Olympic Park gets gold for ethical wood sourcing

Soil Association Woodmark has announced certification for ethical wood sourcing at 19 different sites around the Olympic Park following a ground breaking, collaborative project. Sites include the Velodrome and track, the Aquatics Centre and all the bridges, fences and benches. 

The project involved over 12,500 cubic metres of timber – from European construction timber to Tropical hardwoods – and is a world first that involved adapting existing standards to suit a demanding and complex site.

The Olympic Delivery Authority worked with Soil Association Woodmark to achieve certification to Forest Stewardship Council and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification standards.

 Noah Bold, the ODA’s park operations environment and sustainability manager, said: “Right from the start we knew we wanted our construction work to have the smallest possible environmental footprint and supporting sustainable forest management around the world was a big part of that. We hope that other large scale developments can be inspired by the scale of what we have achieved and that ethical wood sourcing will become the norm for future Olympic sites and construction projects globally.”