Olympic stadium is 'vision for city's future'

The Olympic stadium was today hailed as a "beacon" for London as the final designs of the venue were unveiled.

Olympics chiefs said the architectural flagship of the 2012 Games would stand out on the east London skyline and herald a "new era" of stadium design around the world.

Reaching the biggest milestone yet for the Games project, the designs detailed how the 80,000-capacity venue would be transformed after the Games in an unprecedented feat of engineering.

Mayor Ken Livingstone said: "(The stadium) will act as a beacon symbolising the extraordinary transformation and regeneration of east London as a result of staging the 2012 Games and the permanent legacy of new sports and community facilities for London."

Stadium architect Rod Sheard, of HOK Sport, said: "The design is a response to the challenge of creating the temporary and the permanent at the same time - that is the essence of the design for the stadium. A new era of Olympic stadium design will be launched in 2012, demonstrating how a successful event can be blended with the long-term needs of the community."

The circular venue will host the track and field events as well as the opening and closing ceremonies.

The main features of the design are:

* A sunken bowl housing the field of play and a lower tier. These 25,000 permanent seats bring the fan closer to the action.

* 55,000 seats on an upper level to be removed afterwards. Games chiefs are looking for a buyer, possibly the host of the 2016 Olympics.

* A cable-supported roof 28 metres in circumference, providing cover for two thirds of spectators. Games chiefs have taken the calculated risk of not having a more expensive full roof considering the event takes place in the drier weeks of the year. After a six-month study they are convinced the venue will not be plagued by cross-winds that might invalidate world records

* A "wrap" around the stadium structure decorated with art, probably with illustrations of former Olympic greats. The fabric curtain also serves to cover up the stadium's rudimentary temporary structure

* Groups of pods situated around the concourse for merchandise and catering facilities These are inspired by the "fan zones" at last summer's football World Cup in Germany

John Armitt, chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, said: "London's Olympic stadium is designed to be different. 'Team Stadium' have done a fantastic job against a challenging brief - their innovative, groundbreaking design will ensure that the Olympic stadium will not only be a fantastic arena for a summer of sport in 2012 but also ensure a sustainable legacy for the community who will live around it."

Construction firm Sir Robert McAlpine - builders of Arsenal's Emirates stadium - is expected to begin building work on the venue as early as next April, which would be several months ahead of schedule.

Meanwhile Olympics chiefs continue the search for an anchor tenant having ruled out the possibility of it becoming home to a Premiership football club such as West Ham or Tottenham Hotspur.

The ODA says the venue will be have a "multi-sport" use but is primarily a much-needed world class athletics facility for London as promised the International Olympic Committee during the bid.

Olympics chiefs received high-level endorsement today amid recent concerns that the facility might not meet with standards for international competition once it was converted after 2012.

Lamine Diack, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations appears satisfied that an athletics warm-up track sufficiently close to the stadium - a prerequisite of IAAF meetings - is integral to London's plans after 2012.

He said: "The sport of athletics has been in desperate need of a world class competition facility in London especially for international events. These plans guarantee long-term benefits to Londoners and the future of international athletics competition within the city."

Last month the ODA announced that the stadium budget had risen from £280million to £496million.They said increase was largely due to the inclusion of VAT and the fact that costs were now at 2012 instead of 2004 prices.

Sebastian Coe, chairman of the organising committee, Locogs, said: "The stadium will stand for everything we talked about in the bid - the theatre within which the Games will be played out and leaving behind a top class sporting and community facility."