Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

The largest urban park in the UK since the C19th, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, originally known as The Olympic Park, created the dramatic setting for the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games and its principal venues.  The park crosses 4 London boroughs: Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Waltham Forest. After the Games part of the park opened in July 2013, with the majority oof the remaining area opening in April 2014.

Underpinning the early concept design was the intent for a vision not only to provide a setting to stage the greenest Olympic and Paralympic Games but the lasting legacy that this would deliver. Following the granting of planning approvals for the overall masterplan by the EDAW Consortium, in 2008 the Olympic Delivery Authority appointed LDA Design and Hargreaves Associates to further develop and carry out the detailed design of the 2012 Olympic Park. Many challenges had to be overcome before the masterplan for the park could begin construction. Existing businesses had to be relocated and the fifty-two electricity pylons which dominated the site had to be removed and the electricity supply that they carried redirected underground. The heavily contaminated and largely derelict site had been previously occupied mainly by industrial uses including battery and match making factories, a post-war munitions dump and municipal rubbish dump so required a substantial cleansing and restorative programme in order to make it fit for purpose. To assist in achieving the goal of being the most sustainable and greenest games to date 98% of the material from the demolition work was reclaimed for re-use and recycling and over a million cubic metres of soil was cleaned on site in ‘soil hospitals’ saving 90,000 truck movements off site. The hour-glass shape of the site naturally divides the site into a strongly ecological and green northern half, the North Park, which also contains the Velopark; and a more urban entertainment focused southern half, the South Park, containing the main stadium, the Aquatics Centre and the ArcelorMittal Orbit, the main focus for events and activities.

The two parks are linked by pathways and the 2012 Olympic Gardens running alongside the previously canalized River Lea which has been transformed into a mosaic of wet woodland, dry woodland and meadow that also form a flood control measure protecting adjacent areas. The landscape architects worked closely with the ecologists, planners and landscape engineers to help create habitat and species designs that delivered the Biodiversity Action Plan objectives, while also meeting the varying wider objectives for the park. New habitats created include wet and dry woodland, species-rich grasslands and meadows, brownfield habitats reflecting the urban past, ponds, reedbeds and marsh. Specific habitat features or wildlife installations were also designed into the park to support key species identified in the Biodiversity Action Plan. These include among others, otter, kingfisher, water vole, bats, swifts, sand martins, amphibians, reptiles and a range of invertebrates. Over 6,200 trees (4,000 semi-mature), 9,500 shrubs, 63,000 bulbs and 250,000 wetland plants, and 766,000 herbaceous plants, grasses and ferns were planted as well as the wildflower meadows – resulting in 45 hectares of new habitat created supporting a broad range of insects, mammals and birds.

The 2012 Gardens were designed as a spectacular celebration of contemporary horticulture and planting design, comprising half a mile of naturalistic perennial plantings. While the main focus in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as a whole is on native biodiversity and ecological approaches, the 2012 gardens explore the horticultural diversity of British gardens and take visitors on a tour of the biodiversity hotspots of the world that have been the major source of 23 plants for UK gardeners over the past 600 years. The design of the gardens is a collaboration between Professors James Hitchmough and Nigel Dunnett of the University of Sheffield (who originated the overall concept for the gardens, and the concept for each of the four individual gardens, and who developed the plant lists and specifications) and Sarah Price (who undertook the spatial design of the gardens, and the detailed planting design within the gardens). James, Nigel and Sarah worked in close cooperation with the teams from LDA Design/ Hargreaves to develop and deliver the final scheme.

There are four gardens running in sequence for half a mile and forming a timeline. The regions each garden represents are: Western Europe, The Mediterranean and Asia Minor. The source of most garden plants from the classical civilizations but increasingly sampled with the accelerating development of international trade and travel post 1400 AD. Plants include: lowland wild flowers, swathes of Molinia and Deschampsia, Lythrum virgatum, Leucanthemeum, Phlomis and Succisia pratensis. The Temperate Americas. Particularly important from 1600-1800, and now once more with interest in prairie and woodland planting. Still the main source of summer flower colour in British gardens. Planting includes: Asters, Helianthus, Rudbeckias and Solidago sp. The Southern Hemisphere; South Africa, Australia, New Zealand. The major plant passion of the late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries is South Africa. Winter cold historically limited the possibilities in gardening terms but now with global warming these ‘strange and exotic’ flora will now have their time again. Planting includes: Tussock grasses – Themedra triandra; Berkheya purpurea, Agapanthus, Kniphofia triangulris, Restio sp., Gladiolus papilio and Dierama pulcherrimum. Temperate Asia, particularly Montane China, Japan and the Himalayas. Politically closed in many cases till the C19th, climatic similarity to Britain makes these the dominant plant passion of the C19th and C20th. Plantings include: Lilium tigrinum, Hostas, Irises, Anemone japonica, Calamogrostis ‘Karl Foerster and Miscanthus.

