The 2012 Athletes Village has been recycled to create a new housing development called East Village. The houses are a mix of private, affordable rental and shared ownership. A total of 2818 homes have been created, along with many services including a school for 3-18 year olds called Chobham Academy and a nursery. East Village is located within 27 acres of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It has 30 local independent shops and cafés and its own health facilities, the Sir Ludwig Guttman Health and Wellbeing Centre. There are also facilities for children including Tumbling Bay playground and Wild Kingdom playground. Westfield Stratford City's array of shops is easily accessible from East Village. All London airports can be reached within an hour and West End is only 20 minutes away.
How has sustainability been considered?
How has sustainability been considered?
- East Village is extremely well served by public transport, which not only eases car congestion but also reduces carbon dioxide emissions. There are 9 rail links, 195 trains per hour, 15 local bus services and the newest and safest cycle routes. The Thames Clipper can also be easily be caught from nearby Greenwich. Stratford International station and Stratford Docklands Light Railway (DRL) station are a five minute walk away. On the edge of East Village there is Lee Valley Regional Park which contains many cycle tracks and 42km of canal walks.
- Only certified timber being used in the construction of the village.
- During construction, 4000 local people were trained and worked on the building site.
- 183,000 tonnes of carbon will be saved by the insulation of the homes.
- 90% of construction waste was directed away from landfill.
- Natural light has been incorporated into the design so that fewer lights have to be switched on inside the homes. Use of LED lights cuts carbon emissions by 5000 tonnes per year.
- Living green roofs have been planted on all buildings higher than 100m. These absorb carbon dioxide, encourage wildlife and reduce noise.
- A biomass power station on site delivers heat and energy to the development.
- East Village has a water-recycling project. Water from gutters and roofs is reused to keep gardens looking good.
- Then it is filtered by the wetlands and bought back into the system. Grey water from showers and washing machines is reused for flushing loos. A third less water will be used in East Village per person than in the UK as a whole. Landscaping of the area has enabled surface run-off to be caught so that flooding risks are reduced.
- In May 2011 a rare Black Redstart was found to be nesting on site so construction halted until it had finished nesting.
- There is a community orchard which adds to the biodiversity of the area and also reduces the air miles of some food supplies.
- Wetlands, treetop walkways and Mirabelle Gardens are all areas of green space where wildlife, including Dunnocks and House Sparrows, is encouraged to thrive.