The Olympics presents an opportunity for the UK to demonstrate to world markets that it is a leader across a number of different fields: on the sports field, in event organisation and in design and construction. In particular, the UK will wish to demonstrate that it excels in all these fields and does so in a manner that is in sympathy with its local and natural environment producing a truly sustainable Olympic Games and Legacy. 

Whilst we leave sport and event management to others, the wood industry has a tremendous amount to offer in designing and constructing an environmentally-sustainable Olympics and reducing the environmental impact of changing from ‘Games’ mode to ‘Legacy’ mode.

We are therefore calling for an opportunity to demonstrate to the world what the wood industry operating in the UK can do to contribute to cutting-edge stadiums and sustainable housing (both for the Olympic village and future legacy homes). We don’t want or realistically expect all the buildings on the Olympic site to be made of wood, but we do believe that some of the projects and buildings should be primarily made of wood in order to present examples of the UK’s excellence in design and construction using a wide variety of building materials.

In fact, given that wood is the only natural renewable construction material, we believe the UK Government should be championing its use as an example of the adoption of best practice in the use of sustainable materials.

We would also like to draw the attention of the Olympic Delivery Authority to existing examples of the use of wood in design and build projects across the UK. These would include:

·         The Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and the Welsh National Assembly in Cardiff, where wood provides the ideal material for large iconic projects.

·         The Sage in Gateshead and the Princess Royal Stadium in Boston are both examples of how wood can be used in large-scale sporting and entertainment venues.

·         The Timber House provides an ideal example of wood delivering modern and sustainable housing designs.

The appendices at the end of this document include more information on these examples.