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A vision of how Tumbalong Park in the centre of the Sydney CBD will be transformed during the Olympic Games.
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The process of designing the 'overlay' in a venue requires a detailed understanding and briefing of all operational planning issues and their affinities - as John Baker of Bligh Voller Nield Sport explains.Aerial view (64k) of Sydney Olympic Park showing the major competition venues. |
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The building projects include Stadium Australia (Sydney's Olympic Stadium), Sydney Olympic Tennis Centre at Homebush, Penrith White Water Stadium, Docklands Stadium (Melbourne, Australia), Westpac Trust Stadium (New Zealand), Sydney City Aquatic Centre and Ballymore Stadium (Brisbane, Australia). In addition to this Bligh Voller Nield Sport has secured a range of planning projects associated with the Olympic Games, from the initial masterplan of Sydney Olympic Park through to detailed operational planning and design for 16 different venues and 35 Olympic and Paralympic sports. With the completion of the majority of Sydney's venues for the Olympic Games in September 2000, those closely involved with the design and construction for the Games face significant challenges in 'building' on the obvious kudos associated with their achievement and capitalising on the high profile of the Games. Nevertheless, with sixteen months to go until the opening ceremony, there is still much to be done in preparation for Australia's biggest ever sporting event, and Bligh Voller Nield Sport is still very much focused upon it. Working directly with the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) and with the Olympic Co-ordination Authority (OCA), they are finalising the designs for the following Olympic sports; Athletics, Football, Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo, Basketball, Artistic Gymnastics, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Volleyball, Baseball, Archery, Handball, Badminton, Modern Pentathlon, Table Tennis, Tae Kwon Do, Tennis, Boxing, Judo, Weightlifting, Wrestling and Fencing. In addition to this, Bligh Voller Nield is also part of a team resolving broader site-wide issues at Sydney Olympic Park, Darling Harbour and in the City of Sydney. Operational planning for major events is fundamentally concerned with overlaying the specific event requirements on to a base building or space as a temporary measure. This applies not only to sporting venues, but also to media facilities, athletes facilities, public spaces, transport infrastructure and hospitality spaces. On a venue specific level, the Olympic Games is particularly demanding, with several key differentiates from other major events. These include:
The expenditure for temporary overlay at the Sydney Olympic Games across all sporting venues will be in the order of $300 million, and the transformation of the city and its infrastructure will be profound. Some indicators of the increased demands, which will be placed on the city and its venues, can be realised by the following statistics for the two week period of the Olympic Games:
The City At a macro level, the overlay of an event such as the Sydney Olympic Games requires resolution of a number of issues, including transport planning, the movement of massive crowds through designated areas, accommodation and entertainment for the additional one million visitors anticipated for the Games, and all of this whilst the city continues its normal day-to-day operations and the people of Sydney continue with life as usual. This presents enormous logistical problems, and takes every bit of the seven years of planning to resolve, with consolidated efforts from transport, security and operational experts. Another important aspect which should not be forgotten is the 'Theatre, Spectacle and Look' of the event. In the case of an event like the Olympic Games, with venues across the city, the use of graphic standards in the form of banners, flags and temporary structures is a common thread that identifies the event throughout the city. Entertainment is used to reinforce the 'festival' and ensure that it is not only in the sporting venues where the Olympic spirit is embraced. In Sydney, concepts are in place for locating large video screens around the city and enhancing food and entertainment facilities, as well as a range of special events including firework displays over Sydney Harbour.
