Architects for the London 2012 Aquatic Centre insisted Thursday the project would cost 41 million pounds more than the sum promised by Culture Secretary and Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell, reports the Guardian.
A source close to the project said the final budget for the complex was likely to be 116 million pounds. Plans for the venue included a 20,000-seat arena, with two 50-metre swimming pools and a separate 25 metre diving pool.
Last week Jowell said she sent the project back to the drawing board to bring the costs down to 75 million pounds, but a spokesman for architect Zaha Hadid told Building Design magazine that “the total project costs will be significantly more.
“The figure (75 million pounds) always referred to the base construction costs only. The specifications of the building and the design, along with the estimated construction cost of the building, have not changed since Zaha Hadid Architects won the original competition”.
She said inflation costs, professional fees and other contingencies would also need to be considered in calculating the total cost.
A spokesman for the Culture Department said, “we will not get into a running commentary and detailed discussions on the cost of individual projects. We will deliver what we said in the candidate file presented to the International Olympic Committee”.
Meanwhile, the Times reports sports world governing body Fina, was outraged Thursday at the possibility of the reduction in the number of seats promised in the original submission to the IOC.
A senior industry source who has seen the plans told Construction News “the simple problem that it is too big. The geometry of the building is driven by the number of people they want to attend. If you have capacity for 20,000 it is wider and taller”.
When told of the possibility that the number of seats would be reduced Bartolo Consolo, honorary secretary of Fina, said Thursday, “No. Then thousand is not nearly enough. The minimum we ask for in world swimming these days is 15,000. By the time you consider 2,500 officials and the swimming family, and another 2,000 when you consider the media, swimmers and coaches, then a capacity of 10,000 is very short of what is necessary”.
When asked if he believed that London had reneged on the plans given to the IOC, he said, “well look at the promises that we got from Athens. There was to be a roof, all the way along. For many months we were promised a roof. In the end…no roof. I hope that will not be the experience of London”.
