ExCeL Olympic Anniversary Wall
To celebrate one year on from the 2012 Games, ExCeL London commissioned Equinox Partners to utilise the Olympic and Paralympic pictograms that symbolised the disciplines held within their halls, to recognise the key officials involved and the four Gold medal winners who contributed to the success of the Games for Great Britain.
ExCeL London was the most complex venue in the history of the modern Olympic Games. They were host to 7 Olympic and 6 Paralympic sports, a fleet vehicle depot, broadcast compound, training venues and the London headquarters for the Olympics Volunteer Selection Centre.
Over 1.3 million visitors travelled to ExCeL over the period of the Games. The busiest day was Monday 30th July, with 70,000 spectators coming through the venue.
ExCeL was divided into five sports halls with capacities ranging from 6,000 to 10,000. 2,790 athletes competed in these arenas over the Olympic & Paralympic Games with 495 medals being awarded. Team GB won 4 gold medals – 3 in boxing and one in Tae Kwon Do; 2 silvers and 3 bronze. Additionally, the Paralympic Team won 3 silver and 6 bronze medals.
After many suggestions had been proposed by Equinox Partners, it was finally decided that the anniversary display would be installed on the curtain wall at ExCel’s East Entrance atrium.
The twelve 1 metre square, waterjet-cut porcelain tiles were combined with internally-illuminated laminated glass and housed within fabricated stainless steel frames.
Weighing in at 50kg for each panel, substantial reinforcement of the existing structure was required, so new steel channel sections were mounted within the curtain wall to which the panels were bolted.
The graphic console at the foot of the 5 metre-high display factually describes ExCeL’s achievements in 2012 and features photos and hand castings of London Mayor, Boris Johnson; Lord Coe, Chairman of the British Olympic Committee and the 4 Gold metal-winning GB athletes, Jade Jones, Nicola Adams, Luke Campbell and Anthony Joshua – all set a height that allows full public interaction, especially with ExCeL’s younger visitors.
Equinox Partners, Michael Taylor and Clare Newton, visited The Surface Design Show 2013 in Islington, where both Imola Project (who supplied the tiles) and Objects In Glass (who were the main contractors) were exhibiting and from then on-going relationships developed.
Imola Projects’ OceanBlack naturally riven-textured tiles were selected for their size, at 1.2 metres square, and which proved to be robust and trouble free when waterjet cut to a very fine degree by Lancashire-based K-Cut.
Harlow-based Objects In Glass were chosen for their enthusiasm and experience in working iron-free glass for architectural installations, where optical clarity is essential for accurate light transmission, and for their complementary engineering ability when it came to the mounting and installation of the final pictograms.
At the 10th Anniversary of the London Olympic Games in 2022, ExCeL London still have a legacy installation that reminds all their staff and clients of the outstanding achievement and contribution they made to the success of the London Olympic Games. We at Equinox Partners are proud to have been given the opportunity. Thank you.
