As people around the world mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away at the age of 96, the most significant buildings she opened during her reign of 70 years include five museums, two airports, a cathedral, an opera house, and no fewer than four parliament buildings across the Commonwealth countries.
Elizabeth II came to the throne on 6 February 1952 at the age of 25 and r, the longest in British history. She reigned as Queen of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth countries until her death on 8 September 2022. Earlier this year, the UK celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, which marked 70 years since her coronation.
During her record-breaking time on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II inaugurated numerous public buildings across the UK, Australia, and New Zealand in her role as head of state from modernist buildings designed by Basil Spence and Frederick Gibberd, brutalist structures by Powell & Moya and Denys Lasdun, and high-tech creations by Richard Rogers and Norman Foster, as well as more recent contemporary structures by Herzog & de Meuron and WilkinsonEyre.
The most significant pieces of architecture officially opened by the Queen, included The Queen's Building, Heathrow, England, by Frederick Gibberd (1955), New Zealand House, London, England, by RMJM (1963), Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia, by Jørn Utzon (1973), Barbican Centre, London, England, by Chamberlin, Powell, and Bon (1982), Stansted Airport, Stansted, England, by Foster + Partners (1991), Tate Modern, London, England, by Herzog & de Meuron (2000), Scottish Parliament Building, Edinburgh, Scotland, by EMBT & RMJM (2004).
