Millennium Dome

Millennium Dome
Millennium Dome (zakgollop) version.jpg
Building
Type Exhibition space
Architectural style Dome
Structural system Steel & tensioned fabric
Location Drawdock Road / Millennium Way
Greenwich Peninsula
London, SE10 0BB
England
Construction
Completed 1999
Design team
Architect Richard Rogers
Structural engineer Buro Happold
Services engineer Buro Happold
Awards and prizes Royal Academy of Engineering
MacRobert Award

The Millennium Dome, often referred to simply as The Dome, is the original name of a large dome-shaped building, originally used to house the Millennium Experience, a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millennium. Located on the Greenwich Peninsula in south-east London, England, the exhibition opened to the public on 1 January 2000 and ran until 31 December 2000. The project and exhibition was the subject of considerable political controversy as it failed to attract the number of visitors anticipated, leading to recurring financial problems.

While all of the original exhibition and associated complex has since been demolished, the canopy or shell of the dome still exists, and it is now a key exterior feature of the The O2 entertainment district.

tube The nearest London Underground station is North Greenwich.

Contents

Construction

The dome, seen from the Isle of Dogs.

The structure is the largest of its type in the world. Externally it appears as a large white marquee with twelve 100 m-high yellow support towers, one for each month of the year, or each hour of the clock face, representing the role played by Greenwich Mean Time. In plan view it is circular, 365 m in diameter — one metre for each day of the year — with scalloped edges. It has become one of the United Kingdom's most recognisable landmarks. It can easily be seen on aerial photographs of London. Its exterior is reminiscent of the Dome of Discovery built for the Festival of Britain in 1951.

The architect was Richard Rogers and the contractor was a joint venture company, McAlpine/Laing Joint Venture (MLJV) formed between Sir Robert McAlpine and Laing Management.[1] The building structure was engineered by Buro Happold, and the entire roof structure weighs less than the air contained within the building. Although referred to as a dome it is not strictly one as it is not self-supporting, but is a mast-supported, dome-shaped cable network.[2]

The canopy is made of PTFE coated glass fibre fabric, a durable and weather-resistant plastic, and is 50 m high in the middle. Its symmetry is interrupted by a hole through which a ventilation shaft from the Blackwall Tunnel rises.

Apart from the dome itself, the project included the reclamation of the entire Greenwich Peninsula. The land was previously derelict and contaminated by toxic sludge from an earlier gasworks that operated from 1889 to 1985. The clean-up operation was seen by the then Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine as an investment that would add a large area of useful land to the crowded capital. This was billed as part of a larger plan to regenerate a large, sparsely populated area to the east of London and south of the River Thames, an area initially called the East Thames Corridor but latterly marketed as the "Thames Gateway".

Background to the Dome project

The Dome project was conceived, originally on a somewhat smaller scale, under John Major's Conservative government, as a Festival of Britain or World's Fair-type showcase to celebrate the third millennium. The incoming Labour government elected in 1997 under Tony Blair, greatly expanded the size, scope and funding of the project. 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".[3] In the words of BBC correspondent Robert Orchard, "the Dome was to be highlighted as a glittering New Labour achievement in the next election manifesto".

However, before its opening, The Dome was excoriated in Iain Sinclair's diatribe, Sorry Meniscus - Excursions to the Millennium Dome (Profile Books: London 1999, ISBN 1861971796), which accurately forecast the hype, the political posturing and the eventual disillusion. The post-exhibition plan had been to convert The Dome into a 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. Fisher Athletic were a local team interested in moving to the Dome, however 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 the London Arena, after its closure, along with the Croydon Arena which is currently being built. This is the function which The O2 arena has now undertaken.

Millennium Experience

The Millennium Dome at night, Sept 2000

After a private opening on the evening of 31 December 1999 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 exhibits

The interior space was subdivided into 14 zones (with the lead designers of the zones):

Who we are:

What we do:

Where we live:

Some of the Zones were perceived as lacking in content and pandering to political correctness. The Journey Zone, outlining the history and development of transport, was one of the few singled out for praise.

The Tower that ate People arose from the floor during the stage show

Surrounded by the zones was a performance area in the centre of the dome. With music composed by Peter Gabriel and an acrobatic cast of 160, a stage show was performed 999 times over the course of the year. Throughout the year, the specially-commissioned film Blackadder: Back & Forth was shown in Skyscape (a separate cinema on the site sponsored by Sky Television plc). These features escaped a great deal of the criticism that was heaped on the rest of the project, although the lyrics and meaning of the stage show were considered difficult to follow by many, and the Blackadder film was noted for being neither as sharp or funny as the original four television series and specials. The music from the stage show was later released on Gabriel's album OVO (complete with lyrics). There is apparently no video record of the show, though arguably it would be difficult to capture a show of such large scale on video.

There was also the McDonald's Our Town Story project in which each Local 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 of Techno Games was filmed there and shown on BBC Two, the same year.

Other attractions

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 the Royal Mint, the 1951 Festival of Britain Bus, and the Millennium Jewels (focus of the failed Millennium Diamond heist [4]). Outside was the Millennium Map (13 metre height), 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 installations and sculpture.

