The center piece of the visit was the trip to the New Millennium Experience Project Office of the Millennium Dome, an architectural and engineering feat that has however been plagued by financial woes since its completion.

The combined briefing team from Buro Happold Ltd, Richard Rogers Partnership and Laing/McAlpine JV was led by Prof Ian Liddel of Buro Happold. Due to the proximity to the Millennium opening of the Dome on New Year's Eve by the Queen, publicity and visits to the project had been frozen since October. The delegation was however most fortunate to have been able to secure a full on-site briefing followed by a site inspection of the magnificent project at its closing completion stages. 
A visit to Foster & Partners gave the delegation a first-hand impression of architectural design practice at its very best. The team at Foster's took the delegation through the design development of the Greater London Authority scheme from its inception through to its current state. The visit to the Foster office was especially meaningful an experience for the design architects on the delegation. 

A half-day presentation was hosted by Arup on two very prestigious schemes which they had been involved in _ master-planning of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) and master-planning of the Docklands / Canary Wharf development. CTRL is the rail network designed to link the whole of Europe with the UK. 

Developments at Docklands have had a long history in London's development climate and the briefing did much to put the area's progression in very clear light. 

The very meaningful Millennium visit was befittingly completed with visits and briefings at two other exceptionally exciting development schemes _ the British Museum Great Court and the Tate Gallery of Modern Art at Bankside.