Olympic Park cultural quarter builders to be picked next year

Up to two contractors will be sought early next year to build the cultural quarter planned for east London’s Olympic Park.

A source close to the project said the client behind the ongoing redevelopment of the park, the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), is making plans to go to the market for builders on Stratford Waterfront.

The development, formerly known as “Olympicopolis”, will include a museum for the V&A, a campus for the University of Arts London and a 550-seat theatre for Sadler’s Wells dance studio.

The LLDC will seek up to two builders for the cultural buildings early next year, after beginning the hunt for a contractor for the residential element of 650 homes across two towers by the end of this year.

Stratford Waterfont is on a high-profile site near the former Olympic stadium, the Anish Kapoor-designed ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture and Zaha Hadid’s London Aquatics Centre. It is being masterplanned by architects Allies & Morrison, O’Donnell + Tuomey and Arquitecturia.

The source also confirmed reports that the LLDC has delayed submitting the overall Stratford Waterfront scheme for planning because of a design rethink, which looked at reducing the height of the two residential towers.

This was in part a response to criticism of the under-construction 42-storey Manhattan Loft Gardens residential tower nearby and its impact on the background of views of St Paul’s cathedral from Richmond Park, the source said.

The LLDC declined to comment.