| Millennium Dome | |
|---|---|
 Millennium Dome in 2004 | |
 Interactive map of Millennium Dome | |
| General information | |
| Type | Exhibition space |
| Architectural style | Dome |
| Location | Greenwich Peninsula London,SE10 United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°30′10″N0°0′11″E / 51.50278°N 0.00306°E /51.50278; 0.00306 |
| Current status | Converted intoThe O2 Arena |
| Completed | 1999 |
| Opening | 31 December 1999; 25 years ago (1999-12-31) |
| Closed | 31 December 2000; 24 years ago (2000-12-31) |
| Cost | £789 million (£1.73 billion in 2023 pounds[1]) |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | Steel, tensioned fabric |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Richard Rogers |
| Structural engineer | BuroHappold Engineering |
| Services engineer | BuroHappold Engineering |
| Awards and prizes | |
TheMillennium Dome was the original name of the largedome-shaped building on theGreenwich Peninsula inSouth East London, England, which housed a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of thethird millennium. When opened in 1999, it was thefifth largest building in the world by usable volume. The exhibition was open to the public from 1 January to 31 December 2000. The project and exhibition were highly contentious and attracted barely half of the 12 million customers its sponsors forecasted, and so were deemed a failure by the press.[2] All the original exhibition elements were sold or dismantled.
In a 2005 report, the cost of the Dome and surrounding land (which increased to 170 acres from the initial offering of the 48 acres enclosed by the Dome) and managing the Dome until the deal was closed was £28.7 million. The value of the 48 acres occupied by the Dome was estimated at £48 million, which could have been realised by demolishing the structure, but it was considered preferable to preserve the Dome. The structure itself still exists and serves as the exterior toThe O2 entertainment complex, which includesthe O2 Arena.
ThePrime Meridian passes the western edge of the Dome and the nearestLondon Underground station isNorth Greenwich on theJubilee line.
The dome is one of the largest of its type in the world.[3] Externally, it appears as a large whitemarquee with twelve 100-metre-high (330 ft) yellow support towers, one for each month of the year, or each hour of the clock face, representing the role played byGreenwich Mean Time. In plan view it is circular, 365 metres (1,200 ft) (one metre or 39 inches for each day in a standard year) in diameter.[4] It has become one of the United Kingdom's most recognisable landmarks, and can be easily identified on satellite images of London.
The architect wasRichard Rogers and the contractor was a joint venture company, McAlpine/Laing Joint Venture (MLJV) formed betweenSir Robert McAlpine and Laing Management.[5] The building structure was engineered byBuro Happold, and the entire roof structure weighs less than the air contained within the building.[4] Although referred to as adome it is "not a dome in the structural sense [...] In this building, a dome-shaped cable network is supported on a ring of [...] masts".[6] It has been disparagingly referred to as the Millennium Tent.[7][8][9]
The canopy is 52 metres (170 ft) high in the middle – one metre (3.3 ft) for each week of the year[4] and is made of durable and weather-resistantPTFE-coatedglass fibre fabric panels (original plans to use PVC-coated polyesterfabric were dropped after protest led byGreenpeace[10]), with each of the 72 segments containing two panels.[11] Its symmetry is interrupted by a hole through which a ventilation shaft from theBlackwall Tunnel rises. Six segments were destroyed duringStorm Eunice on 18 February 2022.[10]
Built in 15 months, the dome structure was delivered under budget, at a cost of £43m.[12]
The criticJonathan Meades has scathingly referred to the Millennium Dome as a "Museum of Toxic Waste",[13] and apart from the dome itself, the project included thereclamation of the entire Greenwich Peninsula. The land was previously derelict and contaminated by toxic sludge fromEast Greenwich Gas Works that operated from 1889 to 1985. The clean-up operation was seen by the thenDeputy Prime MinisterMichael Heseltine as an investment that would add a large area of useful land to the crowded capital.
The Dome project was conceived, originally on a somewhat smaller scale, underJohn Major'sConservativegovernment, as aFestival of Britain orWorld's Fair-type showcase to celebrate thethird millennium. The incomingLabourgovernment elected in 1997 underTony Blair greatly expanded the size, scope and funding of the project,[citation needed] and construction began in June 1997.[14] It also significantly increased expectations of what would be delivered. Just before its opening Blair claimed the Dome would be "a triumph of confidence over cynicism, boldness over blandness, excellence over mediocrity".[15] In the words ofBBC correspondent Robert Orchard, "the Dome was to be highlighted as a glitteringNew Labour achievement in the next election manifesto", but criticised in the 2001 Conservative Party manifesto as "banal, anonymous and rootless", and lacking "a sense of Britain's history or culture".[16] Following thedeath of Diana, Princess of Wales, a member of the Dome's board suggested the project be refashioned and extended "to accommodate, for example, a hospital, businesses, charities, private residences, and the whole thing named 'the Princess Diana Centre'". The idea was later scrapped.[17]
Before its opening, the Dome was excoriated inIain Sinclair's diatribe,Sorry Meniscus – Excursions to the Millennium Dome (Profile Books: London 1999,ISBN 1-86197-179-6), which forecast the hype, the associated political posturing, and the eventual disillusion. The post-exhibition plan had been to convert the Dome into a European football stadium which would last for 25 years:Charlton Athletic at one point considered a possible move but instead chose to redevelop their own stadium. Local teamFisher Athletic were at one time interested in moving to the Dome, but they were considered to have too small a fan base to make this feasible. The Dome was planned to take over the functions performed by theLondon Arena after its closure. This is the function whichThe O2 Arena has now undertaken.
