Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Jason Prior was instrumental in the bid stage and subsequent delivery of the 2012 Olympic Park.

The initial step in planning the London 2012 Olympic Games was a design competition to establish a vision for the Olympic Park that would win the support of Londoners and put a compelling proposition to the International Olympic Committee.

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As lead masterplanner, Jason Prior and his team proposed an Olympic Park that would not only host a fantastic Olympic Games, but which would also act as a catalyst for broad-based regeneration of the Lee Valley and Stratford over the following decades. 

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The Olympic Games plan placed a new royal park at the centre of its ambition, with strong ecological and sustainability strategies to underpin the Games’ ambitions. The use of a mix of permanent and temporary buildings ensured that there was a strong legacy story for each venue, and temporary infrastructure met capacity demands that ensured a great visitor experience while enabling the park to be transformed for a sustainable future.

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Ensuring that the post-Games legacy community was considered during the design of the Olympics enabled London to avoid the dilemma that most cities face from under utilised Olympic facilities.

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The proposed site of the Games was challenging - dominated by transport infrastructure, low-grade manufacturing, waste processing and contaminated ground. However, the site also had significant assets in the River Lee, the canal system, strong local community and remnants of a brilliant manufacturing heritage. Links to the Lee Valley Park, connections to the Thames and a excellent rail infrastructure provided the building blocks for a vision of a vibrant London quarter which was set out in the masterplan that created the setting for the hugely successful Games.