The NORD Architecture-designed substation will be built from crushed materials from demolished buildings on site

The ODA has revealed new designs for an electrical substation in the Olympic Park.

The substation, designed by Glasgow-based small practice NORD Architecture, will supply electricity to the Olympic Park and Stratford City throughout the Games and in legacy mode. It will be constructed from dark brick by Olympic energy partner EDF Energy.

The architects have been careful to include environmental aspects to the building; crushed materials from demolished buildings on the Olympic Park will form part of its construction, and the building will have a ‘brown roof’, with crushed materials placed on a flat roof enabling species to colonise more easily.

Simon Wright, ODA director of infrastructure and utilities, said: “Design excellence runs through the heart of the project, and the plans we have unveiled for the electrical substation show that we can use innovative and sustainable architecture in functional buildings in the Olympic Park, not just the world-class venues we are building.”

CABE and Design for London released a joint statement: “We congratulate the client and architects for producing a real piece of architecture out of an everyday brief. We think this is an object lesson in how even relatively minor parts of the Olympic programme can benefit from committed design thinking."

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