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After a private opening on the evening of 31 December 1999, including aNew Year's Eve celebration attended byQueen Elizabeth II, the Millennium Experience at the Dome was open to the public for the whole of 2000, and contained a large number of attractions and exhibits.
The English musicianPeter Gabriel issued in 2000The Story of OVO which was released in a CD-booklet-shapedcomic book as part of the CD edition with the title "OVO The Millennium Show". The story of the 2000Millennium Dome Show based on it.[18] The show opened on 1 January 2000 and was performed 999 times before closing on 31 December of that year.sponsored byWalt Disney World.
The interior space was subdivided into 14zones: "Who We Are" (Body, Faith, Mind and Self-Portrait), "What We Do" (Work, Learning, Rest, Play, Talk, Money and Journey) and "Where We Live" (Shared Ground,[19] Living Island and Home Planet).[20]
Surrounded by the zones was a performance area in the centre of the dome. With music composed byPeter Gabriel and an acrobatic cast of 160, theMillennium Dome Show was performed 999 times over the course of the year. Throughout the year, the specially-commissioned filmBlackadder: Back & Forth was shown in Skyscape (a separate cinema on the site sponsored byBSkyB).[21] There was also theMcDonald'sOur Town Story project in which eachLocal Education Authority in the UK was invited to perform a show of their devising which characterised their area and its people.
As well as the above, the first ever series ofTechno Games was filmed there and shown onBBC Two the same year.
There were a number of other attractions both in and outside of The Dome. Inside the Dome there was a play area named Timekeepers of the Millennium (featuring the characters Coggsley and Sprinx), The Millennium Coin Minting Press in association with theRoyal Mint, the 1951Festival of Britain Bus, and theMillennium Star Jewels (focus of the failedMillennium Diamond heist.[22]) Outside was the Millennium Map (thirteen metres; 43' high), the Childhood Cube,Looking Around (a hidden installation), Greenwich Pavilion, the Hanging Gardens at the front of the Dome, as well as a number of other art installations and sculptures.
Two of the remaining art installations form the start of The Line, a modern art trail connecting the O2 to theQueen Elizabeth Olympic Park.[23]
At worst it is a millennial metaphor for the twentieth century. An age in which all things, like the Dome itself, became disposable. A century in which forest and cities, marriages, animal species, races, religions and even the Earth itself, became ephemeral. What more cynical monument can there be for this totalitarian cocksure fragile age than a vast temporary plastic bowl, erected from the aggregate contribution of the poor through the National Lottery. Despite the spin, it remains a massive pantheon to the human ego, theOzymandias of its time.[24][25][not specific enough to verify]
The project was largely reported by the press to have been a failure. During 2000, the organisers repeatedly asked for, and received, more cash from theMillennium Commission, the Lottery body which supported it.[26] There were numerous changes at management and board level, before and during the exhibition;[27]: 58–59 Jennifer Page was sacked as chief executive of the New Millennium Experience Company just one month after the dome's opening.[28] The project came to be seen as closely aligned withTony Blair'sNew Labour, making its success or failure politically important.[29][30][31] Part of the problem was that the financial predictions were based on an unrealistically high forecast of visitor numbers at 12 million. During the first year that it was open there were approximately 6.5 million visitors – significantly fewer than the approximately 10 million paying visitors that attended theFestival of Britain, which only ran from May to September.[32]Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938, held in Glasgow, attracted more than 12 million visitors, being open May to October.[33] Unlike the press, visitor feedback was positive; as of August 2000, 87% of visitors said they were satisfied with their visit.[27]: 41–42 It was the most popular admission-paying tourist attraction in 2000, with almost twice as many visitors as the second most visited attraction,Alton Towers.[34]
According to the UKNational Audit Office, the cost of The Dome at the liquidation of the New Millennium Experience Company in 2002 was £789 million, of which £628 million was covered by National Lottery grants and £189 million through sales of tickets etc.[35] A surplus of £25 million over costs meant that the full lottery grant was not required. The £603 million of lottery money was still £204 million in excess of the original estimate of £399 million required, due to the shortfall in visitor numbers.[36]
The government's difficulties in selling the site became the subject of much critical comment.[37] The amount spent on maintaining the closed building was also criticised.[38] Shortly after it had closed, Lord Falconer reported that The Dome was costing over £1 million per month to maintain.[39]
