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Atkins notches up 450,000 days as Games countdown reaches 100 days - 18 April 2012
After completing the equivalent of 1,200 years or approaching 450,000 days of work, Atkins is preparing for the final 100 days of effort before the London 2012 Games are officially opened.
Since 2005, Atkins has been involved with preparing the Capital for Games spectators to enjoy all the city has to offer, as well as the Olympic Park and other sporting venues such as Greenwich Park for the equestrian events.
Peter Heath is Atkins’ design director specialising in improvements to London’s public realm. Since standing amidst the crowds on the Atkins-improved north terrace in Trafalgar Square leaping at the announcement that London had won the bid, he has had his own eyes and those of clients focused on the Games deadlines.
He said: “Oxford Circus, where Oxford Street and Regent Street cross, is used by 90m pedestrians a year and has already been transformed, long in advance of the Games. As a key Underground station and route to and from Stratford on the Central Line, the redesign carried out by Atkins has created more space and a safer crossing to help existing and hundreds of thousands of extra Games-time visitors enjoy their West End shopping trips as well as the sports.”
“Other projects along Regent Street in time for the Games have included Piccadilly Circus improvements, which is the very heart of tourist visitor London for the Crown Estate. Nearby, the improved Quadrant development, is in the middle of its planned 100 day countdown to look its best, with a series of phased openings including restored Art Deco bars, restaurants, and new shops around the Glasshouse Street pedestrianised area, linking to the entertainment heart of Soho.”
Mike McNicholas, Atkins’ London 2012 project director who has been working on the project from the initial planning stages, said: “Over the last six years, our people have spent the equivalent of almost 450,000 days designing, planning and managing engineering projects which will be vital to the success of the London 2012 Games. With just 100 days to go and with most of the permanent infrastructure finished or nearing completion the temporary venues will be in the spotlight. With many of them being created at the heart of London life, like Greenwich Park, Horse Guards Parade, The ExCeL and Lords Cricket Ground, their transformation from London landmarks to sporting arenas has been planned as close to the Games as possible to minimise disruption. We’ll be working around-the-clock to get London ready to welcome the world.”
For the 100 day milestone, Atkins is today launching new social media channels dedicated to news and updates on its work delivering the London 2012 Games. Follow on Twitter at @Atkins_2012, or like us on Facebook at Atkins 2012.
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Notes to editors:
Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com) is one of the world's leading engineering and design consultancies*, employing some 17,700 people across the UK, North America, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Europe. It has the breadth and depth of expertise to plan, design and enable some of the world's most technically challenging and time critical infrastructure projects.
*It is the largest engineering consultancy in the UK (New Civil Engineer Consultants File 2012) and the 13th largest global design firm (Engineering News-Record 2011).
Recent projects include:
- Major infrastructure works, such as the design and programme management of the civil works for the Dubai Metro red and green lines in the UAE;
- Key rail projects – providing architectural and engineering design services on Crossrail, Europe’s biggest civil engineering project in London, UK, and designing stations, tunnelling and track systems for Gautrain, South Africa’s first high speed line;
- Renewable energy schemes – transformer platform design for the Thanet offshore wind park in the North Sea;
- Multi-year architecture-engineering construction management services for the US National Park Service, including projects such as rehabilitation of the Furnace Creek Visitor Center and Administrative Complex at California’s Death Valley to meet the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification standards;
- High profile transport planning and urban design – our innovative scheme to deliver a diagonal crossing at Oxford Circus in London, UK, has helped tackle the problem of pedestrian crowding;
- Water and environmental projects – critical programme management of storm protection works in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Southern Louisiana in North America, providing expertise in coastal restoration, engineering, environmental and GIS support to rebuild defenses and protect habitats;
- Multidisciplinary building design – Northwood Primary School in Darlington, UK, is an exemplar project which raises standards for environmental design and community engagement.
Atkins was named among The Sunday Times 25 Best Big Companies to Work For 2011, won Consultancy of the Year in the CIBSE Low Carbon Performance Awards 2010, received the first ever certification of the Carbon Trust Standard awarded to an engineering consultancy in the construction sector, and was included in The Times Top 50 Employers for Women 2011 and The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2010. Atkins was also construction and civil engineering sector winner for the fifth consecutive year in the Target National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2010 and was awarded a RoSPA Gold Award 2011 for excellence in control of health and safety in the workplace.
Atkins is the official engineering design services provider for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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Olympic rings approaching Tower Bridge