The Copper Box Arena
The Copper Box Arena during the 2012 Olympic Games
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| Location | Hackney Wick, London |
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| Coordinates | 51°32′39.84″N 0°1′12.36″W / 51.5444000°N 0.0201000°WCoordinates: 51°32′39.84″N 0°1′12.36″W / 51.5444000°N 0.0201000°W |
| Public transit |
     Stratford Stratford International Hackney Wick
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| Owner | Greenwich Leisure Limited |
| Operator | Olympic Delivery Authority |
| Capacity | 7,500 |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | October 2009 |
| Opened | May 2011 |
| Construction cost |
£44 million (£46.9 million in 2017 sterling) |
| Architect | MAKE architects, Populous, PTW Architects, ARUP |
| Tenants | |
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2012 Olympic Games 2012 Paralympic Games London Lions (2013–present) London GD Handball Club (2013–present) |
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The Copper Box Arena is a multi-sport venue used for the 2012 Summer Olympics, located in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Hackney Wick, London, England. Previously known as the Handball Arena, it was renamed because, aside from handball, it hosted modern pentathlon (fencing, shooting, swimming, horse jumping and running) during the Olympics and was the goalball venue for the 2012 Summer Paralympics.
London's Olympic bid proposed that there would be four indoor arenas in the Olympic Park, in addition to other main venues, but the revised masterplan published in 2006 reduced this to three, with the volleyball being moved to Earls Court Exhibition Centre. The fencing arena was also cancelled, and the fencing took place at ExCeL. Construction of the building was completed on time in early 2011 and came in under budget. The design incorporates light pipes and rainwater collectors to reduce both energy and water use by 40%. Test events were successfully hosted at the venue ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.
In January 2012, the venue was renamed the Copper Box from the Handball Arena, thus reflecting the look of the building and the fact that it would not just be used for Handball. English Handball campaigned for the rebrand to be reversed.
The Copper Box has 7,000 seats. It was used for handball preliminaries and modern pentathlon fencing during the Olympic Games, and for goalball during the Paralympic Games. The handball men's quarter-finals, all semi-finals and both finals were held at the larger Basketball Arena.
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