London Aquatic StadiumLondon, England
 In just two years, the Olympic Games will arrive in London. Despite having hosted the Games twice before, in 1908 and 1948, today this world-class city desperately lacks the facilities for a modern Olympics. With the world watching and a million visitors descending upon the capital, London must up its game for 2012. They have begun the city's single largest construction project in a quarter century: a 500-acre Olympic Park, with dozens of brand-new buildings, located in the middle of bustling East London. The crown jewel of the Olympic Park will be the $480 million London Aquatic Stadium. This state-of-the-art swimming facility — the site of 44 separate swimming and diving events in the Olympics — is making a splash with a record-breaking feature: a 120,000 square-foot steel roof. Its wave-like undulating design is the brainchild of Zaha Hadid, an Iraqi-English architect whose designs are so revolutionary, structural engineers have had to rewrite the rules of construction to build them. And the roof is only the beginning: Below, crews are racing to build two Olympic-size swimming pools, a diving pool with sculpted concrete diving boards, individualized water circulation systems and seating for 17,500 spectators. Facing a non-negotiable deadline — the beginning of Olympic trials next summer — construction crews are on a relentless schedule. With total access, Build It Bigger for the first time pulls the curtain back on the high-stakes build-up to an Olympic Games. Danny dives in, as workers race to complete the world's elite swimming facility, from the top of its record-shattering roof, to the bottom of its hand-tiled pool. If crews can cross the finish line on time, London will shine on the world stage and in the process set a new high-water mark for the Olympic facilities of tomorrow. |
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