In the news

I wonder what the delivery time is on large sheets of PTFE-coated glass fibre fabric. The new bits will also make the old bits look very dirty.

Time for a complete re-roof I guess.

It is 22 years old, that plastic doesn't last forever...

It's extraordinary that it has lasted as long as it has.
I was dating one of the trapeze artists that was dropped on a bungee from the roof of the Dome during the 2000 show. She told me that there were dinner plate sized holes in the roof at that time.

I wonder if they finally knock it down if the cost is too much to recover it?

You could build a lot of houses/shitty flats in that space now they've started developing that area ...

Unlikely to happen, AEGs insurance will pay for a chunk of the repair or renewal cost.

But MSG would be delighted if it did.

It's just the membrane, the structure is fine. I'm pretty sure they would already have had some plan for replacing it in the next few years, they probably weren't planning on it being quite so soon or urgent...

I'm surprised how many comments (inc on here) I see from people who think the dome is a waste of space, shit design, cheaply built, good riddance etc.

It's not exactly my cup of tea design-wise, but it's clever and has more than done its job - as a building it was cheap through economic design not cost-cutting, it was the attention-grabbing part of a strategy to make the peninsula viable for regeneration (ground decontamination, new transport links), it's been anchoring the area while development has got going. It's now part of what sells those new flats and offices, it's part of London's skyline. Not bad for a white elephant.

You might wish regeneration had happened in a different way (maybe based on the Greenwich Millennium Village model instead), but that's a different argument. I don't really get any of those shopping mall type places but I'd be pretty sad if it was demolished - i think it does merit the 'iconic' label, and besides which, what a waste of a perfectly good structure. Maybe they could ETFE it and turn it into a giant enclosed garden (a la Eden project) but that would be much more costly than the membrane they have now.

Maybe they could ETFE it and turn it into a giant enclosed garden (a la Eden project) but that would be much more costly than the membrane they have now.

How hard could it be? Few sacks of compost and a few trays of geraniums should do the trick.

I agree with Hoefla. Plus, can you imagine us building something like it again? We’d end up rendering it and sticking turrets on the corners to make it fit with the RW aesthetic.

I’m no expert, but I presume it tore there b/c of the developments around it - That hotel the footage was shot from was opened in 2016, and looks like the gusts were channelled into the spot that went first.

can you imagine us building something like it again

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSG_Sphere_London

Btw, someone pointed out to me that there is already a silver lining in all of this for Putin. He now has his army all over Belarus, effectively occupying it, without Lukashenko being able to do much about it. Lukashenko is a stubborn fucker who supposedly never showed the right level of deference to Putin, but I guess that's going to change now.

I think the Dome contents damaged it forever. It set a tone in the narrative of "waste of space/money" that no amount of redevelopment could repair.

I went a week or so after it opened and stuff was broken already. It looked like 1980s era Disney park installations and I think the only part I liked was the chill-out sort of area where I had a kip whilst the other people I went with carried on with the attractions before we went to the pub.

The Queen has tested positive for COVID

I can almost taste the 2 days of bank holiday...

If they time it right the June one is there already.
And Charles infecting her is a nice touch.

I also went in 2000 with my family, when the Dome was pretty new - a bolt actually fell out of the roof and hit my brother. He kept it for ages. They could probably do with it back now.

https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/target-area/013FWFGM35

Jan 2021 was the rehearsal... this time I hope the same...

Government Flickr account open for comments/captions:

https://flic.kr/p/2n3QNWH

h/t Stewart Lee

I really don’t understand this “pretending to do a job” thing, what exactly is the thinking behind it? Who is the target audience for a photo of JRM driving a truck / tug? It’s like that one of Liz Truss pretending to drive a tank or fighter jet. https://www.flickr.com/photos/192333790@N05/51885386468/

https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.u­k/target-area/013FWFGM35

Jan 2021 was the rehearsal... this time I hope the same...

Just spoke to my mum, who is down the road - she reckons its flooding again.

“pretending to do a job” thing

You should check out Instagram.

I really don’t understand this “pretending to do a job” thing

It worked for Thatcher. Her tank driving photo helped get her re-elected. Different times.