Image © Hayes Davidson
Since the London 2012 Summer Olympics wrapped, the megacity’s east end has transformed into “Olympicopolis,” spurred on by new development and some enticing future residents, including the Smithsonian Institution’s first museum outside the U.S. The newest address to reach completion, in 2016, will be this 42-story tower by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill that combines a 150-room hotel with 248 residential units above. Its designers are angling to encourage more social interaction between neighbours with lots of leisure facilities worked into the scheme, including a swimming pool, a spa, and a roof garden that overlooks the development that started it all: Olympic Park.