The structure is 135 metres (443 ft) tall and the wheel has a diameter of 120 metres (394 ft). When it opened to the public in 2000 it was theworld's tallest Ferris wheel, until the 160-metre (525 ft)Star of Nanchang in China surpassed it in 2006. Unlike taller wheels, the Eye is cantilevered and supported solely by anA-frame on one side. The Eye was the highest public viewing point in London until 2013, when it was surpassed by the 245-metre (804 ft)View from The Shardobservation deck.[12][13][14]
During theearly 1990s recession, the firm struggled and took on small commissions such as kitchen extensions and brochure design.[17][18][19] In 1993, Marks and Barfield entered a competition organised byThe Sunday Times and theArchitecture Foundation to design a landmark to commemorate the beginning of thethird millennium.[20] As entries were to be published in the newspaper, they saw it as a valuable opportunity for publicity.[16]
Inspired by views of theBT Tower and theCrystal Palace transmitter on his daily commute, Marks conceived the idea of giving the public access to elevated views of London.[20] The pair realised that a wheel could “get people up high easily, efficiently and effortlessly” while avoiding comparisons with theEiffel Tower.[16] Barfield suggested the South Bank for its central location and historic significance as the site of theFestival of Britain fifty years earlier.[16] Together with structural engineerJane Wernick ofArup, with whom they had previously collaborated, they submitted a concept for a 500-foot (152 m) wheel on the banks of the River Thames.[20]
The competition ultimately concluded without a winner, as judges deemed none of the proposals sufficiently imaginative. "We were narked. We had a great idea and no one was going to see it,” Marks later recalled.[21] Undeterred and encouraged by friends, the architects remortgaged their home and applied toLambeth Council foroutline planning permission.[16]
In the summer of 1994,Evening Standard editorStewart Steven and correspondent Mira Bar-Hillel launched a "Back The Wheel" campaign which attracted public support.[20] In December that year, the project secured a major backer whenBob Ayling, chief executive ofBritish Airways and a neighbour of Marks and Barfield, persuaded the airline to invest £600,000 inseed funding.[20][22]
This investment enabled Marks Barfield to commission Arup to produce detailed engineering plans and to consult statutory bodies and local community groups.[20][16]Planning permission for the Millennium Wheel was granted in 1996.[16] After British banks declined to finance the project, funding was ultimately secured from the German bankWestdeutsche Landesbank and the Japanese conglomerateSumitomo Corporation.[20]
Design and construction
Supported by anA-frame on one side only, the Eye is described by its operators as acantilevered observation wheel.
The rim of the Eye is supported by tensioned steel cables[23] and resembles a huge spokedbicycle wheel. The lighting was re-done withLED lighting fromColor Kinetics in December 2006 to allow digital control of the lights as opposed to the manual replacement ofgels over fluorescent tubes.[24]
Mace was responsible for construction management, withHollandia [nl] as the main steelwork contractor andTilbury Douglas as the civil contractor. Consulting engineers Tony Gee & Partners designed the foundation works while Beckett Rankine designed the marine works.[25]
Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners assistedThe Tussauds Group in obtaining planning and listed building consent to alter the wall on theSouth Bank of the Thames. They also examined and reported on the implications of aSection 106 agreement attached to the original contract, and also prepared planning and listed building consent applications for the permanent retention of the attraction, which involved the co-ordination of an Environmental Statement and the production of a planning supporting statement detailing the reasons for its retention.[26]
The spindle, hub, and tensioned cables that support the rim
The wheel was constructed in sections which were floated up the Thames on barges and assembled lying flat on piled platforms in the river. Once the wheel was complete it was lifted into an upright position by astrand jack system made byEnerpac.[27] It was first raised at 2 degrees per hour until it reached 65 degrees, then left in that position for a week while engineers prepared for the second phase of the lift.
The project was European with major components coming from six countries: the steel was supplied from the UK and fabricated in the Netherlands by Hollandia, the cables came from Italy, the bearings came from Germany (FAG/Schaeffler Group), the spindle and hub were cast in the Czech Republic, the capsules were made byPoma in France (and the glass for these came from Italy), and the electrical components from the UK.[28]
Opening
The London Eye was formally opened by the Prime MinisterTony Blair on 31 December 1999, but did not open to the paying public until 9 March 2000 because of a capsule clutch problem.[2]
The London Eye was originally intended as a temporary attraction, with a five-year lease. In December 2001, operators submitted an application toLambeth Council to give the London Eye permanent status, and the application was granted in July 2002.[29][30][31]
Southbank Centre dispute
In May 2005, there were reports of a leaked letter showing that theSouthbank Centre (SBC)—owners of part of the land on which the struts of the Eye are located—had served a notice to quit on the attraction along with a demand for an increase in rent from £65,000[32] per year to £2.5 million[failed verification], which the operator rejected as unaffordable.[33]
In February 2006, after a request forjudicial review was refused,[32] a new 25-year lease was agreed under which the SBC would receive a percentage of the London Eye's turnover, with a minimum of £500,000 per year.[35]
Change of ownership
ArchitectsMarks Barfield, the Tussauds Group, andBritish Airways were the original owners of the London Eye.[36] Tussauds announced the acquisition of British Airways' share in 2005, then Marks Barfield's in 2006.[37][36] The purchase gave Tussauds sole ownership and resolved debt owed to British Airways for construction costs, which stood at more than £175 million and had been charged at an interest rate of 25% per annum.[38] Tussauds was later merged withMerlin Entertainments.[39][40]
Continued operations
In 2009, a4D cinema was added to the attraction.[41]
As of 2025[update], the attraction has carried over 85 million passengers.[42]
Passenger capsules
Each of the 32 ovoidal capsules weighs 10 tonnes and can carry 25 people.
