Millennium Dome

Millennium Dome
General information
Type	Exhibition space
Architectural style	Dome
Location	Greenwich Peninsula London, SE10 United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°30′10″N 0°0′11″E / 51.50278°N 0.00306°E / 51.50278; 0.00306
Current status	Converted into The O2 Arena
Completed	1999
Opening	31 December 1999; 24 years ago (1999-12-31)
Closed	31 December 2000; 23 years ago (2000-12-31)
Cost	£789 million (£1.45 billion in 2024 pounds[1])
Technical details
Structural system	Steel, tensioned fabric
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Richard Rogers
Structural engineer	BuroHappold Engineering
Services engineer	BuroHappold Engineering
Awards and prizes	Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award

The Millennium Dome was the original name of the large dome-shaped building on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East London, England, which housed a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millennium. As of 2022, it is the ninth 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 is now a key exterior feature of The O2.

The Prime Meridian passes the western edge of the Dome and the nearest London Underground station is North Greenwich on the Jubilee line.