Olympic media centre work gets underway

When finished they will provide just under 900,000 sq ft of business space and will be used by around 20,000 media during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The scale of the IBC building is huge. It will be 275m long,104m wide and 21m high - big enough to house five jumbo jets.

The building is the last of the five "big build" venues on the Olympic park to be started. Work on the others - the velodrome, aquatic centre, Olympic village and the main stadium - is already well underway.

David Higgins, chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority, said: "The 'big build' is right on track as we make steady progress on the venues and infrastructure needed both for the London 2012 Games and the regeneration of this part of east London."

When the Games are over the IBC and MPC are planned to become a business hub for Stratford, with plenty of media companies already interested in occupying the premises.

Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee, said: "This is a significant step towards the provision of the best possible working environment and technology for the 20,000 members of the world's broadcasters, press and photographers in the summer of 2012.

"Millions of people around the world rely on the international media to relay the stories of human endeavour on the field of play. The impressive facilities we have planned will give us the best possible foundations for telling all the stories from the London 2012 Games whilst leaving high performance workspace for the east of London."

Mayor of London Boris Johnson added: "This is further proof that progress on the site is well on schedule thanks to the world class team that is building London's 2012 venues.

"After the Games the development of a new creative quarter in Hackney around these facilities and the infrastructure that supports them will deliver many new jobs and new opportunities for East London."