Design and Construction of the Millennium Dome, UK

The Millennium Experience is to be held in the year 2000 on the Greenwich Peninsula, London. After investigating ways of housing the exhibitions in conventional halls, a large umbrella over the site was proposed. The structure, which is now complete, covers an enclosed area of 80 000 m² with a polytetrafluoroethane (PTFE)-coated glass-fibre fabric roof. The project has been the subject of continuous controversy, but has already become an icon for the new millennium. This paper presents the design and construction of the Dome.