Financial and management problems

The project was largely reported by the press to have been a flop: badly thought-out, badly executed, and leaving the government with the embarrassing question of what to do with it afterwards. During 2000 the organisers repeatedly asked for, and received, more cash from the Millennium Commission, the Lottery body which supported it. Numerous changes at management and Board level, before and during the exhibition, had only limited, if any, results. Jennifer Page was sacked as chief executive of the New Millennium Experience Company just one month after the dome's opening[5]. Press reports suggested that Blair personally placed a high priority on making the Dome a success. But part of the problem was that the financial predictions were based on an unrealistically high forecast of visitor numbers at 12 million. During the 12 months it was open there were approximately 6.5 million visitors — slightly more than the 6 million that attended the Festival of Britain, which only ran from May to September. Unlike the press, visitor feedback was extremely positive. It was the most popular tourist attraction in 2000, second was the London Eye; third was Alton Towers, which had been first in 1999.

According to the UK National Audit Office,[6] the total 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. A surplus of £25 million over costs meant that the full lottery grant was not required. However, 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.[7]

The aftermath

Following the closure of the Millennium Experience at the end of 2000, the dome remained closed for most of the next 6 years. It was, however, still of interest to the press, the government's difficulties in selling the Dome on being the subject of much critical comment.[8] The amount spent on maintaining the closed building was also criticised. Shortly after it had closed, Lord Falconer reported that The Dome was costing over £1 million per month to maintain.[9]

Dispersal of exhibits

Following closure of the Dome, some Zones were dismantled by the sponsoring organisations, but much of the content was auctioned. This included a number of artworks specially commissioned from contemporary British artists. A piece by Gavin Turk was sold for far below his then auction price though Turk stated that he did not think the piece had worked. The Timekeepers of the Millennium attraction was acquired by the Chessington World of Adventures theme park in Surrey. A unique record of the memorabilia and paraphernalia of the MEX is held by a private collector[10] in the U.S.A. Kiosks, bins as well as assorted souvenirs appeared at Dreamland amusement park, Margate, Kent.

Temporary reopenings

Despite the ongoing debate about the dome's future use, the dome opened again during December 2003 for the Winter Wonderland 2003 experience. The event, which featured a large fun fair, ice rink, and other attractions, culminated in a laser and firework display on New Year's Eve. It also served as the venue for a number of free music festivals organised by the Mayor of London under the "Respect" banner[11].

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 charity Crisis after superseding the London 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.[12][13]

Redevelopment as The O2

Originally, some suggested that the dome be torn down. By late 2000, a proposal for a high-tech business park 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.

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 (0.6 km²) of surrounding land. It is also hoped to relocate some of London's tertiary education establishments to the site. Meridian Delta is backed by the American billionaire Philip Anschutz, who has interests in oil, railways, and telecommunications, as well as a string of sports-related investments.

The dome was publicly renamed as The O2 on 31 May 2005, in a £6 million-per-year deal with telecommunications company O2 plc, now a subsidiary of Telefónica O2. 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, the Anschutz Entertainment Group, to a design by HOK SVE and Buro Happold. It cost £600 million, and the resulting venue opened to the public on 24 June 2007, with a concert by rock band Bon Jovi.[14]

Effects on political careers

Issues related to the Dome damaged Peter Mandelson's [15] and John Prescott's political careers.[16]. The scheme was seen as an early example of what some saw as Tony Blair's often excessive optimism: "In the Dome we have a creation that, I believe, will truly be a beacon to the world".[17] The green light and foundations for this project were provided by the previous Conservative government.

Chronology of the project

In popular culture

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Sir Robert McAlpine Project Archive
  2. ↑ ArchitectureWeek.com http://www.architectureweek.com/2003/0326/building_1-2.html
  3. ↑ "Dome woes haunt Blair", BBC News (2001-02-15). Retrieved on 2007-01-31. 
  4. ↑ "Timeline: Dome diamond heist". Retrieved on 2008-06-30.
  5. ↑ ""My Crown of Thorns"". The Guardian (2000-05-04). Retrieved on 2008-07-26.
  6. ↑ National Audit Office (2002-04-17). "Winding-up the New Millennium Experience Company Limited". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-01-31.
  7. ↑ "www.millennium.gov.uk/lottery/experience.html". Retrieved on 2007-07-04.
  8. ↑ Staff and agencies (2001-12-18). "Legacy loses exclusive dome bidding rights", The Guardian. Retrieved on 2008-05-03. 
  9. ↑ Staff and agencies (2001-02-15). "Legacy loses exclusive dome bidding rights", The Guardian. Retrieved on 2008-05-03. 
  10. ↑ "The Millennium Dome: A collection". Retrieved on 2007-07-04.
  11. ↑ [1]
  12. ↑ BBC NEWS | England | London | Dome hosts homeless for Christmas
  13. ↑ BBC NEWS | England | London | Christmas services for homeless
  14. ↑ Bon Jovi open new O2 venue
  15. ↑ "Mandelson: Dome alone", BBC News (1998-12-23). Retrieved on 2007-03-04. 
  16. ↑ "A hollow man and an empty tent", The Guardian (2006-07-07). Retrieved on 2007-01-31. 
  17. ↑ "Speech by Blair at Dome launch" (1998-02-24). Retrieved on 2007-03-02. 

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