The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has announced that Populous has been appointed as the Official Architectural and Overlay Design Services Provider, becoming a Tier Three commercial provider in the process.

Populous (formerly HOK Sport) is leading the team comprising Allies & Morrison and Lifshutz Davidson Sandilands to deliver the project. The consortium will work with LOCOG’s Venue and Infrastructure team, which is responsible for installing overlay to existing and newly built venues to ensure that they are fit for purpose for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. The consortium will provide design and drawing production services to support the development of these overlay designs for London 2012 venues.

The scope of this work includes 36 competition venues located both inside and outside the Olympic Park as well as a large number of non-competition venues including the Olympic Village, and the International Broadcast Centre/Main Press Centre (IBC/MPC).

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London 2012 Chairman Sebastian Coe commented on the deal: "Ensuring venues are ship-shape for Games-time use is a logistical challenge. Both new and existing venues will require additional work to ensure that they are operational and meet the unique criteria of the Games. We welcome Populous to the team - and look forward to working closely with them to bring the Games venues to life for 2012. They have a fantastic sporting pedigree and will, I am sure, be a fantastic asset to the team."

Populous senior principal Jerry Anderson said: "We are very excited to be able to bring our Overlay design experience to this incredible global event, and also to support London in hosting what I believe will be a spectacular Olympic and Paralympic Games."

John Barrow, senior principal at Populous said: "We are privileged to have been involved with the London 2012 Games since its inception, as part of the bid team, with the masterplanning and the design of the stadium itself. Considering the importance of the overlay for these Games, we are delighted that our work will continue to play a major role in the overall experience for spectators and athletes alike in the Summer of 2012."

As part of the deal, approximately 100 employees from the consortium will work alongside LOCOG designers and project managers to deliver the architectural and overlay designs for the venues.

(JM/BMcc)