A windy day with heavy showers did not dampen my enjoyment
of last weeks visit to the Olympic Park in Stratford. I was really impressed by
the structures, bridges, landscaping and planting.
There’s an amazing amount of underlying infrastructure that
has been put in – new roads and bridges especially as the site is intersected
by a number of waterways. Having the water has made the site much more
interesting, together with the extensive landscaping and tree planting.
The meadow and prairie planting schemes were looking good
with plenty of flowers used in a natural display, I thought that the prairie
beds worked particularly well. The general landscaping and site layout brought
back memories of the two major garden festivals that I visited, Gateshead and
Ebbw Vale.
Most of the major venue buildings on site are outstanding in
themselves and all very different to each other, but apart from these other
structures are interesting including the largest McDonalds in the world. A temporary
structure constructed mainly in timber designed to be deconstructed and recycled
after the event.
The Olympics has left a great legacy in its buildings and
the park and that’s apart from what it’s done for sport. It’s disappointing
that more people have not had the chance of visiting the Olympic Park before
its closed.
