With exactly a year to go until the start of London's third summer Games, the Olympic Park in working class Stratford, one of Britain's most ambitious and costly urban renewal projects, now boasts all its main structures that will stage next year's sporting drama, reported news agency reuters.com. The Aquatics Center, which officially opened its doors on July 27, joins the towering Olympic Stadium, the sleek-looking Velodrome, the multi-use handball arena and the enormous International Broadcast Center (IBC) which have changed the skyline of London's eastern approaches. Basketball's gleaming white 12,000-seat rectangular venue is also ready for use, although despite its imposing size it will be dismantled after the Games. More than 160,000 tons of soil, much of it contaminated, were dug out to build the Aquatics Center - an operation that uncovered several Iron Age skeletons as well an assortment of rusting relics from the area's former uses. Even a two-month delay in completing the US$ 1.67 billion Aquatics Center, it seems, has its advantages. The iconic Aquatics Center, which houses two 50 meters pools and a diving pool and can seat 17,500 spectators during the Games, came in over budget and also missed its completion date because of complications over its roof design and heating systems. The cosmetics are still to be applied, such as the greening of the park with thousands of trees and plants, temporary venues constructed, and the athletes Village to be fitted out, but London 2012 chief Sebastian Coe said the handover of the sixth main building project on the Park with a year still remaining was a cause for pride.

British football club Tottenham Hotspur has released plans for a new stadium designed by Populous. Planned to be built in the London borough of Haringey, the "visually dramatic" 61,000-seat proposal is designed to host both English and American football. If approved, it will feature a state-of-the-art retractable pitch and a 17,000 capacity single tier end stand that will be the UK's largest. The state-of-the-art stadium, due to open in the summer of 2018, will feature a retractable grass field with an artificial surface underneath that would be used for NFL games. This field will be multi-use and capable of hosting other sporting, entertainment and community events. Both sports will have dedicated facilities ensuring that the new stadium, designed with a focus on atmosphere, will deliver the optimum experience for both teams and fans. It will be one of the most environmentally sustainable in the UK and also include a clear focus on accessibility via public transportation. Beyond the field, the new stadium will feature a permanent visitor's center and arrivals hub with an interactive museum to celebrate club history and local heritage, a cinema, the club megastore, ticket office and cafe. At the top of the stadium will be a 40 meters high "Sky Walk" showcasing vistas of London. The stadium is part of the Northumberland Development Project, which will include a new community health center, 180-room hotel and four new residential buildings with 579 apartments designed by Allies and Morrison. New four residential buildings from 16 to 32 stories will offer a mix of 1, 2 and 3-bedroom apartments, including affordable housing. The new development will provide 275 parking spaces for cars and 900 spaces for bicycles. There also will be a 25 thousand square meters of employment space.

Future plans for London's 2012 Olympic Park have been unveiled, and James Corner-the landscape architect behind the famous suspension park High Line in New York-will be taking his talents across the pond to turn the park's south plaza into 222 thousand square meters of "active spaces", reported The Inhabitat. Due to be completed by spring of 2014, the redesigned park will include areas for public performances, picnics and even rock-climbing within the vast urban green space. The redesigned Olympic Park will include a 12-metre wide tree-lined promenade that will open up to a series of outdoor "rooms", separated by tall grasses. These active spaces will host a classic carousel, an amphitheater and a play space with a climbing wall. There will also be spaces reserved for picnics, concerts and other events. The design also includes the addition of variety of trees and plants native to the local area, with planting and horticulture by Piet Oudolf , who also lent his design talents to The Highline. We think London is pretty lucky to be receiving such talent! So for those of us who didn't make it to the Olympic Games this year-no worries-here is a reason to plan a visit to the park grounds for future years to come.