Archinect - News

Is it the end of the pole for Brighton's i360 attraction?

2024-12-02T17:58:00-05:00

UK media outlets report that Brighton's i360 tourist attraction has filed for administration. Initially launched as "British Airways i360," the seaside 531-foot moving observation tower had great expectations of attracting huge crowds pinned on it when it opened in August 2016 as a "vertical pier." (Critic Oliver Wainwright mocked it as a "great throbbing shaft" in his opening review.) The structure was designed by Marks Barfield, the architects behind the famed London Eye attraction.

Operator Brighton i360 Ltd has reportedly accrued £51 million ($65 million USD) in debt.

Previously on Archinect: A "great throbbing shaft": Oliver Wainwright on Brighton's British Airways i360 tower. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons user Hassocks5489 (Public Domain)

A "great throbbing shaft": Oliver Wainwright on Brighton's British Airways i360 tower

2016-08-04T14:23:00-04:00

To some it’s the Brighton Pole, to others it is Sussex’s supersized lollipop. Naughtier minds have dubbed it “the cock and ring”. Before it has even opened, the south coast’s new observation tower has gathered a gaggle of nicknames – and you can see why, when its creators insist on calling it the British Airways i360. To opponents, it may still be the iSore, a Chernobyl chimney despoiling the beach. It could have been designed to feel less like a corporate entertainment lounge on a stick.

But by night, when it glows like a sword plunging down from the heavens, it is hard to resist. Come the Pride festival this weekend, when the i360’s programmable LED lights will form a dazzling rainbow, there might prove to be no better symbol for the city than this great throbbing shaft.

For more news from Brighton, check out these links:

Designers of the London Eye create new landmark for Brighton

2016-07-11T14:22:00-04:00

Marks Barfield Architects have, quite literally, reinvented the wheel and have created the i360, a vertical cable car with a sculpted viewing pod, perching lightly upon Brighton’s seafront... It takes the form of a slender mast that will be 568ft high (when the spire is added), which supports a sculpted, doughnut-shaped pod, with glass windows and a reflective mirrored underside. The pod takes up to 200 people at a time skyward over a flight time of 20 (daytime) or 30 minutes (evening).

Due to open this summer, the British Airways i360 is a new futuristic landmark for Brighton’s seafront designed by architects David Marks and Julia Barfield. It is hoped that the BA i360 will herald a new touristic golden age for Brighton, replicating the success of the London eye on Brighton’s seafront. The i360 will be possibly be advertised on British Airways flights to the UK, in an international revival of Brighton's ambitions. Inclusive of the immediate community, there will be half price tickets for Brighton residents and free entry for state school children in Brighton and Hove once in their school career. There is also to be a restaurant at the base of the tower, and the restoration of a pair of original building on the West Pier.

The BA i360 June 2016 - Image courtesy of British Airways i360/Kevin Meredith

In juxtaposition to the i360 tower, the Grade I listed West Pier is situated adjacent. The condemned structure is a skeleton from the golden age of domestic holidaying. Th...