# Millennium Dome

> London's fabric-roofed dome, 365 m (1,200 ft) across with 12 masts, opened for the year 2000 and now housing the O2 entertainment complex.

- URL: https://roof.wiki/millennium-dome/
- Topic: History of Roofing
- Also known as: The O2; O2 dome; Greenwich dome
- Regions: Europe
- First published: 2026-11-02 · Last reviewed: 2026-11-02
- Cite as: "Millennium Dome." roof.wiki. https://roof.wiki/millennium-dome/

## Key facts

- **Diameter:** 365 m (1,200 ft)
- **Height:** 52 m (170 ft)
- **Masts:** 12, about 100 m (330 ft) high
- **Fabric:** PTFE-coated glass fibre
- **Opened:** 31 December 1999 (public 1 January 2000)

The **Millennium Dome** on the Greenwich Peninsula in south-east London was built to house an exhibition celebrating the start of the third millennium. With one of the world's largest fabric roofs, it is a landmark of tensioned membrane construction. Since 2007 it has housed the O2 entertainment district and arena.

## Design

The dome was designed by architect **Richard Rogers**, with **Buro Happold** as structural and services engineers. Its dimensions were chosen symbolically:

- a plan diameter of **365 m (1,200 ft)**, roughly one metre for each day of the year;
- a central height of **52 m (170 ft)**, roughly one metre for each week;
- **twelve** yellow towers, each about 100 m (330 ft) high.

## Structure and fabric

The towers support a network of steel cables from which the canopy is suspended. The canopy is made of **PTFE-coated glass-fibre fabric**, in 72 segments of two panels each. Plans to use PVC-coated polyester were dropped after a protest led by Greenpeace over PVC. The entire roof structure is said to weigh less than the air contained inside the building.

## Opening and cost

A private opening took place on **31 December 1999**, and the public were admitted from **1 January 2000**. The exhibition ran through 2000 and then closed. The dome structure itself cost about £43 million, while the whole project, including the exhibition, cost about £789 million.

## Conversion to the O2

The dome was leased for redevelopment in December 2001. Because cranes could not be used under the canopy, the new arena's roof was assembled on the ground inside the dome and lifted into place. The arena, occupying about 40% of the dome, opened on **24 June 2007**.

## Storm damage

On **18 February 2022**, during **Storm Eunice**, six segments of the fabric roof were torn away and around 1,000 people were evacuated. The venue reopened on 25 February after repairs.

## Significance

The dome demonstrated the scale achievable with cable-supported fabric roofs and is a key reference in the history of tensile membrane architecture.

## Sources

1. Millennium Dome — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Dome
2. The O2 Arena — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_O2_Arena