The O2 | |
---|---|
Former names | Millennium Dome |
General information | |
Type | Entertainment venue |
Architectural style | Dome |
Location |
Greenwich Peninsula London, SE10 United Kingdom |
Current tenants |
Anschutz Entertainment Group Europe (sublet to Meridian Delta Ltd, a subsidiary of Trinity College, Cambridge) |
Completed | 1999 (original usage) |
Opening | 2007 (current usage) |
Owner | Homes and Communities Agency |
Height | 52 m (central point within canopy) 100 m (steel masts) |
Dimensions | |
Diameter | 365 m (canopy overall) 320 m (internal canopy) |
Technical details | |
Structural system | Steel, tensioned fabric |
Design and construction | |
Architect |
Richard Rogers (canopy) Populous (redeveloped interior) |
Structural engineer | BuroHappold Engineering |
Services engineer | BuroHappold Engineering (canopy) M-E Engineers (redeveloped interior) |
Awards and prizes |
Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award |
Website | |
theo2 |
Coordinates: 51°30′10.14″N 0°0′11.22″E / 51.5028167°N 0.0031167°E
The O2 is a large entertainment district on the Greenwich peninsula in South East London, England, including an indoor arena, a music club, a Cineworld cinema, an exhibition space, piazzas, bars and restaurants. It was built largely within the former Millennium Dome, a large dome-shaped building built to house an exhibition celebrating the turn of the third millennium; as such, The Dome remains a name in common usage for the venue.
It is often referred by various names: the O2 Dome; the O2 Centre, which properly refers to an unrelated shopping centre on Finchley Road; or The O2 Arena, which properly refers to a smaller indoor arena within The O2. Naming rights to the district were purchased by the mobile telephone provider O2 from its developers, Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), during the development of the district. AEG owns the long-term lease on the O2 Arena and surrounding leisure space.
From the closure of the original "Millennium Experience" exhibition occupying the site, several possible ways of reusing the Millennium Dome's shell were proposed and then rejected. The official renaming of the Dome in 2005 gave publicity to its transition into an entertainment district. The Dome's shell itself remained in site, but its interior and the area around North Greenwich Station, the QE2 pier and the main entrance area were completely redeveloped.