The plastic features, designed to encase the outside of the Stadium in order to decorate and protect it, was set to cost around £7 million ($11 million) but has been scrapped after the ODA was told to find £20 million ($32 million) of savings in the Comprehensive Spending Review last month.

The move has been criticised by some, including Rod Sheard, one of the senior architects behind the stadium, who said the limited cost benefits would be outweighed by the diminishing of the stadium's image and wind protection.

Sheard added: "It's great that people feel the work that has been completed to date is sufficiently elegant to not need further enclosure.

"But perhaps what people don't realise is the considerable quantity of very functional conduits, cables, trunking and general services that will be added to this highly visible space closer to the games and which will all be exposed if the wrap isn't built."

However, Sport and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson responded by saying it is not an essential part of the venue and, in tough economic times, can be justifiably sacrificed.

Robertson said: "Studies on wind in the stadium concluded that the wrap was only beneficial for the look of the stadium and not operationally essential.

"Some may even feel that the stadium looks even better without the wrap.

"The wrap is not required to ensure the appropriate wind conditions on the field of play and we are pleased that £7 million ($11 million) has been saved on a feature that is purely cosmetic."

Although there is still an outside chance that the Stadium could feature the wrap, alternative sources of funding would need to be found from private investors.



The removal of the wrap, as well as other efficiency savings, mean the final cost of the ODA programme has been reduced by £20 million ($32 million) while the overall public sector funding package for the Games remains at £9.298 billion ($15.009 billion).

Overall, the projected cost of the Games being delivered by the ODA has fallen by £29 million ($47 million) - from £7.261 billion ($11.721 billion) in June to £7.232 billion ($11.674 billion) in September 2010 - with further savings made in transport projects and procurement savings on the Eton Manor venue project.

Robertson continued: "The ODA has continued to drive down costs and deliver savings despite this being the most complex year in construction terms.

"The saving of £20 million ($32 billion) identified in the Spending Review has been achieved with little material impact to the programme."

ODA chief executive David Higgins added: "This report shows that we continue to be on time and within the budget set by the Government.

"We have made savings as part of the spending review process without jeopardising successful delivery and in total have now saved over £750 million ($1.2 billion) since the start of the project to keep us on track.

"Today we are announcing that the roof of the handball arena is complete and across the rest of the Olympic Park progress is very visible with the Velodrome set to be the first new venue on site to be finished early in 2011.

"With 75 per cent of the programme to Games-time now finished we are in the home straight but are not complacent and are focused on maintaining progress in the months ahead."

The majority of the £750 million ($1.2 billion) savings Higgins mentioned have been used to control the budget by offsetting cost increases in other areas of the programme and helping to fund the impact of the credit crunch, thereby reducing calls on the contingency.

Contingency funding totalling £39 million ($63 million) was released during the last quarter to enable the ODA to enter into contractual commitments for early security works as part of the Park Operations proposals, generating efficiencies in procurement.

It also covered additional security facilities around the Park, the areas between the site and the Westfield Shopping Centre, and for security of IT systems.

The gross allocation of contingency on the programme as of September 30 was £829 million ($1.3 billion) while there is £1.143 billion ($1.1845 billion) of contingency available for any unexpected problems although that is more than the value of assessed risks.

Contingency funds will be required to fund the Park Operations work following the finalisation of the business case.

From April 2011, as a result of the spending review settlement, around £500 million ($807 billion) of the funding package will be held as contingency for cross-programme issues which reflects the programme's changing focus from construction to operational requirements.

This is in addition to the Programme Contingency that forms part of the ODA's budget.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
July 2010: Cost of London 2012 lower than budgeted