The London Eye

London Eye

 

VO
London is a city famous for its landmarks, but since 1999, there’s been an addition to the skyline – the London Eye. Sitting next to County Hall and opposite the Ministry of Defence, the eye is the tallest observation wheel in the world.

 

IV

The Eye was conceived and designed by Mark Starfield Architects, who were the original ideas people behind it, and it was following their entry for a competition to mark the millennium with a structure.

 

VO
But since the eye was designed for the millennium, does that mean it’s going to be coming down soon?

 

IV
Well originally the idea was it would be here for five years, but in fact in the last couple of years we’ve now got permission to stay for at least another 25, and in the year 25 we’ll review whether it can stay for life. I would anticipate we’ll be here for a long time to come. It’s gone down extremely well. I think most people these days, and we certainly felt this when we got to our life extension with the local council, that actually if it wasn’t here now lots of people would miss it, and that’s certainly the feedback I get. I think it’s interesting you say it’s imposing – I think it is an imposing structure, but because it’s so ethereal, you can see through it and around it and everything else, I don’t think it particularly poses on anybody else, so I think it will be here for a long time, and it is a very very attractive structure.

 

IV
Well you can see on both sides of the river. You can look backwards and forwards. Obviously the south side’s developing, but the north side of the river, with the houses of parliament and Sir Christopher Wren’s St. Paul’s Cathedral, now the additional things, like the Gherkin as it’s known, you can really see the whole vista of London. It’s a fantastic place to start your visit to London – come and have a look from the eye, and then set out around. There’s so many – up to fifty, sixty landmarks. I’ve been here on a clear summer’s day, and looked out, over towards the West, and been able to see the turrets of Windsdor Castle, so that’s about 25 miles away, so, you’ve got a good view.

 

IV

Well, we do do special events. Valentines Day, we had thousands of people at the eye celebrating Valentines Day, some with private capsules with champagne, some with capsules with different people in the capsule. And then, we do other various things throughout the year. For instance, Easter’s coming up at this stage, we’ve got a giant Easter egg hunt. And then we do celebrations throughout the year, depends. We do weddings on the eye, lots of birthday celebrations with champagne capsules and that type of thing. What you can do is, you can buy a package. Basically, we supply the capsule with the champagne and a waiter to serve up to twenty people in the capsule. It really depends on what you want to buy – it’s a combination of champagne with canapés or strawberries in the summer. Those sorts of packages.

 

VO
So if you want to see the sights in style, better book yourself a flight on the London Eye.