Cultural Quarter, Olymicopolis Stratford, London UK © Allies and Morrison LLP, Forbes Massie

Masterplan - Stratford, London UK

HNNA worked in collaboration with architects Allies and Morrison, O'Donnell and Tuomey and Arquitecturia on the winning masterplan for the new 7 hectare, £1.3 billion cultural quarter at London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on the Stratford waterfront. The masterplan includes residential buildings, outposts for the V&A museum and Sadler's Wells Theatre, and new campuses for the London College of Fashion and University College London.

[ 1501 ] Allies and Morrison LLP

HNNA worked with Allies and Morrison on the winning competition entry for the new OLYMPICOPOLIS cultural campus

“Designs have been unveiled for the new £1.3 billion cultural quarter at London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The so-called Olympicopolis masterplan includes outposts for the V&A museum and Sadler's Wells Theatre, as well as new campuses for the London College of Fashion and University College London (UCL), and a residential tower.

The new 18,000-square-metre building for the V&A is designed as a series of irregularly stacked blocks, incorporating cantilevered overhangs and rooftop terraces. It will sit next to the Zaha Hadid-designed Olympic Aquatics Centre.

Beside the V&A, the new Sadler's Wells is designed as a more low-rise structure, with louvres screening its windows. It will house a 550-seat theatre for the dance performance venue. The London College of Fashion will occupy a neighbouring building with a more intricate lattice façade, next to the residential high-rise.

The development is anticipated to create 3,000 jobs, attract 1.5 million visitors a year and generate a £2.8 billion boost for the local economy. It is part of a huge legacy programme proposed as part of London's original Olympic bid, to redevelop a huge area of the city – a promise that past Olympic cities have made and struggled to achieve.

“The collaboration, which also includes landscape architects Gustafson Porter, saw off four other all-star bids to land the commission for the huge cultural and education quarter on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, east London.

The 70,000m² scheme at Stratford Waterfront is set to house new outposts for the Victoria and Albert Museum, Sadler’s Wells and the University of the Arts London.

The Smithsonian Institution is also in discussions about opening its first permanent museum outside the United States on the site at the gateway to the park which will also feature 75,000m² of new homes.”