London's newest neighbourhood - East Village - is to be celebrated with an exhibition at NLA, the centre for London's built environment. East Village - a lasting legacy for London will run from 13 March until the end of the month.
Adjacent to the Olympic Park in Stratford, East Village is set to be the first residential legacy of the London Olympic Games after housing the Olympic and Paralympic athletes during the Games. Some 2,818 new homes - 1,439 of them private and 1,379 affordable - will be made available from 2013.
Curated by Peter Murray, chairman of NLA, the exhibition will provide an opportunity for the public to get acquainted with the story of the project so far and find out what life will be like in the new postcode of E20. The exhibition will also demonstrate the project's role in transforming the Stratford area and East London in general.
Architects who have been involved in the project were chosen from a worldwide competition held in 2007 that received more than 460 submissions. Sixteen architects were eventually selected to contribute, including Glenn Howells Architects, Patel Taylor in a joint venture with Bligh Voller Nield Architecture, Niall McLaughlin and Piercy Conner.
East Village spreads over 27 ha of land, featuring 11 uniquely designed building plots and 10 ha of green and public space. The site will also have its own school - Chobham Academy - designed with a balloon-style inflatable roof, which is more energy efficient than concrete.
Sustainability is a key word throughout the project. For example the buildings feature 'green roofs' - plant-covered rooftops that will provide insulation as well as absorb rain and CO2. LED lighting systems designed to last for 40,000 hours have been specially developed in collaboration with lighting manufacturer Philips, and the majority of the power for the neighbourhood will come from two on-site combined cooling heat and power plants.
East Village - a lasting legacy for London is open until 31 March at NLA in The Building Centre, Store Street, London WC1.
