The Millennium Dome (The O2)

Opened on the 31st December 1999, for the Millennium the following day, the Millennium Dome was going to be a temporary exhibition for the year 2000. But it is still here, renamed The O2, and houses a shopping destination and an arena with a 20,000 person capacity.

Taken from the top of The O2 with two of the yellow towers viaible

The Millennium

As the dome was created for the Millennium it has some date/time based properties. This includes: the diameter of the dome being 365 metres for the length of a year, there being 12 yellow tall structural towers for the months in a year (with them also in a clock like circle), and also the maximum height of the main dome (excluding the yellow supports) being 52 metres for the number of weeks in a year.

Becoming The O2

Despite only being constructed to be a temporary exhibition, The Millennium Dome has been reconstructed and since 2005 the Millennium Dome has been known as The O2, with the contract secured until at least 2027. The O2 is now one of London's major venues which house many different shows and concerts. In fact the O2 has the second highest capacity of any indoor arena in the UK after the Manchester Arena.

At night with the O2 partially obscured by new development and the cable car traversing the sky

Shopping

The O2, around the arena, has a circle of high end shops with ambition to be a smaller Westfield. The shops seem relatively busy with high footfall, and the pedestrianised space outside is also regularly busy with it containing various restaurants.

Location and Access

The O2 was constructed on the northern point of the Greenwich Peninsula which means it has the River Thames on the north, east, and west. This means that access is more difficult than most places so along with the Blackwall tunnel (the dome was built on top of its eastern bore), the Jubilee Line was constructed connecting to Stratford, Canary Wharf, Waterloo, and Central London. The station, called North Greenwich, opened on 21st May 1999, initially only connecting to Stratford, with the connection to the original Jubilee Line opening on 20th November 1999.

From the top of the O2 looking north with two yellow support towers

Because of the Thames, North Greenwich station's bus station is the terminus of 8 bus routes to various places in southeast London and also serves the 108 which (using the Blackwall tunnel) is the only London bus route which crosses the Thames east of Tower Bridge.

Along with the Blackwall tunnel, buses, and the Underground the O2 can also be accessed by Uber Boat and the Emirates Airline. The cable car is almost a decade old, opening just before the London Olympics, and is more of a tourist attraction than a useful public transport link. Uber Boats provides relatively slow journey times into London but has good views and sights of London landmarks.

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