Brighton i360

"Brighton tower" redirects here. Not to be confused with New Brighton Tower.

Brighton i360
View of the i360 from King's Road in 2018
Brighton i360 is located in East Sussex
Brighton i360
Location in East Sussex
Brighton i360 is located in England
Brighton i360
Location in England
General information
StatusCompleted
TypeObservation tower
LocationBrighton & Hove
CountryEngland
Coordinates50°49′17″N 0°09′03″W / 50.8214°N 0.1507°W / 50.8214; -0.1507
Groundbreaking29 July 2014[1]
Estimated completionSummer 2016
Opening4 August 2016
Cost£46.2 million
Height162 m (531 ft)
Design and construction
Architect(s)David Marks and Julia Barfield
Architecture firmMarks Barfield
Structural engineerJacobs Engineering
Main contractorHollandia Infra BV
Website
brightoni360.co.uk

Brighton i360[2] is a 162 m (531 ft) moving observation tower on the seafront of Brighton, East Sussex, England at the landward end of the remains of the West Pier.[3] The tower opened on 4 August 2016.[4] From the fully enclosed viewing pod, visitors experience 360-degree views across Brighton, the South Downs and the English Channel.

Brighton i360 was designed, engineered, manufactured and promoted by the team responsible for the London Eye.[5] The attraction cost £46 million, with £36 million being funded by a Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) loan through Brighton and Hove city council. Planning permission was granted in 2006, with the then Labour Party Leader of the council, Simon Burgess, stating that "It is going to transform the city. The i360 will be a familiar picture postcard image - recognisable throughout the world. It will generate huge amounts of cash and benefit the city's economy all year round."[6]

The following year the Secretary of State for Transport, Rt Hon Douglas Alexander, amended legislation which would have otherwise threatened the project due to restrictive land lease terms. The Brighton West Pier Harbour Revision Order 2007[7] granted under the then Labour Government conferred powers to the Brighton West Pier Trust for leasing the pier and making byelaws to regulate the pier, allowing the i360 project to move forward.

Formerly known as the "British Airways i360", the project originally aimed to attract 739,000 paying customers every year.[5] The owner of the site, the West Pier Trust, hoped in 2014 that a successful i360 would lead to the rebuilding of the historic West Pier.[8] Visitor numbers never reached those projected and, in December 2022, having also felt the impact of the Covid pandemic on the tourism industry, the i360 defaulted on the debt it owed the council.[9] By June 2023, the i360's debt to the Council was more than £48 million, a figure around £12 million more than the original loan agreed.[10]

  1. ^ "Construction work on Brighton's i360 tower begins". BBC News. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  2. ^ "British Airways sponsors Brighton's i360 seafront tower". BBC News. 26 November 2015.
  3. ^ "The i360 at Brighton West Pier". Brighton West Pier Trust. Archived from the original on 29 September 2006.
  4. ^ Kashmira Gander (1 August 2016). "First look inside Brighton's i360 'vertical pier' - the world's tallest moving observation tower". The Daily Telegraph.
  5. ^ a b Brian Oliver (26 December 2015). "Brighton reaches for the sky in bid to reverse its 'lost decade' of neglect". The Guardian.
  6. ^ https://url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/QKPgCAN35CNK0j21FM358Q?domain=theargus.co.uk/ [bare URL]
  7. ^ https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/1423/made
  8. ^ "Workers complete demolition of sections of Brighton's West Pier ahead of i360 build". thelatest.co.uk. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  9. ^ "'Range of options' on table after latest £900k loan default by i360". The Argus. 7 January 2023.
  10. ^ Sarah Brooker-Lewis, 'Brighton and Hove council approve i360 cricket plan', The Argus, June 2023