The Basketball Arena for the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Paralympics was located in the Olympic Park in Stratford, London. The arena was recyclable and was demolished and recycled in 2013.
London’s Olympic bid proposed that there would be four arenas in the Olympic Park, but the revised masterplan published in 2006 reduced this to three, with the volleyball matches being moved to Earls Court Exhibition Centre. The fencing arena was also cancelled, and the fencing took place at ExCeL.
The Basketball Arena had 12,000 seats for Olympic basketball and the semi-finals and finals of the Olympic handball, and 10,000 for Paralympic wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby. The arena was also used as a holding area for athletes during the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the games. Concept designs by Wilkinson Eyre Architects & KSS Design Group (sports consultants) were agreed in June 2008 and a planning application was submitted in November 2008. It was a temporary venue, and the largest built for any Games. The possibility of subsequently deconstructing the arena and transporting it to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Summer Olympics was discussed.
The basketball arena took 15 months to build and was completed in June 2011.
In late 2012, it was announced that the arena will be demolished in the coming years. The arena was officially put up for sale on 20 January 2013.
