View Tube Olympic Park Set To Re Open In December
The View Tube project in the London Olympic Park, mad from up cycled shipping containers this iconic venue was an immediate hit with visitors to the Summer Games and will re open in December to deliver the projects community goals.
Online, November 15, 2012 (Newswire.com) - The surprise hit of the London Olympics was not the amazing performances by the mega star athletes like Usain Bolt, it was a far simpler and basic thing.
With some thought, creativity and some retired shipping containers the community group with the help of London Shipping Containers created the stunning View Tube platform.
What started out as a basic plan to connect two recycled shipping containers in an L shape and provide a viewing platform of the Olympic Park grew into an amazing construction which surpassed the goals of it's creators and will deliver value to the local community for many years to come.
A brief hiatus has followed the london summer games, with the View Tube set to reopen on the 1st of December with a televised ceremony. The process of preparing the park for it's post games use has meant the closure of the park. The Greenway where the View Tube is located will be one of the first areas to reopen.
Including a garden, cafe, art gallery and education centre the View Tube has exceeded its original remit. Set up as a community project in partnership between Leaside Regeneration, London Thames Gateway Development Corporation, the Olympic Delivery Authority and Thames Water.
The Urban Space Management group were responsible for the actual installation. By up cycling shipping containers for the project the designers caught the Zeitgeist for using containers as housing and commercial structures. Many designers in the U.S and globally have been using containers this way for sometime.
The original humble design called for the use of just two containers, and the search began to find a source of containers. Mark Ashmole from Poplar HARCA (Housing and Regeneration Community Association) contacted Susan Turner from London Shipping Containers. Mark was the project lead for View Tube.
Susan was immediately excited by the project and having worked closely with engineers who have designed and built shipping container structures previously was able to introduce the project group to the engineers.
Ashmore then included an architect in the project and the plans began to grow. The result was a much expanded project, which grew to include the Container Cafe which won critics and visitors over with a gourmet all day menu. The Cafe has access to the main viewing deck and is also available for private hire.
View Tube Learn is the educational facility, the classroom has the Olympic Park as a backdrop and is open to the local community and schools in the area to come and use.
A community garden and bike hire scheme were also included in the final design. Plans for the reopening event will be released soon and commitment to sustaining the games legacy means that these recycled and re purposed shipping containers will keep the memory of the Olympics alive for years to come.