Copperbox, Olympic Park, Stratford, UK

Architect	MAKE Architecture
Date Built	2010
Location	City Road
Description
The Copperbox is one of the facilities at the London Olympic Park that will stay after the games are over. The building has been designed as a multifunctional arena with applications in sport and leisure. During the Olympics it was the venue for Handball and Modern Pentathlon Fencing and during the Paralympics it hosted Goalball (see below). As the architect's website says, "Post-games, the building will host local, national and international sporting events and concerts, but will also operate day-to-day as a community leisure and training facility covering a wide range of amateur and professional indoor sports including basketball, badminton, boxing, martial arts, netball, wheelchair rugby and volleyball. A flexible system of retractable seating allows the internal arena to be reconfigured for specific events and capacity requirements up to a maximum of 6,000 seats; the system is electronically activated, enabling the configuration to change easily and quickly with minimal disruption." The name of the facility comes from its shape and the fact that it is indeed clad in, "3,000m2 of sustainably-sourced copper, combining efficiency and performance with a distinctive appearance which will develop a rich natural patina as it ages." Inside 88 light pipes have been incorporated into the roof which bring natural light into the building helping it to reach its energy saving targets.