Following closure of the Dome, some Zones were dismantled by the sponsoring organisations, but much of the content was auctioned or donated to Disney World. This included a number of artworks specially commissioned from contemporary British artists. A piece byGavin Turk was sold for far below his auction price, though Turk stated that he did not think the piece had worked.[clarification needed] The Timekeepers of the Millennium attraction was acquired by theChessington World of Adventures theme park inSurrey. A unique record of the memorabilia and paraphernalia of the Millennium Experience is held by a private collector in the United States.[40] Many of the fixtures and fittings were also purchased byPaul Scally, chairman ofGillingham F.C., for the club's stadium.[41]
The Dome opened again during December 2003 for theWinter Wonderland 2003 experience. The event, which featured a largefunfair, ice rink, and other attractions, culminated in alaser andfirework display on New Year's Eve. It also served as the venue for a number of free music festivals organised by theMayor of London under the "Respect" banner.[42][43]
Over the 2004 Christmas period, part of the main dome was used as a shelter for the homeless and others in need, organised by the charityCrisis after superseding theLondon Arena, which had previously hosted the event. In 2005, when work began for the redevelopment of the Dome, the London Arena hosted the event again.[44][45]
By late 2000, a proposal had been made for a high-tech business park to be erected under the tent area, creating an "indoor city" complete with streets, parks, and buildings. The business park was actually the original 1996 proposal for the site of the peninsula before the plans for the Millennium Dome were proposed.
A suggestion was also made that the entire Dome be relocated toSwindon to serve as a research centre and extension of theScience Museum; this proposal only came to light when released byThe National Archives in 2022.[46]
In December 2001, it was announced that Meridian Delta Ltd had been chosen by the government to develop the Dome as a sports and entertainment centre, and to develop housing, shops and offices on 150 acres (0.61 km2) of surrounding land. It also hoped to relocate some of London's tertiary education establishments to the site.[47] Meridian Delta is backed by the American billionairePhilip Anschutz, who has interests in oil, railways, and telecommunications, as well as a string of sports-related investments.
A report in 2005 by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee found that the cost of the process of selling the Dome and surrounding land (which increased to 170 acres from the initial offering of the 48 acres enclosed by the Dome) and managing the Dome until the deal was closed was £28.7 million. £33 million were expected to be returned to the taxpayer by 2009. The value of the 48 acres occupied by the Dome was estimated at £48 million, which could have been realised by demolishing the structure, but it was considered preferable to preserve the Dome.[48]
The dome was publicly renamed asThe O2 on 31 May 2005, in a £6 million-per-year deal with telecommunications company O2 plc, now a subsidiary ofTelefónica Europe. This announcement, which presaged a major redevelopment of the site that retained little beyond the shell of the dome, gave publicity to the dome's transition into an entertainment district including an indoor arena, a music club, a cinema, an exhibition space and bars and restaurants. This redevelopment was undertaken by the dome's new owners, theAnschutz Entertainment Group, to a design byHOK SVE andBuro Happold. It cost £600 million, and the resulting venue opened to the public on 24 June 2007, with a concert by rock bandBon Jovi.[49]
During the2012 Summer Olympics, the artistic gymnastics events, along with the medal rounds of basketball, were held at The O2. It also held wheelchair basketball events during the2012 Summer Paralympics. For sponsorship reasons, during those times the arena was temporarily renamed the North Greenwich Arena.
The O2 now contains multiple VR theme park rides, a trampoline park, and an attraction called "Up at The O2," offering guided climbs on the O2 arena.
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Issues related to the Dome damaged the political careers of government ministersPeter Mandelson[50] andJohn Prescott.[51] The scheme was seen as an early example of what some saw asTony Blair's often excessive optimism, who stated at the Dome's opening: "In the Dome we have a creation that, I believe, will truly be a beacon to the world".[52] The fact that Mandelson's grandfather wasHerbert Morrison—who as a minister had been involved with theFestival of Britain—was often drawn on for negative comparisons.[50]
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In the face of the severe shortfall in the Company's revenue, during the year 2000 the Millennium Commission has approved four additional grants totalling £179 million
Here, perhaps, was a chance to make a physical monument to everything that New Labour Britain would be about ... "New Labour really did think it was going to be some sort of quasi-political, sociological experience that would underpin everything that they were about," the exhibition designer Peter Higgins told me incredulously
| Preceded by | Miss World Venue 2000 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| Geographic | |
