Last of London's major stadiums built on Park

LONDON - Building work has finished on the London Olympic Park's last remaining major stadium, the water polo arena, a month before a test event, Games organizers said on Monday.

Pictures taken from a helicopter show the London 2012 Olympic Park, including the Olympic Stadium (top), of the athletics and opening and closing ceremonies, the Velodrome (bottom L), site of the cycling events, and the Aquatics Centre (bottom R), site of the swimming events, and street views. [Photo/Agencies]

The temporary venue, with its silver-coloured wrap and inflatable roof, was built by a firm forced to move from its previous site in Stratford, east London, to make way for the Olympic Park.

The wedge-shaped 5,000-seat stadium, costing about 25 million pounds ($40 million), was made from recyclable plastic, and is the last major venue to be built on the site by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), the body responsible for infrastructure.

It will stage the men's and women's water polo competitions before being taken down and the parts reused elsewhere in the country.

"The unique sloping roof design makes it instantly recognisable and, as with all our venues, huge efforts have gone into both sustainability and ensuring we don't build venues that have no use after the Games," the ODA's Chief Executive Dennis Hone, said in statement.

The venue, next to the striking aquatics centre in the south of the Olympic Park, has a lightweight roof made of air-inflated recycled PVC cushions which will provide extra insulation and reduce condensation, organisers said.

The only remaining stadium work to be carried out on the park, by the London organizing committee (LOCOG), is seating at the outdoor hockey arena.

ES Group, one of dozens of firms relocated from the 500-acre former industrial site when London was awarded the Games in 2005, built the main structure.