25-524: The O2 Centre is an indoor shopping and entertainment centre located on Finchley Road in North West London , near Hampstead , England. Designed by HOK International and opened in 1998, it is now owned by Landsec . Despite the same name and originally very similar logo, it is no relation to the O2 telecommunications brand , which was launched four years later. The name was chosen as reference to
50-497: A tollgate at Childs Hill. After the road was built, many grand houses were built along its length, especially near Fortune Green , Childs Hill and Golders Green . Finchley Road remains a heavily used route in and out of London. The most commercial part of the road is between Swiss Cottage Underground station and the O2 Centre . In 1856 as many as ten stagecoaches a day ran along Finchley Road, serving Swiss Cottage, where
75-404: A choice of 3 designs for the exterior of the building, relating to different kinds of periodic elements – and asking them to suggest a name. The O2 Centre opened with London's largest branch of Sainsbury's at the time, and a Warner Village cinema (now Vue ). The Observer reported in 1999 that, at the time, the building was "quiet" and that "people don't seem to know it's there". The centre
100-622: A pedestrian and cycle path to the car park, next to the Homebase. There are several bus and coach routes that stop right outside the O2 Centre including 13 , 113 , 187 and 268 . Also close by on West End Lane are C11 , 31 , 46 , 139 , 328 and 603 bus stops. Local night buses are N113 . The redevelopment plans include a proposal to add a new entrance from the site to the Finchley Road tube station, potentially including making
125-527: Is Finchley Road , 100 yards south, served by the Jubilee and Metropolitan lines. Finchley Road & Frognal station served by the London Overground is a short walk away while West Hampstead Thameslink railway station , West Hampstead railway station and West Hampstead tube station are also in close proximity, accessed by walking along B510 West End Lane , to Blackburn Road to connect to
150-594: Is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London , England. Running between White City bus station and Camden Town station , it is operated by Metroline . Route 31 commenced operating on 7 September 1911 as a daily route between Chelsea and South Hampstead via Edith Grove, Earls Court Road, Kensington High Street , Notting Hill Gate , Great Western Road, Walterton Road and Belsize Road , replacing horse bus route 36, which also ran between Chelsea and Finchley Road . Three months later, on 7 December 1911, it
175-536: The A41 ) started from what was then called the 'New Road' (the first London bypass) and is now Marylebone Road , and ran north, first along what are now Park Road and Wellington Road, and becomes Finchley Road at St John's Wood tube station . It goes north through Swiss Cottage , then turns slightly north west, forming an unofficial boundary between Hampstead and West Hampstead , and then turns north again at Child's Hill . The A41 diverges westward and Finchley Road becomes
200-602: The A598 . It continues past Golders Green Underground station (where it meets the old route), through Temple Fortune to the North Circular Road , crossing it at Henlys Corner , where it becomes Regents Park Road (perhaps after the southern end of the route). This continues as Ballards Lane through Finchley Central to North Finchley. There it joins the former Great North Road (now the A1000). Tolls were collected at
225-594: The COVID-19 pandemic , Landsec announced it intended to sell over £4bn of assets in the next four to five years. In December 2020, Landsec announced it would be closing the O2 Centre, which would be demolished for 1,800 new homes to be built, with some retail included, in the future. In March 2023, the first phase of the redevelopment plans were approved by the Camden London Borough Council 's local planning authority . The closest tube station
250-615: The A41 Hendon Way , to the M1 motorway at Brent Cross and other roads at that interchange. Its northern half, which dissects away from the A41 and is designated as the A598, runs through suburban areas via the centre of Golders Green to Henlys Corner , where the road north of it leads to Finchley , from which Finchley Road gets its name. Its southern half, in which it gives its name to
275-472: The A502, ran from Camden Town along what is now Chalk Farm Road, Haverstock Hill, Rosslyn Hill , Heath Street and North End Road to Golders Green where it joins Finchley Road. It had two steep hills either side of Hampstead Village, and was difficult for horses with carriages to negotiate when muddy. The Finchley Road Act was passed in 1826 and the new turnpike road was completed in 1835. The new route (now
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#1732781104058300-570: The Atlas Line, a business of these, had started about six years before. Omnibuses reached the area north of Swiss Cottage by way of Finchley Road as far as Finchley Road station before 1880. Later omnibuses were extended along Finchley Road to meet others from Edgware Road along West End Lane , continuing north to Childs Hill and Hendon. Motorbuses had replaced horse omnibuses by 1911. Plans for an extensive network of tramways, along Adelaide and Finchley Roads, were dropped after opposition from
325-486: The O2 Centre from Matterhorn for £126 million (about £174 million in 2023). The original £15m budget for the build was exceeded in early 1997, causing a temporary delay in the build until additional capital investors could be found. The centre contains a Sainsbury's, Aldi , Vue Cinema , Virgin Active , Waterstones and some restaurants such as Wagamama , Nandos , Zero Zero and Starbucks . In November 2020, following