The Sites The design exercise really starts at the point where the crowds arrive. Given the design challenge to ensure that sound concepts were in place for the operation of both Sydney Olympic Park and Darling Harbour, it was important for Bligh Voller Nield Sport to understand the big picture in both cases. Sydney Olympic Park will host the largest number of venues clustered together in the history of the Olympic Games, with twelve individual venues hosting 22 sports, and potentially up to 500,000 people visiting the Park each day. Darling Harbour will host six sports in four venues and sits on the edge of the CBD, in a precinct containing a number of major cultural and tourist venues. Both sites present opportunities and challenges. Issues requiring resolution include the design of circulation systems for large crowds, judgements as to the appropriate level of public amenities (i.e. food and beverage, public toilets), design and programming of entertainment etc. Ultimately, the complexion of these sites is affected by the demands which large spectator numbers place on each of them. With these numbers of spectators, it is critical in terms of comfort, amenity, and more importantly Life-Safety that Bligh Voller Nield Sport understand and accommodate what the crowds will do and where they will go. Entertainment is located and activated to draw people away from congested areas or to occupy people waiting to catch a train or bus. Public amenities are spread across the site to ensure as even a distribution as possible to avoid 'hot spots'. Circulation systems are designed with roundabouts, flyovers, and one way streets to maintain pedestrian flow rates and keep people moving between destinations. The site planning must also provide visual clues so that visitors can navigate intuitively without relying on complex signage or public announcements. The site layout must be memorable and simple so that visitors can keep a 'cognitive map' in mind. The site circulation concepts have been validated through extensive research, carefully tested assumptions and sophisticated computer modelling of projected crowd flows. The experience of the spectator is coloured not only by the spectacle
and drama of the event, but also by the comfort in which they travel
and circulate. Good design and planning can contribute to minimising
the risk of negative perceptions, which is important in the overall
aspirations of the organisers. Sydney Olympic Park with its twelve
The Venue At a venue level, resolving planning issues within the complex web of SOCOG functional department requirements is the main challenge to the designer. Athletes, spectators, press, broadcast, venue management, competition management, and VIP's all have very specific needs, which are particularly demanding for the Olympic Games. Co-ordinating these issues within budgetary constraints and utilising temporary facilities and innovative solutions is the goal, though ultimately the fact that the solutions may be temporary does not necessarily equate to compromise, certainly not at this 'elite' event level and with a driving ambition from all concerned to host the 'best Games ever'. The process of designing the 'overlay' in a venue requires a detailed understanding and briefing of all operational planning issues and their affinities and a comprehensive understanding/co-ordination of all technical and services issues. The initial stages of this process involve appraising the existing venue in respect to its capacity to stage the event. Sydney has many venues which have been purpose-built with minimal overlay required (e.g. Stadium Australia) though in some cases the majority of the 'venue' is temporary and Bligh Voller Nield Sport have to start with the basic infrastructure. An example of this is the Exhibition Halls at Darling Harbour, which will be transformed into a multi-sport competition venue for judo, boxing, fencing, and wrestling. One of the more complex planning exercises is ensuring that all of the 'user groups' and their support facilities are adequately segregated. Within each venue, it is necessary to separate athletes and officials from media, spectators, and staff and ensure that crossovers are minimised. The physical planning of the venue is only one aspect of the exercise. All issues relevant to sporting venues need to be understood and resolved, including seating issues, crowd movement issues, sports technology etc. The recognition of these issues then need to be turned into architectural solutions, creating plans for each of the venues and tackling all issues, including methods of construction and the visual impact of the additional temporary structures. Sightline calculations are produced for each venue to ensure that though temporary, spectators have optimum viewing conditions. All statutory requirements need to be addressed, including accessibility and fire engineering/Life-Safety issues. The expectations of the five million ticket holders and the 25 billion cumulative TV viewers around the world means that state of the art technology is imperative. Past Olympics have proven to be a showpiece for broadcast technology, with the latest and greatest innovations in cameras and equipment. Sydney 2000 will be no exception, and we may well see something totally new and exciting - perhaps a camera concealed in the tip of a javelin! Accommodating these special broadcast requirements, and indeed the multitude of cameras at every venue requires special consideration of many issues, including cabling requirements, seat kills and appropriate sports lighting levels. Press services will also bring innovations to the Sydney Games, with the use of new technology such as the use of Local Area Networks (LANs) allowing digital transmission from the point of the photograph being taken directly to the point of publication, wherever it may be in the world! For the first time in Olympic history, digital cameras will be used extensively, increasing the technological demands on the venues even further. This means even greater flexibility and deeper penetration of the media eye. Therefore, what is the measure of success in these challenging design exercises? There is little doubt that things will not necessarily go according to plan in every instance, and that somewhere along the line there will be a hitch. A sound planning approach will have contingencies which have allowed for the 'what if?' scenarios, and these are played out every day amongst those closest to the design process. These design and management contingencies become critical to the operating plans and inform the design process, and each design issue is scrutinised closely... What if the power goes down? What if there is escalation in the security risk? What if the trains don't run? ... The list goes on. Each of these questions needs an answer and ultimately, a solution. What will the Olympic Games mean to Sydney? No one is sure, but observers say it will mean something big; that every city is changed forever by hosting the Games. For Bligh Voller Nield Sport, the experience has enhanced their practice
profile, and put them in an ideal position to assist the global major-event
industry which appears to grow with every passing year. The Games have
created a positive transformation of their practice and given new energy
for the future. |
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ligh
Voller Nield Sport has emerged from the Sydney Olympic Games as a significant
force in the sports architecture field, as a result of projects secured
under joint ventures such as Bligh Lobb Sports Architecture and also
a range of independently secured Olympic projects. 
Segregation and security of accredited groups. 
