Today sees the opening of the new London Olympics cable car called Emirates Air Line. Designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, the cable car will lift passengers up to 90 metres above the river Thames as they travel the 1.1km route between the Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks.

Wilkinson Eyre was commissioned, with Expedition Engineering, as architects of the scheme after a design competition. The team had to fit the crossing into a ‘corridor’ with numerous constraints that included a minimum 54-metre clearance for Tall Ships above the Thames, constraints in plan and section relating to City Airport, multiple landholdings and existing infrastructure.

Wilkinson Eyre developed plans for the Emirates Air Line with Expedition Engineering and Mott Macdonald for Transport for London. The practice was instrumental in assisting TfL to win planning permission for the project from the London Boroughs of Newham and Greenwich as well as the approval of the Mayor’s office in early 2011. The plans were taken to completion through a Design & Build contract run by Mace, with Aedas as delivery architect.

The Emirates Air Line is fully accessible to wheelchair users and the mobility impaired, with step free access in both terminals.

For more information in including ticket prices and opening times, please visit: Emirates Air Line