ODA warms market for pool tender

Building understands that the lack of interest in building the Zaha Hadid-designed centre has prompted the ODA to approach domestic contractors including HBG and Balfour Beatty.

The deadline for the submission of prequalification questionnaires was extended from last Thursday to Monday, but a source close to the process said companies that had been approached were told they would be granted extra time if they were willing to bid.

Contractors already thought to have made bids include a north London company called Ardmore and European firms Bouygues and Hochtief.

Companies that have been approached could get extra time to submit a bid

An ODA spokesperson said: “We are pleased with the responses we’ve had. There will probably be three or four firms that will enter the competitive dialogue.”

Meanwhile, the design competition for the Olympic velopark has attracted huge interest, but this week it was revealed that architects including Foster + Partners, Make Architects and Marks Barfield have not made the shortlist.

On Wednesday the ODA announced the shortlist for the only large design-led scheme for the Games. It includes David Chipperfield, David Morley Architects, Dominique Perrault Architecture, FaulknerBrowns with Heatherwick Studio, Foreign Office Architects, Hopkins Architects with Sanda Douma Associates, Wilkinson Eyre, and the relatively new practice Flacq.