London Stadium

Building a new Olympic Stadium is a huge proposition, and the opportunity to create a truly iconic landmark for east London was at the heart of London’s Olympic bid. For architects Populous, the challenge was to build a venue for 80,000 spectators to watch Olympic and Paralympic events that could easily be adapted for use following the Games.

To ensure that the Stadium could easily be reconfigured for alternative uses after the Games, Populous designed the Stadium to have a PVC roof and temporary tiered seating, as well as outside ‘pods’ to host food and drink stands and toilets.

Key Facts

• For the Games, the Stadium was ‘clothed’ in almost a kilometre of cloth.
• During excavation, 800,000 tonnes of soil were removed – enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall nine times over.
• More than 5,250 people worked on construction between 2008 and 2012.

The turf used for the Games was grown in Scunthorpe and fitted over three days.

Before the London 2012 Games began, the Stadium hosted the National Lottery Olympic Park Run, the British University Athletics Championships and the London Disability Grand Prix, during which three world records were set, as well as the athletics events of the British School Games.

The venue was officially opened on 6 May 2012 by nine year old Niamh Clarke-Willis at the 2,012 hours to go until the official opening ceremony. During the Games it was the home of athletics for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It also hosted the spectacular opening and closing ceremonies.

During the incredible four weeks of sport, the venue saw three Olympic records and over 100 Paralympic records broken.

Following the Games, the London Stadium went through a major transformation project to convert it into a year-round multi-use arena capable of delivering world-class sporting and cultural events.

Work included the removal of the original roof and light paddles and installation of a new permanent roof, the largest of its kind in the world. The new roof covers every seat in the venue, improving the acoustics and spectator experience. An innovative retractable seating system was also installed to allow fans to get close to the pitch for football and rugby. Other works included installing catering facilities, toilets, turnstiles and a new community running track.

Transformation works began in 2013 following the London Anniversary Games, which were held at the Stadium. Work was paused in 2015 so that the Stadium could host the Great Newham London Run, the London Anniversary Games, a Barbarians v Samoa rugby union fixture, five matches of the Rugby World Cup 2015, an England v New Zealand Rugby League International and the Race of Champions motorsport event.

Key Facts

• The new roof measures 45,000m2 and is 84m at its deepest point.
• There are 5,423 pieces of steel in the roof, weighing 3,900 tonnes.
• The 14 new floodlight paddles weigh 45 tonnes each and house more than 540 lamps.
• There are 16 executive boxes and 3,600 corporate hospitality seats.
• There are 995 toilets, 90 new turnstiles and 35 catering outlets.
• 5,000 people worked 2 million hours to complete the transformation.
• The Stadium meets UEFA Category 4 classification and is a fully compliant IAAF Category 1 athletics facility.

E20 Stadium LLP is the body set up to transform and manage the London Stadium. Read more about E20 Stadium LLP.

And get full London Stadium transparency and read documents surrounding the running of the venue.