Source: POPULOUS
The Olympic Stadium in London is the centrepiece of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the last stop in the 2012 Olympics torch relay, and the venue of the athletic events as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. It is located within the Olympic Park in Stratford, in the Lower Lea Valley of east London. The stadium has a capacity of 80,000, making it the third-largest stadium in England behind Wembley and Twickenham. Land preparation for the stadium began in mid-2007, with the official construction start date on 22 May 2008, although piling works for the foundation unofficially began four weeks ahead of that date. The stadium will also host the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. The stadium design was launched on 7 November 2007. The architect, Populous, is an architectural firm specialising in the design of sports facilities and convention centres, as well as planning of major special events.[5] Construction took four years from 2007 to 2011. As of June 2009, the stadium's track and field arena has been excavated out of the soft clay found on the site, around which permanent seating for 25,000 had been assembled, using concrete "rakers". The natural slope of the land is incorporated into the design, with warm-up and changing areas being dug into a semi-basement position at the lower end. A demountable lightweight steel and concrete upper tier has been built up from this "bowl" to accommodate a further 55,000 spectators, and was nearing completion.[6]
Source: Wikipedia