ODA head of design Jerome Frost talks Olympics, design cuts, and sewers
- Published: 22 February 2008 10:51
- Author: Max Thompson
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- Last Updated: 22 February 2008 17:14
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Jerome Frost, 37, is head of design for the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), here he tells Max Thompson that there is plenty of design work left in the Games and reveals a penchant for wading around in sewers.
What is your mission statement for the 2012 Olympics?
What we are planning for now should have a 100-year lifetime. It is about legacy coming first.
Was it hard to see Zaha Hadid's Aquatics Centre cut back?
It wasn't hard at all. If you are designing for legacy it is not a difficult decision to cut. How many swimming pools are there across the UK that are struggling viability wise? You have to be very, very rigorous to make sure that you are not building something you can't afford.
I don't believe we cut it back; it was part of the design process. It wasn't even a brave decision to make, it was the obvious decision.
HOK Sport's main stadium has come in for criticism. In terms of design, how will the London Games compare with Beijing 2008?
Drawing comparison with the [Herzog & de Meuron's] Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing is like drawing a comparison with the Chinese and British economies – we have very different focuses.
One of the issues for us is driving sustainable thought into design, and that is where our design philosophy is going. In a country like ours it
would be inappropriate to build something like the Bird's Nest. Our bid was about replicability – no-one will be able to build the Bird's Nest again. London needs to show how to do a successful Games at an affordable price.
Have you made a decision on the fencing arena and other temporary venues?
No we haven't. It's still early days.
Do you think the public appreciates the enormity of the project?
I went to the Open House event last year where members of the public were bussed around the site, and sat quietly at the back listening to what people were saying. They would start off with the critical chatter you might expect, but that slowly drifted away, and by the end of it there were rounds of applause for the people who had taken them round.
Is there anything left to design?
We have interviews today [15 February] for the Eton Manor and the Media Centre is down to two developer consortia. In terms of smaller things we are putting together the last bones of the brief for what we are calling an Olympic Design Panel, which will cover a whole series of smaller buildings.
Will designs drawn up by students for the gabions (AJ online 19.02.08) be realised?
There is every chance. We are determined to keep doing those sorts of thing and to make sure that the day-to-day management doesn't step in front of bringing fresh creative thought into the process.
"We are trying to combine what Sydney, Barcelona and Munich achieved"
Have any schemes acted as role models?
We are trying to do a combination of what Sydney (2000), Barcelona (1992) and Munich (1972) managed to achieve. In terms of legacy, the Argent scheme at King's Cross is a clear precedent.
How much say does the ODA have in the design of Lend Lease's Athletes' Village?
To a very large extent we let them get on with it. Although it is not our role to deliver the Athletes' Village, we are heavily involved. For example, Ricky Burdett, who works in my team, was on the jury that selected the [47-strong] design panel.
Which architects do you admire?
I enjoy working with Allies and Morrison, they bring a very pragmatic, but clever response to issues. I'm also a fan of Modernism. For my birthday I got a set of Modernist housing plates showing Highpoint, the Barbican Centre and Isokon. They are too beautiful to eat off. I've got some Hayward Gallery coffee mugs as well.
You have held design competitions for two power plants (won by NORD and John McAslan) and a little bird tells me you are a fan of sewers…
I love Joseph Bazalgette [who created the London sewer network]. One of the first things I did when I started this job was to go down Greenway Sewer [which bisects the Olympic Park].
It horrifies me how people don't believe that there is a role in investing in the architecture of utility buildings. I hope our primary sub-energy centre (designed by NORD) will trigger a renaissance in the pride we invest in these buildings. They are the beacons of our aim to reduce our carbon output and we should be proud of them.
