Designed by FaulknerBrowns Architects on behalf of Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA), the new £30m venue will replace the existing single-pad Lee Valley Ice Centre which, after 36 years of use, is nearing the end of its operational life and struggling to meet demand.

The facility will include two Olympic size ice rinks with capacity for 800 spectators, a gym and exercise studio, a multi-purpose studio and a café. The current Lee Valley Ice Centre is one of the most popular ice-skating venues in the UK accommodating around 279,000 visits a year from across London and the wider region. The new building will double the capacity to 557,000 visits per year and will expand the range of activities that can be run at the centre concurrently. 

The site for the new ice centre forms part of the 26 mile-long Lee Valley Regional Park, which is also home to three London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games venues: one of which - Lee Valley White Water Centre - as also designed by FaulknerBrowns.

One of the overarching principles of the project has been the need to produce as tight and efficient a building footprint as possible. Locating the ice rinks to each side with the circulation and support spaces between, has allowed the building to be reduced to the minimum footprint possible, without compromising the functional layout. Further area savings have been made by closely following the curvature of the ice pads with the building line on the external corners.

The new centre is highly sustainable and would see environmental improvements which would transform the area with significant native planting and landscape enhancements which will result in a significant biodiversity net gain of over 35 per cent.