Map courtesy of ©CPBS
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In the year 2000, four of the five planned Thames millennium piers were opened by the Millennium Commission, which had been set up in 1994 to mark and t0 celebrate the new millennium. The project was financed by funding raised from the National Lottery and others. Millbank and Blackfriars piers were newly built while the remaining three: Westminster, Waterloo, and Tower were replaced or upgraded.
The map above, kindly offered by Capital Pleasure Boats, CPBS for this article, shows the position of the five millennium piers with their original names. The London Eye Pier as it’s now known was opened as the Waterloo Millennium Pier in 2000.
These five piers are step free, so wheelchair accessible by movable gangways to the pontoons as they rise and fall with the tides.
During the last few years I have photographed them in order from Millbank Millennium Pier downstream to Tower Millennium Pier. There are links to each for transport and other information.
Millbank Millennium Pier
The last of the millennium piers to be completed, Millbank Millennium Pier, was opened by London Mayor Ken Livingstone on May 22, 2003. Its design attracted a lot of attention. Its striking, metallic structure conceived by David Marks and Julia Barfield, was in tune with the forward-looking outlook of the twenty-first century. It was also in tune with its much publicised boat trip between two of London’s famous art galleries: Tate Britain and Tate Modern, which was served, as some of you may remember, by a Damien Hirst polka-dotted clipper: HURRICANE.
A real work of art, described as “a functional floating sculpture”, the Millbank Millennium Pier, received a “Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Award for its high architectural standard, contribution to its local environment and design excellence.” It also won “a ‘Yellow Pencil award’ from Design & Art Direction (D&AD) in the category […] Design for Industry, Transport and the workplace.”*
See Millbank Millennium Pier
Westminster Pier
Formerly Westminster Millennium Pier.
Westminster Pier is one of the busiest piers in central London used by many of the commercial companies operating on the river. And since its millennium make-over, a 32 metre extension was added in 2016 to allow for greater traffic. Several improvements have also been added over the years to its ticket offices and waiting areas, including one for speedboat company Thames RIB Experience who have a smart new Westminster Pier launch point opened in June this year.
See Westminster Pier
London Eye Pier
The London Eye Pier was opened as the Waterloo Millennium Pier in 2000. Set beneath the London Eye, it was designed by architects Beckett Rankine and Marks Barfield. Its purpose was not only to accommodate passenger and sightseeing boats but also, more importantly, to act as a safety measure protecting the structure of the 1,750 tonne wheel from collision. It was “designed to absorb 12 MJ (mega Joules) of energy without failure in such a case.”
See London Eye (Waterloo Pier)
Blackfriars Millennium Pier
Opened in 2000 the Blackfriars Millennium Pier was dismantled in 2016 in to make way for construction work on the Thames Tideway ‘Super Sewer’ which now runs 48 metres below.
The old Blackfriars Millennium Pier has been replaced by a new public space built out into the Thames.
The new Blackfriars Pier, just downstream from Blackfriars Bridge, was designed by Arup who bore in mind its “prominent position on the river” facing Tate Modern and the Millennium Bridge.
A complicated but expertly executed project, “the new pier was was constructed by Ravestein in Holland, along with the associated walkways and bankseat. The 84 metre long pontoon was transported across the North Sea on a submersible jack up barge and floated off once it reached the relatively calm waters of the Thames.” **
See Blackfriars Pier
Tower Millennium Pier
On July 14, 2000, London Mayor Ken Livingstone opened the refurbished Tower Millennium Pier. A strong believer in the role that the Thames could play in London’s transport, he said: “The opening of the Tower Millennium Pier highlights one of the most exciting chapters in the re-emergence of the Thames as a major transport route through London.” And so, twenty-five years later, it has proved.
An article published by the TFL Press Centre*** explains how the five Millennium Piers came into being as a result of the Thames 2000 initiative, launched by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, designed to improve facilities and to bring new life to the river. And it was the award of a £7 million grant by the Millennium Commission “towards package of new and redeveloped piers in central London that provided the top-up funding to the Tower Millennium Pier project.”
Steve Cuthbert, Chief Executive of the Port of London Authority at the time, said in 2000: “The PLA was delighted to initiate the investment in new passenger piers on the River Thames during the period immediately prior to their hand-over to London River Services”, who, as a subsidiary of Transport for London, now own the majority of London’s piers.
The Millennium Piers are now as busy as ever, and with other piers built, or improved more recently, provide good links for commuter and tourist traffic by the several companies operating along the Thames.
End notes
1. Millbank, Westminster, Blackfriars, and Tower Millennium Piers are all owned by London River Services. The London Eye, or Waterloo Pier, is privately owned.
2. The Millennium Pier projects provided more accessible boarding facilities and helped to increase the use of the river boat services.
3. * Quotes from article Transport for London ‘Buoyant after pier wins awards. 17 June 2004.’
4. ** Quote from Water Projects: ‘Tideway Central – Vessel relocation (2017).’
5. *** TFL Press Centre article ‘About Us’.
Sources and further Information
Designers of Blackfriars Pier ARUP.
See CPBS for Capital Pleasure Boats and their fleet of five party boats.
London River Services Ltd
TFL London River Services: River Infrastructure Guidelines
Uber Boat by Thames Clippers river service: Find Your Pier.
With thanks to Ben of Liquid Highway, the leading River Thames source for news and info.
For other ways to approach the river, see River Thames Society’s Chairman Peter Finch’s detailed work: ‘Access to the Thames: Steps and Stairs.