The Basketball Arena is rising out of the ground with the first of the venue's 20 steel arches already lifted into place.

Each of these steel arches will be 35m high and span 96m.

The Arena is being built on the Olympic Park by companies from nations and regions across the UK. Most of the steel is produced in Teeside and then prepared and assembled in Bolton. It is then lifted into place by the main contractor on site – a Glasgow-based company.

Once the frame of the temporary Basketball Arena is complete it will be wrapped in 20,000 square metres of fabric, which will form the canvas for an innovative lighting display during the Games. The temporary seating and accommodation around the venue will start to be installed this summer with the Arena on track to be complete by summer 2011, ready for Test Events.

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Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) Chairman John Armitt said: "The Basketball Arena is taking shape in the new east London skyline alongside the Velodrome and Olympic Village. The innovative and efficient design and construction is testament to the excellence of the companies across the UK which are delivering the largest temporary venue on the Olympic Park."

The construction contractor will own the Arena structure, with the ODA renting it for the duration of the Games. Afterwards, the contractor will dismantle it to be reused elsewhere.

(CD/GK)