The Legacy Company launched a competition in July this year to design one of London’s best playgrounds and a visitor centre with a café and seating terrace, along with large indoor space for community use.

Five teams were then shortlisted to develop a design which will be judged by a panel of experts with the winning design announced in December.

A separate competition is being held to design one of London’s newest public spaces that will welcome crowds in the south of the Park. Five concept designs for this competition are expected to be revealed next week.

Public exhibitions are being held to showcase the shortlisted designs, which were selected from more than 100 entries from across Europe, Asia and North America. The remit was to create a distinctive area that will bring together a vibrant mix of cultural events, beautiful spaces and recreational uses.

Kathryn Firth, Chief of Design at the Olympic Park Legacy Company, said:

“These are inspiring designs to match the north park’s stunning river valley and green parkland that the community hub will be set in.

“Legacy plans for the Park are more advanced than any other previous host Olympic city and this visitor centre and playground will be one of the first attractions added to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.”

The shortlisted teams for the North Park are:

• Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture Ltd (London) in collaboration with structural engineerEngineers HRW (London), services consultant OR Consulting (London) and quality surveyorStockdale
    
• David Kohn Architects (London) in collaboration with landscape architects David Buck(London), Davies White (Surrey), consultancy Alan Baxer & Associates LLP (London) and project managers and cost consultants Jackson Coles (London)
     
• erect architecture (London) in collaboration with consulting structural engineers Tall engineers (London), service engineers Max Fordham (London), landscape consultants Land Use Consultants (London), artist and enabler Ashley McMormick (London), quantity surveyor Huntley Cartwright (Surrey) and play safety experts Children’s Play Advisory Service (Coventry)
     
• The Landscape Partnership (London) in collaboration with Sarah Wigglesworth Architects(London), structural engineers Jane Wernick Associates (London), M&E engineersSkelly&Couch (London), and cost management by Turner & Townsend (London)
    
• Ushida Findlay architects (London) in collaboration with landscape architect and masterplanner Grant associates (Bath), structural and services engineer ARUP (London), lighting designer Speirs and Major (London), quantity surveyor Davis Langdon and play design best practice and enabling by Play England (London)