Skip to Content

Travel Photo: London From Above at the Olympic Park’s ArcelorMittal Orbit

You know how sometimes you’re just in the right place at the right time? Well, while in London earlier this month I had the chance for a sneak-peak visit to the UK’s tallest sculpture—the ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture tower in the very center of the 2012 Olympic Park. It stands 114.5 meters tall (or 376 feet) and painted a stark (and impressive) red: RAL 3003 / Pantone 704.

Designed by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond, the sculpture is made up of over 2,000 tons of steel (57% of which is recycled). And I have to say, the only time when you really notice that this is a massive steel structure is when you’re underneath it. There’s a cone which helps to balance the structure at the base—providing a surreal moment when you realize directly above your head is a terrifying amount of very heavy metal. Here are two press photos from their official website to give you an idea of this thing, but my iPhone photos from the viewing platform are further below :)

Tallest Sculpture in UK Orbit sculpture

Up at the top

The public viewing platforms up near the top of the ArcelorMittal Orbit were open in the London 2012 Summer Olympics, though it’s since been closed. They’ll reopen in the spring, but I had the chance for a quick sneak peak. The top viewing platform was mostly enclosed with a walkway that wrapped around 3/4 of the outside (all inside a steel-mesh wire thing) providing a more unobstructed view.

The viewing platform, when I visited, was pretty much empty except for two million-pound (£) concave mirror that made me dizzy (not pictured — so you don’t get dizzy). Besides that, it was a nice view over London — especially over the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park which is currently undergoing massive updates & renovations to turn it into a proper community center. By the time it’s finished, the Olympic swimming pool (where Michael Phelps once swam!) will be open to the public as a community aquatic center, plus green spaces and cycling paths throughout the park. Naturally the ArcelorMittal Orbit Tower (which is really an impressive site in the daylight) provides an awesome view over East London below.

Check out my photos below…I for one can’t wait to see how the old Olympic Park gets transformed over the next year! FYI: Instead of taking the elevator back down to the ground, I opted for the 455 stairs down. It was perfectly manageable if not a bit confusing which direction I was going sometimes. That’s one weird sculpture.

ArcelorMittal Orbit Tower

AccelorMittal Orbit

AccelorMittal Orbit Tower

View of London from Above

AccelorMittal Orbit

More information about Anish Kapoor’s ArcelorMittal Orbit can be found here, including details on ticket prices when it’s open to the public in 2014.

  1. Jay@TravelIdeaz says:

    One of the million reasons why London is one of my favorite places in the world, as well as most everyone’s lists. It’s beautiful!! Thank you so much for the share!

    Cheers.

  2. Monica says:

    Wow, what an amazing view. I didn’t even know you could go up it. I love views over London at night – it’s always so much better than during the day!

    • Adam says:

      You’re probably right, Monica, about the nighttime views being better than daylight — there’s just too much fog/grey skies/rain during the day!! The only other panoramic viewpoint I’ve been to in London is the view from St Paul’s which I’m fairly certain closes before it gets dark, same as the London Monument. I guess the only other nighttime panorama I know of is the view from The Shard.

  3. Beth says:

    I had no idea you could go up it either, but I’m sure the views are amazing. It will be cool to see how the put to use Olympic Park over the next few years!

    • Adam says:

      Yes indeed Beth! Previous Olympic Parks have always been an interest of mine because it’s so neat to see how they convert the space into public use. Seems like London has some ambitious goals and can’t wait to see what it turns into over time!

  4. xixerone says:

    Hey, you actually wrote about it! I was looking at the pics the other night and considering to write something on my blog, but then I got distracted and didn’t!

    Nice post :)

    • Adam says:

      Thanks Luis! I figured I had all these nice photos of the sculpture so wanted to share them somehow, somewhere!

  5. Steve says:

    The Olympic Park is amazing. As a born and bred East Londoner I am so happy to see this place change and develop. The latest part, E20, opens in September and will be fill of independent businesses. Not a chain in sight. Excited to go to the new Tina, We Salute You and Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes.

Comments are closed.