North Greenwich Arena
Better known as The O2 Arena, North Greenwich will trade in its role as a music and exhibition venue for gymnastics and basketball.
Name: Greenwich Arena (also called The O2 Arena)
Location: Greenwich peninsula, London
Events: Gymnastics and basketball
About North Greenwich Arena in Greenwich peninsula
Better known as The O2 Arena, North Greenwich will trade in its role as a music and exhibition venue for gymnastics and basketball.
The arena can hold 8,000 more people than the Basketball Arena in Olympic Park, and thus will host all men's games from the quarterfinals on, as well as the women's semifinals and final. It is located on the Greenwich peninsula in East London, in the entertainment district known as The 02.
Construction began in 2003 and took four years, with the dome roof taking a lot of skill and time. It is cited that since heavy cranes could not be used inside, the dome-roof was built on the ground and lifted up as a whole.
Another striking feature here is that the seating plan can be modified and the surface of the ground can switch between being an ice-rink, basketball court, exhibition hall and concert venue. Special care was taken to ensure that echoing was kept to the minimum while the acoustics of the place was also improved.
The arena has hosted a tennis event, two editions of National Hockey League and a NBA exhibition match. It was also home to the 2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.