Millbank Millennium Pier, London

Millbank Millennium Pier is a pier on the west bank of the River Thames, in London, United Kingdom. It is served by boats operating under licence from London River Services and is situated between Lambeth Bridge and Vauxhall Bridge on Millbank. It is accessed from a point adjacent to Millbank Tower and the Tate Britain art gallery.

Services

The pier is served by the Tate-to-Tate river bus service, which links the Tate Britain with the Tate Modern Gallery via a Thames boat service.

Millennium fund

Millbank Millennium Pier was opened on 22 May 2003 by London Mayor Ken Livingstone. Its creation was funded by the Millennium Commission as part of the Thames 2000 project, and it was the fifth and last of the new central London piers built with funding from the Millennium Commission (the others being Blackfriars Millennium Pier, Waterloo Millennium Pier, Westminster Millennium Pier and Tower Millennium Pier). The project was part of an integrated transport and regeneration strategy for the Thames led by London’s Cross-River Partnership.

Design and Construction

The Millbank Millennium Pier was designed by Marks Barfield Architects with engineering and project management provided by Beckett Rankine. The lighting design ‘Flash Tidal’ was created by artist Angela Bulloch. The pier is notable for its angular, constructivist steel structure. The main contractor was Mowlem with the steel fabrication by K&N Welding and electrical work by Philipsons. The pier has been awarded a number of prizes for its distinctive design, including a RIBA award, a Commendation by the ICE Merit Award judges, and a 2004 D&AD Yellow Pencil Award.