The wheel's 32 sealed and air-conditionedovoidal passenger capsules, designed[43] and supplied[44] byPoma, are attached to the external circumference of the wheel and rotated by electric motors. The capsules are numbered from 1 to 33, excluding number 13 forsuperstitious reasons.[45] Each of the 10-tonne (11-short-ton)[46] capsules represents one of theLondon boroughs,[23] and holds up to 25 people,[47] who are free to walk around inside the capsule, though seating is provided. The wheel rotates at 26 cm (10 in) per second (about 0.9 km/h or 0.6 mph) so that one revolution takes about 30 minutes, giving a theoretical capacity of 1,600 passengers per hour. It does not usually stop to take on passengers; the rotation rate is slow enough to allow passengers to walk on and off the moving capsules at ground level.[46] It is stopped to allow disabled or elderly passengers time to embark and disembark safely.[48]
In 2009, the first stage of a £12.5 million capsule upgrade began. Each capsule was taken down and floated down the river toTilbury Docks in Essex.[49]
In March 2020, the London Eye celebrated its 20th birthday by turning several of its capsules into experiences themed around London. The experiences included a pub in a capsule, aWest End theatre capsule and a garden party with flower arrangements to represent the eight LondonRoyal Parks.[51]
Sponsors
Local councillors refused permission for an orange capsule promoting the attraction's sponsor.The Eye on theSouth Bank of theThames, withJubilee Gardens (left) andCounty Hall (right) in the background
From the time of opening until 2008, the attraction was known as the British Airways London Eye under anaming rights deal.[52] In August 2009, it was rebranded as the Merlin Entertainments London Eye, reflecting the name of its operator.[53]
EDF Energy became the sponsor in 2011, reportedly paying about £2.5 million a year.[54] The deal coincided with its sponsorship of theLondon 2012 Olympic Games.[55] A capsule was repainted bright orange to match the company's branding, but local councillors refused consent and requested it be restored to its original appearance.[56][57]
In 2015, the attraction rebranded as theCoca-Cola London Eye, drawing criticism from children's health charities.[58] Labour MPKeith Vaz urged the Government to intervene, condemning the "irresponsible" promotion of a high-sugar product "at a time of recordchild obesity, rotten teeth anddiabetes."[59]
In 2020, the online travel retailerlastminute.com became the new sponsor, with the wheel illuminated at night in the brand’s hot pink.[60]
Cultural significance
Thousands of fireworks are launched from the wheel to mark New Year.
The London Eye has become widely regarded as a symbol of London.[22][61][62][63] In a 2006 government-commissioned survey, it was also named an icon of modern England.[64] Its image has been depicted insideBritish passports,[65] in themoquette design on the seats of some London Underground trains,[66] and in theclosing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics.[67]
The structure serves as the focal point forLondon’s New Year’s Eve celebrations;[68] each year more than 2,000 fireworks are launched from the wheel itself during the televised display.[69]
By 2013, reports indicated that at least 5,000wedding proposals had taken place on the attraction.[70]
Beginning in the 2020s, The London Eye in collaboration with theNew Crescent Society started to illimunate once the crescent moon was sighted for the Islamic month of Shawwal marking the beginning of the occasion ofEid Al Fitr.[72]
The Eye has done for London what the Eiffel Tower did for Paris, which is to give it a symbol and to let people climb above the city and look back down on it. Not just specialists or rich people, but everybody. That's the beauty of it: it is public and accessible, and it is in a great position at the heart of London.[4]
^Mann, A. P.; Thompson, N.; Smits, M. (2001). "Building the British Airways London Eye".Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Civil Engineering.144 (2):60–72.doi:10.1680/cien.2001.144.2.60.
^Harris, Rob (14 March 2025)."I've lived in London for three years without seeing this – how foolish I have been".The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved17 April 2025.It feels almost surreal that this structure, initially intended as temporary, has become as integral to London's identity as Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. The passing of time has solidified its status as a global icon
