British Airways i360

British Airways i360
Artwork of the planned tower
General information
Status	Under construction
Type	Observation tower
Location	Brighton & Hove, England, United Kingdom
Groundbreaking	29 July 2014
Estimated completion	August 2016
Cost	£46.2 million
Height	162 metres (531 ft)
Design and construction
Architect	David Marks and Julia Barfield
Architecture firm	Marks Barfield
References
http://www.britishairwaysi360.com

The British Airways i360 is an 162-metre (531 ft) observation tower being constructed on the seafront of Brighton, near to the West Pier. The "i" in the title stands for independence and innovation.

The i360 is designed, engineered, manufactured and promoted by the team responsible for the London Eye. Dutch steelwork specialist Hollandia has prefabricated the cylindrical steel sections of the tower, known by the team as cans. The column is 4 metres in diameter, and with a height-to-diameter ratio of 40 to one, it will be the world's slenderest tall tower. The British Airways i360 will also be the world's first vertical cable car and the world's tallest moving observation tower - the team behind the British Airways i360 aims to have one of its three world records in the Guiness Book of World Records 2017.

It is estimated by the developers that the i360 will generate more than 440 permanent jobs, 169 at the attraction, plus additional jobs from the spin-off benefits to other businesses in the city. The projected cost of the tower is £46 million, with £36 million being funded by a Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) loan through Brighton and Hove city council. In 2014, some local residents launched a petition to oppose the loan.

Formerly known as the 'Brighton i360', the project aims to attract 739,000 paying customers every year, with tourists paying £15 and residents £7.50. The owners of the site, The West Pier Trust, hope that a successful i360 will lead to the rebuilding of the historic West Pier.

Design and construction

i360 under construction in August 2015

The tower was designed by architects Marks Barfield, who also designed the London Eye. Currently under construction at the shore end of the disused West Pier, the i360 will have a 162 m (531 ft) high needle tower with an ascending and descending circular viewing platform with a capacity for 200 people.

Plans were submitted in June 2006 and were approved by Brighton and Hove City Council later that year with construction projected to start in 2007. Following delays of around fifteen months the off-site construction of the sections of the tower began in 2008 in the Netherlands, and work on reconstructing the arches beneath and east of the pier to allow the tower construction began in November 2012. Work on the tower itself began in May 2014, with the attraction being scheduled to open in 2016.

When completed it will be Britain's highest moving observation tower, with a viewing platform at 138 metres (453 feet), and views along the coast, across the South Downs and across the English Channel. The viewing platform will be higher than the nearby Sussex Heights tower block and Whitehawk Hill, and about the same height as Thundersbarrow Hill, Red Hill and Race Hill around Brighton & Hove. The top will be about the same height as Beeding Hill to the north west and Falmer Hill to the north east, but not as high as parts of Woodingdean, Hollingbury Hill, Ditchling Beacon or Devil's Dyke, Sussex.

The glass passenger pod is designed and built by cable car specialists POMA, who also built the London Eye capsules. The passenger pod is 18 metres in diameter and will hold up to 200 people. Travelling from street level to a height of 138 metres, the viewing pod will provide a 360 degree view through curved glass, before returning to beach level. The pod is expected to be heated and air-conditioned, with full wheelchair accessibility and bench seating. It will also contain a bar.

English Heritage felt that the 2006 plan would "provide an outstanding feature on the seafront, and a worthy companion to any successor to the West Pier". In a statement, the West Pier Trust hoped that the project would "regenerate a key blighted city site and send out a loud message that Brighton is open for business".

Finance

In March 2014, the project was expected to cost £46 million, with Brighton and Hove Council lending £36.2 million from the Public Works Loan Board and architects Marks Barfield contributing £6 million. The council were initially intending to support the build with £14.8 million, but this was raised after an unnamed private equity investor told the architects it could no longer proceed and withdrew its planned £15 million contribution in 2012.

The £36.2 million loan was agreed at a Special Policy & Resources Committee in March 2014, the council agreeing to more than replace the lost investment capital and to again borrow from the Public Works Loan Board to effect the new bailout. The Coast to Capital LEP loan of £3 million was raised to £4 million. The West Pier Trust have suggested the project "will cost the taxpayer nothing", but some residents are concerned that any repayment risk would be borne by the residents of Brighton & Hove. The council have stated that if the loan were not repaid, they would have the option to take over the attraction, find another operator or sell it.

Opposition

Some local residents have campaigned against the loan and raised petitions, one reaching 1449 signatures, including those of architects Paul Zara, of the Conran Partnership, and Paul Nicholson, of Chalk Architecture; Simon Fanshawe, the writer and broadcaster, and Malcolm Dawes, chairman of the Brighton Society.

Valerie Payton of the SaveHOVE campaign said that the tower "will be profoundly out of keeping with the rest of the seafront. It will be a huge, wide and monstrously tall steel structure that will be omnipresent and visible from wherever you look in the city and beyond." She expressed concern that if the project failed for any reason, the city would have to repay the loan. Selma Montford of the Brighton Society, which aims to conserve and improve the city's amenities, described the i360 as a "horrendous thing in the sky" which would belittle nearby Regency Square. She said that she did not believe it would achieve the predicted visitor figures.