AECOM’s leading role in masterplanning, town planning and delivery began in 2003, two years before the announcement that London would host the Games, and continues to date.

AECOM’s leading role in masterplanning, town planning and delivery began in 2003, two years before the announcement that London would host the Games, and continues to date.

The extensive scope included multidisciplinary masterplanning for the Olympic Park and wider Lower Lea Valley regeneration, policy development, securing planning permissions and compulsory land purchase by public sector agencies, and establishing strategies to secure high quality venues, infrastructure, green infrastructure and community assets.

The approach integrated multiple social, environmental, transport, planning and design issues into a clear strategy. Infrastructure investment was integrated to secure economic benefits, including connecting HS1 to the heart of the Olympic project; focusing London’s rail projects on Stratford, and creating the context for future transit-oriented communities; transforming aged energy and sewerage utilities and services; burying power lines in two 6km tunnels; and incorporating social infrastructure from the creative reuse of Olympic facilities. These big moves were made possible by the strategic and long term view taken to the development.

AECOM established early delivery governance principles and secured planning consents for the rapid build-out. This reduced risk and gave certainty to the International Olympic Committee that London could deliver.

The regeneration case was underpinned with the 2006 Lower Lea Valley Opportunity Area Planning Framework which created a forward-looking policy context for all four host boroughs and the GLA, focused on maximising the potential of legacy development.

Permissions for the legacy communities were secured in 2011 – so the site transformation began as the Games closed. These permissions established the flexibility for design to respond over the lifetime of the legacy build-out.

Delivery of the legacy masterplan has captured the richness and diversity of placemaking on a grand scale, while creating distinctive and welcoming neighbourhoods characteristic of London’s ‘village’ feel. The robust approach to the strategic planning strategy has enabled the integrity of the original masterplan to be delivered and provided a context for unexpected elements to ‘slot in’ to the Park, including Here East, and the Cultural & Education Quarter which will define QEOP and the surrounding neighbourhoods as places to live, work, visit and enjoy for generations to come.

“Central to unlocking the site’s potential was a flexible and responsive masterplanning approach. Games and legacy masterplans were drawn up in parallel with the former seen as a landmark event taking place during the making of the new 110-hectare park and its surrounding communities. The Games were the catalyst for wider urban regeneration – around 75p of every £1 spent on Olympic investment helped deliver legacy benefit.” Says Bill Hanway, Global Sports Sector Lead, AECOM.