Special features of the London 2012 Stadium

Last updated at 12:06 07 November 2007

The stadium for the London 2012 Olympics will be the centrepiece for the Games and will host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the athletics events.

The biggest difference to previous Olympic stadia are the 55,000 'demountable'

or temporary seats.

The main features of the design are:

• a sunken bowl built into the ground for the field of play and lower

permanent seating, designed to bring spectators close to the action.

• 25,000 permanent seats, 55,000 demountable.

• a cable-supported roof that will stretch 28 metres the whole way around the

stadium, providing cover for two-thirds of spectators.

• a fabric curtain will wrap around the stadium structure, acting as

additional protection and shelter for spectators.

• facilities such as catering and merchandising will be grouped into

self-contained 'pod' structures.

Olympic Delivery Authority chairman John Armitt said: "London's Olympic

Stadium is designed to be different.

"The rapid progress we are making in clearing and cleaning the site means that

we are now planning to start construction of the stadium on site next year, two

to three months early."

London 2012 chairman Seb Coe said: "We talk a lot about milestones, but few

will be more exciting than this, the unveiling of the Olympic Stadium, which

will be the centrepiece of our Olympic Park.

"The stadium will stand for everything we talked about in the bid: it will be

inspiring, innovative and sustainable."