Athletes Village - East Village

In 2012, the Olympic Games took place in London and 17,000 athletes needed to be accommodated at the east end of London. Right next to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, a whole village had to rise to house the athletes and so a sophisticated urban development began. After the Olympics, the athletes` village had to become a residential area to accommodate the strong housing demand in London. The master plan for the village foresaw varied construction and sustainable infrastructure. Part of this plan allowed for a substantial investment in the greening of the landscape. Vogt landscape architects were commissioned to design the scheme, which included 2,400 large trees in 45 different species.

Photos by davidrowleydesign.com

Niels

van den Elzen

UK, IE

niels@vdberk.co.uk

+31 (0) 413 480 425

+31 (0) 6 2247 5740

In 2010, after a lengthy tendering process, Van den Berk Nurseries was chosen to supply and deliver the trees, which were selected by Vogt at the nursery. After the selection was made, 2400 trees were lifted and put into airpots at the nursery. The reasons for this were twofold – firstly by being stored in airpots, the trees could recover from the stress of being uprooted and their growth carefully monitored, before being delivered and planted at the Athletes Village – and secondly it would allow delivery to take place throughout the year. The proper planning, correct installation and the benefits of the airpot system combined to create an outstanding final result. Proof of this, was that the overall failure rate of the trees was one per cent compared to the usual rate of five per cent. The client was also concerned that, after the Games were over, a lasting legacy in the form of a visually attractive landscape would be left. There can be no doubt that this aim was achieved.

Now after four years, East Village is a popular, fashionable and green area with 2,800 apartments, 23 shops and bars, three playgrounds and a wetlands park.

Trees for this application