The Great British Garden was the result of a design competition by the Royal Horticultural Society and London 2012, which offered two individuals the opportunity to help design a garden for the Olympic Park. The final design of the Great British Garden builds upon the initial design ideas of the two competition winners (Rachel Read and Hannah Clegg), as well as workshops with the winners, to create a garden which resembles a journey of discovery. Visitors pass through three themed gardens that reflect the colours of the Olympic medals: bronze, silver and gold; with each of the gardens having its own individual character including elements of colour, fun and discovery. Planting includes ornamental grasses providing a textural foil to the brighter details of long-flowering perennials such as Persicaria amplexicaulis, Stachys officinalis, Veronicastrum and pink Lythrum virgatum. The £292 million post-games project removed temporary venues, structures and areas of concourse to make way for permanent parkland, and the retained venues refitted for public use.

In the the north of the park, the London Blossom Garden was created as a living memorial to commemorate the city's shared experience of the Coronavirus pandemic. The enclosed garden was created through a project of the Mayor of London and National Trust working with Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Bloomberg. It was designed by The Edible Bus Stop and Davies White Landscape Architects. The engagement of local communities focussing on residents and key workers in the four boroughs around the park was sought, through a programme of public consultation held in October 2020 led by local arts group Rosetta Arts. The arts-based workshops explored participants' experiences, feelings and thoughts around Covid-19 and its implications, leading to the planning and creation of the blossom garden. Key themes included the desire for a serene space for reflection and to escape from the city; the desire for the sounds and colours of nature; an inclusive space celebrating the diversity of East London; and not an overly-designed or manicured space so that visitors could use the space in their own way.  The completed garden comprises 33 blossom trees planted to represent London's 33 boroughs, which are arranged in 3 close circles, each of 8 different species including hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata 'Paul's Scarlet’), cherry (Prunus 'Accolade', 'Shirofugen' and 'Taihaku'), Yoshio cherry (Prunus x yedoensis), cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera ’Pissardii’), and crab apple (Malus 'Evereste' and 'Mokum'). The path that runs through the garden incorporates 33 pieces of recycled concrete and reclaimed timber, echoing the 33 boroughs, and three seating areas have been made by local artists Junior Phipps. Flee Jones and Dan Gritten, to provide space to sit and reflect. The creation of a garden of blossom trees is part of the National Trust's mission to plant and establish 20 million trees by 2030 to benefit people and nature, and tackle climate change; the London Blossom Garden here was among the first to be created. The garden's perennial planting and species-rich grassland contribute to the park's overall Biodiversity Action Plan, while the garden’s design supports sustainable drainage principles, with a sunken channel or swale running alongside the path that slowly reintroduces rainwater into the soil, known as infiltration, easing the impact of surface water flooding after heavy rainfall. The London Blossom Garden is near the Timber Lodge Cafe and Tumbling Bay Playground.

South Park Plaza and its Planting Ribbon was created as a 'Pleasure Garden' on the former paved main concourse for the Games to provide a public space for entertainment and activity, with a sequence of 'event rooms', water fountains, play areas and garden spaces, to create community-orientated flexible spaces. The Plaza is crossed by the north-south axis of Tessa Jowell Boulevard, a 12m wide tree-lined promenade. The lead landscape architect for the post-Games transformation of the plaza was James Corner Field Operations, with the Planting Ribbon designed by Piet Oudolf, its trees, shrubs, tall grasses and clump-forming perennials providing texture and colour. 

The park extends out to link to 24 existing parks and open spaces via a new network of footpaths, cycleways, canal towpaths and riverside walks, designed to fit with the legacy masterplan for the wider area. The entire park opened by April 2014. It was renamed Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, although it is not an official Royal Park. The park now covers 560 acres 226 ha.

The park is managed by London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), which was formed in April 2012 to build on the opportunities created by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, ensure their legacy and deliver long-term benefits. LLDC's a long-term vision is to promote inclusive growth, foster innovation and create opportunities across east London and beyond. As a Mayoral Development Corporation LLDC is accountable to Londoners through the Mayor of London. 

The individual venues in the park are the London Stadium, Copper Box Arena, London Aquatics Centre, Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, Lee Valley Velopark, Riverside East, Zip World London / ArcelorMittal Orbit