Project Description
The Millennium Experience Project Situation Assessment
London, England
Millennium Central Ltd. requested Bechtel to perform a Project Situation Assessment of the Millennium Exhibition, a major one- time event celebrating the new millennium which was held in the year 2000 in London. The 130- acre site for the project, a former gas works, is located near Greenwich and was the subject of a major decontamination effort for two years; a new station for the Jubilee line of the London underground was also developed to serve the site.
Bechtel was assigned, in 1998, responsibility for expediting the completion of the Jubilee Line in order to serve the anticipated visitor influx to the site. The visitor experience was accommodated within a large fabric structure dome over 50 meters high and with a diameter of over 300 meters which was designed by Richard Rogers, famed architect of the Pompidou Centre in Paris. By way of comparison, the new structure was twice the size of the Georgia Dome, the largest structure of its type in the U.S. Shows, exhibits, live performances and displays were developed by Mark Fisher and Peter Gabriel.
The review of the project included:
One-Time Event Organization Requirements
- Based on experience at other expositions and large scale events, review of the status of the Millennium Exhibition’s organization vis- à- vis: project stage, staffing requirements, decision process and management controls.
Market & Economics
- Evaluation of planning estimates of attendance and required attraction, food service and other visitors services requirements.
Master Plan Concept
- Review of overall project concept, including contents, show and exhibit formats and approach.
Cost Estimate & Schedule
- Review of current budgets and estimates against experience with previous events elsewhere.
Role: Advisor
