From the archives: Building London’s millennium projects, 1999

By Tom Lowe2025-06-13T06:00:00

Building speaks to the project teams working under pressure to finish the Millennium Dome, the London Eye and the Jubillee Line extension in time for New Year’s Eve

How do you celebrate a once-in-a-thousand-year event? Build a giant dome was the solution proposed by politicians, an idea which was seized upon by Tony Blair once he swept to power with New Labour in 1997.

The Richard Rogers-designed building was not universally loved, however. The Dome would be “a triumph of confidence over cynicism, boldness over blandness, excellence over mediocrity”, Blair claimed in late 1999, words which came back to haunt him as the attraction’s dismal visitor numbers became apparent – barely half of what had been projected.

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