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Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena (/ˈwɛmbli/) (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater London's second-largest indoor arena after the O2 Arena, and the ninth-largest in the United Kingdom.
The Empire Pool (also known as Empire Pool and Sports Arena) was built for the 1934 British Empire Games by Arthur Elvin. As its original name suggested, it was where the games' swimming events were held. The pool was last used for the 1948 Summer Olympics. The modern arena is now used as a venue for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport.
The building was designed by the engineer Sir Owen Williams, without the employment of an architect. Williams built a unique structure, with cantilevers meeting in the middle, thus avoiding the need for internal pillars. He also used high quality concrete, meaning that it has aged far better than many more recent concrete buildings. The building had a reinforced concrete frame of three hinged arches spanning 240 feet (73 m), which was the largest concrete span of any similar structure in the world at that time.
Work on the Empire Pool began in November 1933, and it was opened on 25 July 1934 by Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester. The swimming pool itself was 200 feet (61 m) long and 60 feet (18 m) wide with a removable deck for ice skating. As with the adjacent stadium, construction was supervised by R.J. Fowler, Wembley's chief building inspector. The end of the building opened up and led to sunbathing terraces and lawns. The sides had 15 massive concrete buttresses and the tops of the ends were glazed with 20 narrow window lights of increasing height from the edges to the centre.[citation needed]
Ice hockey was introduced to the Empire Pool in October 1934.
In 1940 the Empire Pool was used to billet several hundred Gibraltarian evacuees who were removed from Gibraltar as the Fortress was extensively reinforced in expectation of heavy Axis attack and possible Invasion.[citation needed]
In October 1976, the Empire Pool was awarded Grade II Listed status, protecting it and recognising it as a building of special architectural interest, technological innovation and virtuosity. On 1 February 1978, the Empire Pool was renamed Wembley Arena.
When the venue was known as the Empire Pool, it hosted the annual NME Poll Winners Concerts during the mid-1960s. Audiences of 10,000 viewed acts like the Beatles, Cliff Richard & The Shadows, the Monkees, the Hollies, Dusty Springfield, Joe Brown & the Bruvvers, and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. The individual performances were then finished by a famous personality joining the respective performer on stage and presenting them with their award. The Beatles were presented with one of their awards by actor Roger Moore, and Joe Brown was joined on stage by Roy Orbison who presented him with his own award. These ceremonies were filmed, recorded and later broadcast on television.[citation needed]
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Wembley Arena AI simulator
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Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena (/ˈwɛmbli/) (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater London's second-largest indoor arena after the O2 Arena, and the ninth-largest in the United Kingdom.
The Empire Pool (also known as Empire Pool and Sports Arena) was built for the 1934 British Empire Games by Arthur Elvin. As its original name suggested, it was where the games' swimming events were held. The pool was last used for the 1948 Summer Olympics. The modern arena is now used as a venue for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport.
The building was designed by the engineer Sir Owen Williams, without the employment of an architect. Williams built a unique structure, with cantilevers meeting in the middle, thus avoiding the need for internal pillars. He also used high quality concrete, meaning that it has aged far better than many more recent concrete buildings. The building had a reinforced concrete frame of three hinged arches spanning 240 feet (73 m), which was the largest concrete span of any similar structure in the world at that time.
Work on the Empire Pool began in November 1933, and it was opened on 25 July 1934 by Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester. The swimming pool itself was 200 feet (61 m) long and 60 feet (18 m) wide with a removable deck for ice skating. As with the adjacent stadium, construction was supervised by R.J. Fowler, Wembley's chief building inspector. The end of the building opened up and led to sunbathing terraces and lawns. The sides had 15 massive concrete buttresses and the tops of the ends were glazed with 20 narrow window lights of increasing height from the edges to the centre.[citation needed]
Ice hockey was introduced to the Empire Pool in October 1934.
In 1940 the Empire Pool was used to billet several hundred Gibraltarian evacuees who were removed from Gibraltar as the Fortress was extensively reinforced in expectation of heavy Axis attack and possible Invasion.[citation needed]
In October 1976, the Empire Pool was awarded Grade II Listed status, protecting it and recognising it as a building of special architectural interest, technological innovation and virtuosity. On 1 February 1978, the Empire Pool was renamed Wembley Arena.
When the venue was known as the Empire Pool, it hosted the annual NME Poll Winners Concerts during the mid-1960s. Audiences of 10,000 viewed acts like the Beatles, Cliff Richard & The Shadows, the Monkees, the Hollies, Dusty Springfield, Joe Brown & the Bruvvers, and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. The individual performances were then finished by a famous personality joining the respective performer on stage and presenting them with their award. The Beatles were presented with one of their awards by actor Roger Moore, and Joe Brown was joined on stage by Roy Orbison who presented him with his own award. These ceremonies were filmed, recorded and later broadcast on television.[citation needed]