Hadid Architects won the competition to design this venue for the London 2012 Olympic Games and ensured that the building could be adapted as a pool actively used by the public and neighbouring community.

Welcoming over a million visitors a year and teaching 4,000 children to swim each week, the London Aquatics Centre also hosts 50 local schools for their swimming lessons; enabling thousands more children to learn to swim every month in its two adjustable-depth 50-metre pools and diving pool.

Designed as a wave on its riverside site, the centre hosted the aquatics events of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games; temporary stands either side of the pools giving a spectator capacity of 17,000. After the 2012 Games, these stands were removed to significantly decrease the building’s volume and the centre was converted to community use with its seating reduced to 2,000 - optimal capacity for UK national/international competitions.

Join us to hear a presentation by architectural design team member Hannes Schafelner who will share insights on the design process and construction of the building, inspired by the fluid geometry of water in motion.