Buildings Opened by Queen Elizabeth II During Her 70-Year Reign

Queen Elizabeth II opened numerous buildings during her record-breaking reign. As England celebrates the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, we look back at some of the buildings she opened since her coronation in 1952.

During Elizabeth’s unending 70-year reign, architectural styles changed dramatically. The Queen officially cut the ribbons of breathtaking buildings including five museums, two airports, a cathedral, an opera house, and at least four parliament buildings. Here are some of them:

Commonwealth Institute, London, England, RMJM (1962): The Commonwealth Institute building was designed by RMJM to host a permanent exhibition informing the British public about life in the rest of the Commonwealth. The modernist concrete building, placed under a copper-clad hyperbolic paraboloid roof, was converted into the Design Museum in 2016.

Coventry Cathedral, Coventry, England, Basil Spence (1962): Designed by Scottish architect Basil Spence, this post-World War II modernist masterpiece houses Jacob Epstein's statue of Archangel Michael triumphing over the Devil and Graham Sutherland's once-believed-to-be-largest tapestry.

Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia, Jørn Utzon (1973): One million people attended the official opening of the Sydney Opera House in 1973, and the Queen described this milestone building as "a magnificent achievement of engineering and architecture." This iconic building, designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon and engineer Ove Arup, was completed in 14 years.

Tate Modern, London, England, Herzog & de Meuron (2000)

In 2000, the Queen opened the Tate Modern on the south bank of the River Thames in London, designed by the Swiss architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron. The art gallery was designed to replace the Bankside Power Station, designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, which the Queen had opened 37 years earlier in 1963. Today, Tate Modern is one of the world’s most important contemporary art galleries and shapes global art.