Olympic sculpture slide: Go-ahead for 'world's biggest' helter-skelter on Orbit Tower

 
Slide: The helter-skelter will wind around the ArcelorMittal Orbit (Picture: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park)
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Ramzy Alwakeel29 July 2015

A 178-metre helter-skelter will be built around the Olympic Park's ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture after getting the thumbs-up from planning bosses.

Visitors will hit speeds of 15mph on the giant 12-loop slide, which will begin from a height of 74m above ground and is expected to last about 40 seconds per ride.

The slide, whose plans were revealed by the Standard earlier this year, was signed off by the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park last night, and will be built in time for spring 2016, according to director of visitor services Peter Tudor.

"Now we've got to work out how to attach it to the sculpture," Mr Tudor told the Standard.

"It will be manufactured off-site. The real challenge is the construction process - whether to scaffold around the sculpture or whether it can be done by abseiling."

Mock-up: How the 40-second slide could look (Picture: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park)
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Although the slide will be wrapped around the outside of Anish Kapoor's iconic sculpture it will be "unobtrusive", Mr Tudor promised.

"The entry will be on the low platform and it'll come down to the ground winding in and out of the legs of the Orbit," he said.

"So it will fit within the silhouette of the sculpture - but you will be able to see it."

Mr Tudor would not be drawn on how long the slide plans had been kept under wraps, but said the idea had been "bubbling under" for some time as visitors often remarked how much the Orbit looked like a funfair attraction.

Twists: The helter-skelter shown in red on early planning documents (Picture: Bblur Architects)
Bblur Architects

"It's about adding another attraction to the attraction," he said. "We've already got Anish Kapoor's mirrors that turn everything upside-down, and the view. We're looking at what other experiences can we provide to engage with the sculpture."

The slide, whose admission will be around the £5 mark, will cost an as-yet-undisclosed sum to build - with tenders expected to go out within a week.

It was designed with the help of Marylebone architects Bblur.

The slide will have disabled access although bosses have yet to work out how they will get wheelchairs down to the ground after their users have entered the slide.

Orbit: Anish Kapoor's sculpture was unveiled in 2012 (Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty)
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Although it will use the same area of the Orbit as the abseiling attraction opened last year, the two will not get in each other's way.

Mr Tudor, who insisted the slide had been designed with the artist's blessing and input, said it would complement Kapoor's vision of "light to dark".

Parts of the slide will be transparent to offer views across east London.

Thrill seekers will be able to use the attraction at a rate of about one per minute.

"The slide starts in darkness [on the platform] and then you get outside and it's in blazing light," he said.

"One of the reasons it's called the Orbit is you orbit it. This is another way to do that."

The Tower itself was first unveiled in 2012 to coincide with the Olympic Games for which the park was built.

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