350-433: The centre-west part of Hampstead , has two current railway stations including the name Finchley Road . London Buses route 13 runs through the entire road, while the route 113 runs only in its southern half. Originally named Finchley New Road, it was built as a turnpike to provide an alternative to the hillier route north from London, which ran further east through the village of Hampstead . The original route, now
375-540: The council, ground landlords, and residents. On 2 October 1993 five people were injured and damage caused when three bombs planted by the Provisional IRA exploded. Hampstead is served by Finchley Road Underground station and Finchley Road & Frognal railway station , 435 metres apart on the North London Line ( London Overground ). The road has as such become the colloquial name for
400-645: The part of Hampstead between West Hampstead and Hampstead-on-the-Hill which is centred on Hampstead Underground station . St John's Wood was served by Finchley Road railway station on the Midland Main Line (1868–1927). In 1906 a stone plaque was affixed at 139, Finchley Road by Charles Wells, to commemorate the site of residence of 19th century German operatic signer Thérèse Tietjens . 51°33′55″N 0°11′47″W / 51.56528°N 0.19639°W / 51.56528; -0.19639 London Buses route 31 London Buses route 31
425-416: The route using existing Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TLs from Perivale West garage. On 5 March 2022, the allocation was transferred to Willesden Junction garage using existing MCV EvoSeti bodied Volvo B5LHs . The route's allocation was transferred to Holloway garage on 4 May 2024. Route 31 operates via these primary locations: The route was the subject of the 1985 BBC documentary film To
450-506: The spacious feel of the building, as O 2 is the chemical formula for dioxygen . The opening of the centre in 1998 came after many years of the site remaining derelict. In the early 1990s, the buildings along Finchley Road were demolished in preparation for the centre, but problems with planning permission, with concerns over traffic in particular, led to construction being delayed by many years. A great deal of consultation took place with local residents, including asking them to vote from
475-464: The station fully accessible. Finchley Road Finchley Road is a designated 4.5-mile (7-kilometre) arterial road in north-west London , England. The Finchley Road starts in St John's Wood near central London as part of the A41 ; its southern half is a major dual carriageway with high traffic levels often frequented by lorries and long-distance coaches as it connects central London, via
500-450: Was converted to minibus operation with AEC Routemasters replaced by 28-seat Alexander bodied Mercedes-Benz midibuses. In 1988, Gold Arrow routes 28 and 31 were introduced, operated by CentreWest. These vehicles were quickly found to be too small, and were replaced with Dennis Darts three years later. On 29 May 1999, the route was withdrawn between Notting Hill Gate and Chelsea and replaced by new route 328 . Double-deck operation
525-483: Was extended in connection with the Western extension of the congestion charging zone, after the congestion charge was removed, the extension has remained. However, TfL has also committed to a review of bus services, including those in the Western extension zone. On 22 June 2013, route 31 was included in the sale of First London 's Atlas Road garage to Tower Transit . On 28 April 2018, Metroline started operating
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#1732781104058550-744: Was further extended to Finchley Road station . From 31 October 1912, it was re-routed at Belsize Road to run to Gospel Oak via Eton Avenue , Englands Lane and Parkhill Avenue instead of to Finchley Road. However, this extension did not last long and in December 1912 route 31 was curtailed to run daily from Chelsea to South Hampstead ( Swiss Cottage ). On 15 May 1916, route 31 was extended to run daily from Swiss Cottage to Tulse Hill via Adelaide Road , Camden Town , Eversholt Street, Russell Square , Southampton Row , Kingsway , Aldwych , Waterloo Bridge , Elephant & Castle , Camberwell Green , Denmark Hill and Herne Hill , replacing route 68 , which
575-508: Was originally developed by the Burford Group and Capital & Regional 's X-Leisure fund, who had joint ownership. In 2004, X-Leisure bought out Burford's share for £25 million (about £40 million in 2023). X-Leisure itself was bought out by Landsec in 2013, but not before it had sold off the O2 Centre to property partnership Matterhorn Capital in 2009 for £92.5 million (about £130 million in 2023). One year later, Landsec bought back
600-419: Was reintroduced with low-floor Volvo B7TLs in 2004; there was no reduction in frequency. On 2 December 2006, the route was extended to Shepherd's Bush Green in preparation for the western extension of the congestion charge . A further short extension took place on 29 November 2008, when the route was extended to White City bus station to coincide with the opening of Westfield London . Although route 31
625-463: Was withdrawn on the same day. The operation of this long, horseshoe-shaped route between Chelsea and Tulse Hill lasted for one year; after 29 April 1917 route 31 was withdrawn between Camden Town and Tulse Hill, with route 68 being reintroduced to replace it. From 21 November 1987, the Sunday service was converted to one-person operation, and this was extended to daily operation from 15 April 1989, when
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