The plan was designed by George Hargreaves and rising British landscape design star Sarah Price. According to their plan, 100 hectares of industrial zone in east London, where construction of the main Olympic facilities has already begun, will be turned into the largest European park, created over the past 150 years. They were inspired by the expansive gardens of the Victorian World's Exhibitions.
The entire area of the park will be divided into two parts. An ecologically favorable habitat for various animals will be created in the northern one: otters, gray herons, songbirds and many others. Flowering meadows and copses will be punctuated by ponds, reeds and marshes that will naturally filter rainwater before it enters the River Lee, a tributary of the Thames, which flows through the Olympic Complex.
The southern zone will be dedicated to the actual hosting of the Olympics. Next to the HOK Olympic Stadium, the Zaha Hadid Aquatics Center and the outdoor sports complex, the Garden 2012 will be set up, dedicated to the four main periods in the history of English garden art. In the first part of it you can see plants and decorative techniques characteristic of the influence of Western Europe and the Mediterranean in the 14-17 centuries, for the second - America in the 17-18 centuries, the third - Australia, South Africa and New Zealand in the 18th and 19th centuries, the fourth - Asia and the Far East in the 19th and 20th centuries.
For this "botanical garden", which can rival the famous Kew, thousands of plants from all over the world will be brought to London. Its theme is the British love of gardening as an important part of their national character and their interest in cultures other than their own. Also in the southern zone there will be stands hills with huge screens, on which spectators will be able to watch in real time what is happening in the Olympic arenas, as well as cafes and markets.
The budget for the entire project is 200 million pounds, and thus the new park will be financed much more generously than the actual sports facilities. Also, according to George Hargreaves, it will be the largest in the history of the Games, with the exception of Beijing - but in the latter case, landscape architecture played a small role.
Also, the London park is distinguished by the fact that in the future it will become, like many other parks in the British capital, an incentive for the emergence of residential development in the surrounding areas. Thus, a huge urban area, which is now in decline, will be regenerated and turned into a full-fledged part of London.
