News follows criticism that the design for the 2012 stadium would not be iconic enough
Peter Cook of Archigram fame will play a key role in working up designs for the London Olympic Stadium.
He has been working with HOK Sport for the last 18 months and is now focusing his attention on the 2012 Games.
A spokesperson for HOK said: "Peter plays a role on a number of projects just like any other member of staff. He doesn't have a specific role for the stadium designs. He's a member of a team working on it."
The spokesperson added that Cook had not been drafted in as a result of the recent criticism by leading architect Richard Rogers, who warned that the stadium design would not be iconic enough. The source said that Cook was part of the team bidding to win the landmark scheme.
Roy McNulty, acting chair of the ODA, said the ODA was willing to spend money on securing a top-class design. He said: “We’re going to make sure we’ve got adequate budget to get an excellent result. We’re not gong to be penny pinching.”
The news will be welcomed by the design community, which has been angered recently by the procurement process for the Olympic stadium. Many accused the ODA of dumbing down on design in order to keep costs and risk down.
This was exasperated when only one consortium – made up of contractor Sir Robert McAlpine, engineer Buro Happold and architect HOK Sport – passed all the pre-qualification criteria, meaning that there was no design competition for the most significant structure for the 2012 Olympics.
Archigram was an avant garde practice formed in the 1960s. The main members of the group included Peter Cook, Ropn Herron and Michael Webb.
