A celebration of sport: Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games

A recognised expert in the area of Olympic Games, RLB provided advice for the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

About

Six years from now, the city of Rio de Janeiro will be transformed as it becomes the home of the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic and Paralympics Games.

The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games will be staged within the city of Rio de Janeiro in four venue clusters. The vibrant and thriving neighbourhood of Barra will host nearly 50 per cent of competition, while the Equestrian will be held in nearby Deodoro. The centerpiece of Deodoro will be the X Park, a venue geared to extreme sports such as mountain biking and kayaking.

An entertainment boulevard and a private beach will be designed exclusively for athletes, with the Olympic training centre set to provide world class training for athletes in 22 sports, a first of its kind in South America. This facility will operate these venues for decades to come.

Venue clusters will be linked by high performance rail and road infrastructure with sailing, road cycling and marathons taking place alongside the iconic beaches of Copacabana.

The Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games promises to transform the city of Rio de Janeiro, inspire the continent of South America and energise the Olympic and Paralympics movement for years to come.

Our role

Rider Levett Bucknall were first involved with the Brazilian Olympic Committee's Rio de Janeiro 2016 bid in late 2007 when Rio de Janeiro were initially bidding for the Olympic and Paralympics Games.

We prepared high level cost estimates for new venues such as new works at the proposed X Park venue (pictured).

When Rio de Janeiro was selected as one of the four candidate cities, Rider Levett Bucknall were re-engaged in September 2008 to provide more detailed cost estimates for the bid dossier.

The estimates we prepared were for both legacy (permanent works) and overlay (temporary works) costs for all competition and non competition venues.

Our engagement was through the entire bid process, including being available to answer questions presented by the Evaluation Commission during their visit to Rio.

While most of the work was undertaken from Rider Levett Bucknall's Canberra office under the direction of Mark Chappe, visits to Rio de Janeiro enabled us to work in partnership with the team to understand the venues and present our cost estimates around the needs of our client.

Overlay includes works such as temporary power, temporary field-of-play works, tents, portable buildings, seating, fencing, and temporary structures to support scoreboards, hardstands for compounds, pedestrian walkways and their reinstatement after the Games.

The costs had to be broken down in accordance with the Olympic Committee's special and unique requirements, separating costs into approximately 30 different categories, including logistics, broadcast, press, security and event services for each Olympic and Paralympics sport that will be accommodated.

Non-competition venues include athletes and media villages, press and broadcast centres, logistics warehouses and common domains where the atmosphere can be experienced by the public in-between sporting events.

Rider Levett Bucknall's involvement with the Rio de Janeiro 2016 bid was as a result of our experience in many international sporting events including the Sydney, Athens, Beijing and London Olympics as well as the Commonwealth Games (Melbourne and New Delhi), Pan American Games (Rio de Janeiro) and Asian Games (Doha).

We have also been involved in numerous bid opportunities for other Olympic, Commonwealth, Asian and Goodwill Games.

Client benefits

Estimating is a vital part of the pre-construction process, with a potential for significant impact on the construction phase.

Working closely with our client, Rider Levett Bucknall draws on years of international data and experience to provide accurate forecasts of costs for the candidate and host cities across the world.

As most costs are determined during the planning stage, this expertise can add considerable value to the project in terms of achieving cost savings.

An essential part of the process is having an in-depth understanding of the project.

As Rider Levett Bucknall has a long, successful track record, staff are able to review historical costs and compare previous Rider Levett Bucknall international sporting event projects to provide fast, accurate budgets.

Our professional expertise and independent advice means that we have an inherent understanding of the intricacies involved in the delivery of major and complex projects.

Together with this unique knowledge and our global network of offices, we can localise the cost estimates across the world yet provide surety to the assessing committees that the costing process has been thoroughly thought out and considered.