Freedom of information request reveals jury鈥檚 comments on 拢303m Olympic aquatics centre
The jury which chose Zaha Hadid鈥檚 design for the 2012 aquatics centre warned that the controversial plans faced 鈥渃lear technical and organisational issues鈥� before its selection.
The panel, which included Lord Rogers and Ricky Burdett, found during the judging process in 2005 that the 鈥渄etail of the scheme was not as well developed鈥� as its competitors, and warned of 鈥渕aintenance concerns鈥� regarding the use of a timber roof in a pool environment.
It also said the 拢303m building, which has been significantly redesigned since the competition win, had not been 鈥渨ell thought-through鈥� in terms of its legacy use.
But the panel found that Hadid鈥檚 鈥渟eductive鈥� designs were preferable to the 鈥減ractical approach鈥� taken by Bennetts Associates, and the 鈥渇unctionally mundane鈥� designs by Faulkner Browns.
The aquatics centre has been the 2012 Olympics鈥� most controversial building, with reports of its spiralling budget, continuous redesigns and legacy concerns rarely out of the headlines. The 2005 comments were revealed in a freedom of information request made by the Guardian newspaper.
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