Securing the Olympic Games is a dream of many cities, but after the thrills of victory and the agonies of defeat are over, what then? For Rio de Janeiro, the Olympic fever will turn into civic pride.
“More than half of the buildings erected for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro will be temporary venues that will be ‘recycled’ into schools and smaller scale sporting facilities after the games,” Liz Tay wrote for Business Insider Australia. “Of the seven new sporting venues to be constructed for Rio2016 (in addition to two existing venues), three will be permanent and four—including aquatics, handball, and two tennis arenas—will be temporary.”
Tay spoke with Melbourne-based AECOM associate director Adam Williams, who says it’s 20 percent to 30 percent cheaper to build recyclable venues than permanent ones.
One interesting item from the story involves turning the venues into schools.
“For a venue that becomes a school, you basically start with the design of the school and work backwards to design the handball venue,” Williams told Tay. “What we have done is effectively break the design down into a ‘kit of parts’ and study how things can fit back together. It’s not more difficult, but can require a little extra time.”
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London is another example of recycling materials and venues.
“The real test of the stadiums now will be what happens to them after the games are over, ensuring that both the temporary and permanent structures continue to set the bar for sustainability,” Tierney Smith wrote for Responding to Climate Change.
Well, if you must know, the swimming arena’s stage could now be garden hoses.
(Image via AECOM)
