ArcelorMittal Orbit

London Mayor Boris Johnson meets Lakshmi Mittal, Chairman and CEO of steel company ArcelorMittal, by chance in a cloakroom at the World Economic Forum Summit in Davos, Switzerland in 2009. Knowing that India-born Lakshmi Mittal had adopted London as his home, the Mayor tells him about his vision for an iconic landmark to commemorate the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games. Lakshmi Mittal offers to donate the steel to build the landmark and so, in that 45-second chance conversation, the ambitious plan to build the ArcelorMittal Orbit is agreed.

The Mayor of London’s office takes the lead in developing a competition to find a design with the “wow factor” for the Olympic structure. The great and good of London’s art world are invited to sit on an advisory panel, tasked with drawing up a list of artists, architects, designers and engineers who could take the challenge on. The judges are looking for an iconic, artistic object that the public could interact with. A joint entry from world-renowned sculptor Anish Kapoor and award-winning engineer Cecil Balmond wins the day.

When the London Mayor’s office invites Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond to submit an entry, it says the Mayor is “looking for an icon to match the Eiffel Tower”. That is an irresistible challenge for the pair, who had collaborated before. They are partly inspired by the Tower of Babel – a seemingly impossible structure reaching up beyond the clouds.

Towers have traditionally been built using a pyramidal structure but Cecil Balmond and Anish Kapoor set out to do something different. “We wanted to see if we could create a structure that seemed unstable, seemed to be propping itself up,” says Cecil Balmond. “So, we’ve slowly evolved a form that seems to be teetering, weaving itself, a loop.” Building that takes a lot of engineering know-how but Cecil Balmond hopes visitors will forget about the engineering and simply “experience” the structure.

Designs for the ArcelorMittal Orbit are unveiled to the public at a press conference at London’s City Hall. Mayor Boris Johnson tells reporters: “Anish Kapoor’s inspired art work will truly encapsulate the energy and spirit of London during the [Olympic] Games and, as such, will become the perfect iconic cultural legacy.”

Two-and-a-half square kilometres of land in east London has been regenerated to host the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games. Eight new venues have been built in the Olympic Park, including the velodrome and the basketball and water polo arenas. The ArcelorMittal Orbit stands between the Olympic Stadium and the Aquatics Centre on the south side of the park, at the heart of the Olympic action.

CGI courtesy of Arup

A ground-breaking ceremony takes place at the ArcelorMittal Orbit site in the Olympic Park to mark the start of construction. London Mayor Boris Johnson and Lakshmi Mittal, Chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, are joined by Anish Kapoor and Andrew Altman, CEO of the London Legacy Development Corporation, for the ceremony.

The ArcelorMittal Orbit will be constructed on site in the Olympic Park like a giant Meccano set. The parts – 600 star-like nodes of steel – are precision-built by a team of 100 staff at Watson Steel Structures in Bolton, northern England. The team uses the latest in computer and laser technology to achieve accuracies of within 1-2mm. The unique design means it won’t be possible to make adjustments to the structure once construction starts on site.

The ArcelorMittal Orbit’s spiral staircase is 1,150 feet long and has 455 steps. The staircase is made completely of recycled steel, donated by ArcelorMittal and supplied from its steel plant in Esch-Belval, Luxembourg. At the very top there will be stunning views across London – visitors can then take the staircase down to the ground.

Pierre Engel, Chief Project Engineer of the ArcelorMittal Orbit, is responsible for ensuring the construction goes smoothly. He has a lot on his plate. No other building like this has been constructed before – as a sculpture, the structure is completely asymmetrical and every line of it is curved. Is it also the first time a 114.5m high building is being assembled without scaffolding. Pierre Engel must enforce high safety standards and ensure every stage of the construction is completed on time and with absolute precision if the ArcelorMittal Orbit is to be ready in time for the Olympic Games.

Each piece of the ArcelorMittal Orbit is transported from Watson Steel Structures’ plant in Bolton, northern England, to the Olympic Park in London by lorry. The pieces are lifted in place and bolted together on site by just four men – steel erectors Kirk Bibly and Andrew Canning, crane operator Mark Stowers and site foreman Matthew Collier. The men must have a strong head for heights – every single piece of the 114.5m tall structure is lifted and bolted into place without the use of scaffolding.

Nearly a year after construction of the ArcelorMittal Orbit began, the final piece is lifted and bolted into place to create the UK’s tallest sculpture, standing at 114.5 metres. Attention will now turn to fitting out the structure in preparation for it to open to Olympic ticket holders during the Games. The fitting-out team expects to complete and hand over the ArcelorMittal Orbit to the London Legacy Development Corporation in Spring 2012.

Less than a year since completion, and the ArcelorMittal Orbit has already become an iconic London landmark thanks to its starring role in the 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games. During London 2012, the structure appeared on countless news broadcasts, received 130,000 visitors – including the Queen – and provided a central focal point for everyone on the site. ArcelorMittal executives celebrate this success, describe the unique experience of visiting the structure and deliberate on its future role.