Archive for the ‘London Venues’ Category

O2 Arena: The Transition of The Millenium Dome

January 23rd, 2008 , posted in London Venues | No Comments »

The Millenium Dome, or the ‘O2 Centre’ as its now knows, is the largest domed structure in the world. Originally built to celebrate the turn of the year 2000, apparently each of the yellow support towers represent an hour of the day, or a month of the year, which further represents the importance of the role played by Greenwhich Mean Time. It is 365 meters in diameter, corrolating conveniently with the number of days in a year, and has become the UK’s most recogniseable landmark, which is sad considering how long Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament have been around.

Blair said the Dome would be “a triumph of confidence over cynicism, boldness over blandness, excellence over mediocrity” …we won’t comment further on that statement, except to say that the Dome had a political ambition too, which was to be the shiny new beacon of hope to re-elect the labour party in the new millenium.

It’s construction however, was riddled with problems and setbacks. Being built on reclaimed land, the previous ground was nothing more than a pile of toxic dirt, the remains of an earlier gas plant that operated some twelve years previously. This caused some problems setting the foundations, not to mention the massive and constant delays on inbound materials that were painfully highlighted on more than one occasion in documentaries about the Dome’s construction.

The Dome did finally open on the 31st of December 1999 (just in time), at a cost of approximately £789 Million, a mere £204 Million over budget. The contents were then revealed to the public; ‘The Millenium Experience’ which divided the interior of the dome into three categories and fourteen zones;

Who We Are: Body, Mind, Faith, Self Portrait
What We Do: Work, Learning, Rest, Play, Talk, Money, Journey
Where We Live: Shared Ground, Living Island, Home Planet

Each zone was sponsored by suitably corporate name, desperate to get a foot in the door along with some quick (yet pricey) exposure, though it could be quite easily argued that the zones lacked meaning and the categories failed to really encompass ‘the human being’ in the way they were attempting to.

The ‘experience’, which remained open for a mere 12 months was estimated to receive in the region of 12 million visitors, in reality however these estimates were wildly inaccurate and even though the Dome was 2000’s most popular tourist attraction, it still only received a rather meager 6.5 million visitors, and was branded by many tabloids as ‘a complete flop’.

The transition of the Millenium Dome began, and very nearly ended, in 2001. Following the closure of the Millenium Experience there was a lot of debate about what use would be made of the Dome in the future, a question which in my mind atleast, would have come up before spending £789 Million on building it. So the rumours spread and the theories blossomed, it would be “the world’s largest indoor go-kart track”, it was in fact “a government missile silo which is why they didn’t want to let anyone use it”, it would be “the world’s biggest shopping centre”, etc etc, and so it continued.

For 6 years.

Then, on the 31st of May 2005 The Dome was officially renamed, and became ‘The O2‘ (like the mobile phone company) and went back under the knife to have a complete facelift and take on its new purpose. A super-shopping centre, and concert venue in the heart of London.

Some thought this was a great idea, unsurprisingly some others didnt.

A design was passed for the centre of the dome to be transformed into a colosseum-esque venue, with a large floor area and 4 massive levels of seating, sloping down steeply towards the stage area in the very center. The surrounding area of the Dome would turn into a large never-ending highstreet that flowed smoothely around the outside of the dome, allowing strategically placed ‘crowd-control’ entrances and exits at various points around the edges. The Dome would become a new icon for london, where great sports, music, art, and history events would be held, and would be something that we could be proud to call British.

3 Years on and The O2 is now complete, and has hosted a large number of events in a relatively short space of time, including the likes of Justin Timberlake, Bon Jovi, the American NHL Series Icehockey, American NBA Games, a boxing match featuring Amir Khan, and more recently the Tutan Khamun exhibition. An impressive starting point to say the least.

What the O2 has made up for in splendor though, it has lost in charm. The inside of the O2 feels very much like Disney Land, with very obviously fake walls, fountains, and buildings, all painted in that orange ‘fake-rock’ colour. Between the shops various flashy guitars are hung, most with famous name associated with them, and inside the shops and restaurants, as you might expect in Disney Land, the prices are triple that of anywhere else in London, which are already double the prices of anywhere else in England. To put it in perspective, I queued for half an hour and paid £14.00 for a small box of sushi, you know, the ones that are £3.99 in Tesco. You can imagine how pleased I was (seriously thinking that this was the cheapest place in the O2) when I went into the central arena area, past all the ‘no food and drink past this point’ signs, which one would think meant there was no food on sale past that point either, to find a chip stand, with a relatively short queue, selling large portions for about £3.00 - naturally though the chips are covered in salt, and the chip stand is conveniently located next to a bar where no drink costs less than £4.00 - but I think we’ve already established that its pretty much Disney World.

Admittedly though, the inside of the arena itself is very impressive. Apparently the capacity of the corporate venue is only 23,000 people, though it certainly feels like a hell of a lot more. Its not like Wembley arena, where the stairs going up and down the sloped seated areas are relatively manageable, and the head of the person in front of you is about level with your chest. At the O2, the seats go down so steeply it almost seems like a bit of a safety hazard, and when seated the head of the person in front of you barely reaches your knees. Other than from directly around the stage, its almost impossible to see all of the crowd from any one place in the Arena, but when all the lights go off and people start taking pictures its really an experience worth having at least once in this lifetime!

So, is the O2 a success? Was its transition smooth and according to plan? Well to the first question there is no way in which I can really say no, yes the prices are high and the shopping centre is cheesy, but that doesn’t make it a failure, and so far it has hosted a multitude of events that may never have come to London but for the O2. So I would say it has certainly been a success from that point of view (though I wont even go into justifying the costs of building it in the first place). In terms of the transition, it certainly wasnt smooth, and it can’t have been according to plan given that there wasn’t really a plan. Six years sitting empty at a maintenance cost of £1 Million per month was an absolute sham, and the organisation so far throughout the life of the Dome has been extremely poor.

Nevertheless, The O2 Arena is doing very well now as a corporate venue, and in my opinion has a (relatively) bright future. Either way, its certainly worth a visit.

Stunning New London Venues

May 3rd, 2007 , posted in London Venues | No Comments »

The past couple of weeks I have been busy viewing more stunning venues in London to add to Riverside Events & Venues’ portfolio. There really are some amazing venues for hire in the capital, including numerous hidden gems that even we didn’t know about until recently!

From a crumbling 19th Century theatre hall full of atmosphere - perfect for murder mystery dinners, Champagne or cocktail parties and even weddings for the couple who want something different; hung with lanterns, drapes and copious flowers it is a place to let your imagination run wild - to an immense 1930s art deco venue holding up to 2,600 guests; the ideal venue for conferences, themed events and gala dinners. 

I have also visited a ‘country manor in the city’ with several beautiful courtyards and a gorgeous roof terrace for summer barbecues and soirees accompanied by an alfresco band. Not forgetting the sparkling chandeliers, circular balcony and luxurious decor inside!

In Greenwich - where we can drop you off at Greenwich pier aboard one of Topsail Events & Charters’ Thames Sailing Barges or other larger boats - I have discovered some fab venues; modern designer bars and private rooms, Victorian attic rooms and pretty muralled walls overlooking the greenery of the park - these little-known event spaces in this charming and historic area of London make the perfect venue for your party, dinner or meeting.