News: James Corner Field Operations Team winning Olympic Park South Competition

James Corner Field Operations (JCFO) in collaboration with Make Architects, Arup, Piet Oudolf, L'obversatoire International, Tomato, Groundbreaking, Playlink and Deloitte, announced to have been selected for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park South Park Project.

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The South Park, London, © James Corner Field Operations, Make Architects,
Arup, Piet Oudolf, L'Observatoire International, Tomato, Groundbreaking, Playlink and Deloitte.

The aim of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Competition was to design a visitor centre and playground in the green river valley of the north park, and a 50 acre urban landscape in the south plaza sitting between the Stadium, Aquatics Center and the ArcelorMittal Orbit.
The team's proposal consists of a tree-lined promenade connecting flexible spaces for events, cultural programmes, food stalls and other attractions. It is announced that the area will have a London South Bank feel and will welcome the majority of visitors to the Park.
The problematics raised in regards ecological and social complexities in high-dense cities, here in a European city with its history, is how to incorporate green features including park, path, garden, promenade, ground cover, among others, within such an urban fabric as London. Throughout this project, it will be interesting to see how James Corner and its team address the complex ecological and social forces that constitute London's urban landscape.

Below is the presentation of the winning team:

The South Park Pleasure GardensHow might South Park become a much-loved leisure destination for London, a spectacular attraction for both residents and visitors frim around the world?
Furthermore, how might the design of the park provide spaces that flexibility accomodate a wide variety of future programming events while at the same time appealing to a broad spectrum of the public on ordinary unprogrammed days?
For the main southpark and hub area we propose four physical landscape frameworks that can be easily implemented and shape a highly social and eventful series of "pleasure gardens": 

     1. Arc promenade 

     2. Planting ribbon & hedgerow 

     3. Event rooms 

     4. Lawns & Garden 

Takes together, the Arc Promenade, the Planting Ribbon, the Event Rooms and the Lawns and Gardens create a powerful landscape framework for both everyday use and enjoyment as well as for supporting a wide range of event programming, from food festivals and markets to rides and small circuses, to concerts and performances, to arts, culture and education. The design is clearly legible, iconic, playful and varied, while at the same time capable of supporting a diverse range of uses. This theatrical event site, set within a larger network of ecological green systems, waterways and world-class attractions, creates a destination legacy park for London —scenic and social on a daily basis, and eventful and active when programmed.

The South Park Hub © James Corner Field Operations, Make Architects, Arup, Piet Oudolf, L'Observatoire International, Tomato, Groundbreaking, Playlink and Deloitte.

The South Park HubThe hub building is a simple yet elegant rectilinear form located at the southern end of the promenade, in close proximity to the orbit. It will become a key destination for visitors to the south park, with its prime setting offering strong visual connections with the river and the surrounding park.
Due to the scale and complexity of the park's prominent stadia, we propose a simple, low-lying pavilion which is substly stitched in to the flowing lines of the landscape, complementing the nearby large-scale structures rather than competing with them. The Hub takes the form of a series of horizontal and vertical planes which enclose both the internal and external spaces. The spine walls separate the public and private areas and provide connection points for the organic lines of the planted landscape ribbon as they extend out from the building.
A large, open café space is located at the heart of the pavilion, with an impressive transparent glazed frontage revealing the animation. Flexible event spaces are available if required, as well as covered external seating and a roof terrace above the café area which reveals stunning panoramix views of the south park. The vrtical spine walls which project out from the building provide the ideal location for art and media projections, which will generate interest and encourage public engagement.
Our strong yet simple concept provides a flexible design framework on to which future additions can be easily incorporated. This rational and practical design approach results in an elegant and well-proportioned pavilion which is highly efficient and buildable, facilitating the quick delivery of a high quality building within a challenging budget.

South Park Event & Activity Hub © James Corner Field Operations, Make Architects, Arup, Pied Oudolf,
L'Observatoire International, Tomato, Groundbreaking, Playlink and Deloitte.

South Park Event & Activity HubWith its strategic proximity and important support functions for the orbit — undoubtedly the greatest attraction of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park — the South Park Hub will become the focal point of day-to-day activity the park.
To emphasize and support its role as the "Event Hub" within the Park, we have located the larger event rooms and spaces around this new feature. The Hub Building provides a generous and welcoming gateway to the Hub plaza area, spilling café uses and moveable furniture onto the plaza. This is a flexible event area, open, porous and social. The hard plaza meets a softer lawn area to the north, where one can sit, picnic and sun, or begin to stroll into the gardens and event rooms along the Arc.

The South Park Pleasure Gardens © James Corner Field Operations, Make Architects, Arup, Piet Oudolf, L'observatoire
International, Tomato, Groundbreaking, Playlink and Deloitte.

Source: Olympic Park Legacy Company