![Spinnaker Tower from Gosport - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Spinnaker_Tower_from_Gosport_-_geograph.org.uk_-_78579.jpg)
The Spinnaker Tower is a landmark
observation tower
An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, an ...
in
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
, England. It is the centrepiece of the redevelopment of
Portsmouth Harbour
Portsmouth Harbour is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Portsmouth and Gosport in Hampshire. It is a Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area.
It is a large natural harbour in Hampshire, England. Geographically it ...
, which was supported by a
National Lottery grant. The tower's design was chosen by Portsmouth residents from a selection of three different designs in a 1998 public poll. It has three viewing platforms one on top of the other at heights of 100 m, 105 m and 110 m.
The tower was designed by local firm HGP Architects and engineering consultants
Scott Wilson and built by
Mowlem
Mowlem was one of the largest construction and civil engineering companies in the United Kingdom. Carillion bought the firm in 2006.
History
The firm was founded by John Mowlem in 1822, and was continued as a partnership by successive generati ...
. The Spinnaker Tower reflects Portsmouth's
maritime history
Maritime history is the study of human interaction with and activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant. As an academic subject, it ...
through its design and is named after a
spinnaker
A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a reach (wind at 90° to the course) to downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinnakers are constructed of lightweight fabric, usually n ...
, a type of sail that balloons outward. The tower was opened on 18 October 2005.
The tower is owned by
Portsmouth City Council
Portsmouth City Council is the local authority of the city of Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government s ...
and is operationally managed by Continuum Leading Attractions, a cultural attractions group based in York. Continuum also runs five other visitor attractions across the country.
The Spinnaker Tower was repainted and rebranded as the "Emirates Spinnaker Tower" from July 2015 following a five-year commercial sponsorship deal with Dubai-based
Emirates
Emirates may refer to:
* United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern country
* Emirate, any territory ruled by an emir
** Gulf emirates, emirates located on the Persian Gulf
** Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, the individual emirates
* The Emirat ...
airline. The Emirates sponsorship deal expired in 2020 and the tower reverted to its original all-white paint scheme and name in April 2021.
Structure
The tower, at a height of , is one of the tallest accessible structures in the United Kingdom outside London. The tower is visible around Portsmouth, changing the horizon of the area. It can be seen from the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
, the
Manhood Peninsula
The Manhood Peninsula is the southwest of West Sussex in England. It has the English Channel to its south and Chichester to the north.
It is bordered to its west by Chichester Harbour and to its east by Pagham Harbour, its southern headland bei ...
,
Highdown Gardens
Highdown Gardens are gardens on the western edge of the town of Worthing, close to the village of Ferring and the National Trust archaeological site Highdown Hill, in West Sussex, England. Overlooking the sea from the South Downs, they contain a ...
and
Cissbury Ring
Cissbury Ring is an biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Worthing in West Sussex. It is owned by the National Trust and is designated a Scheduled monument for its Neolithic flint mine and Iron Age hillfort.
Cissbury Ring is ...
in Worthing and
Nine Barrow Down
Nine Barrow Down is an elongated hill forming the northern ridge of the Purbeck Hills on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, England. The chalk down is part of the extensive Southern England Chalk Formation. The eastern end of the ridge, which carri ...
in the
Purbeck Hills
The Purbeck Hills, also called the Purbeck Ridge or simply the Purbecks, are a ridge of chalk downs in Dorset, England. It is formed by the structure known as the Purbeck Monocline. The ridge extends from Lulworth Cove in the west to Old H ...
,
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
.
The tower represents sails billowing in the wind, a design accomplished using two large, white, sweeping metal arcs, which give the tower its
spinnaker
A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a reach (wind at 90° to the course) to downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinnakers are constructed of lightweight fabric, usually n ...
sail design. The steelwork was fabricated by
Butterley Engineering. At the top is a triple observation deck, providing a 360° view of the city of Portsmouth, the
Langstone and Portsmouth harbours, and a viewing distance of . The highest of the three observation platforms, the Sky Deck, has only a wire mesh roof, so visitors are open to the elements. The windows extend above head height, so it is not possible to get a view unobstructed by glass. A
glass floor
Glass floors are made with transparent glass when it is useful to view something from above or below; whereas translucent glass is used when there is no need to view through. In either case, toughened glass is usually chosen, for its durabilit ...
is located on the first viewing deck at 100 metres above sea level. It has three viewing platforms one on top of the other at heights of 100 m, 105 m and 110 m. The tower has a design lifetime of 80 years.
History
Portsmouth's ''Millennium Tower'', as it was originally intended to be named, was a project conceived in 1995 to design a monument to commemorate the
Millennium
A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...
celebrations in the year 2000. It received
UK National Lottery
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery established in 1994 in the United Kingdom. It is regulated by the Gambling Commission, and is currently operated by Camelot Group, to which the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and ...
funding and was intended to open in late 1999.
A choice of three different Millennium Tower designs were presented to the people of Portsmouth for a public poll in early 1998.
* ''Spinnaker'', three observation decks incorporated within the top of a
spinnaker
A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a reach (wind at 90° to the course) to downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinnakers are constructed of lightweight fabric, usually n ...
sail-shaped truss structure, supported by conjoined twin towers that narrowed to a pinnacle at the top.
* ''Globe'', a multi-floor transparent observation globe supported by twin support columns on opposing sides of the globe.
* ''Triple'', three towers in a narrow triangular formation, the towers linked together by trusses. A tallest of the three towers (with a funnel-like top) giving access to offset observation decks supported by the two shorter towers.
The poll was undertaken by Portsmouth City Council in conjunction with Portsmouth's local newspaper, ''The News'' between 11 February 1998 and 23 February 1998. The total number of votes received were 9,476, with 65% of the votes selecting ''Spinnaker'', a design by local architects Hedley Greentree Associates Ltd.
Due to political, financial, contractual and construction problems and extra funding requests by the builders Mowlem, construction did not begin until 2001 and was completed in mid-2005. Because of the six-year delay in opening and not having been ready for the Millennium as planned, the tower was renamed ''Spinnaker Tower'' instead, the design name it had been called in the 1998 public poll.
A Portsmouth City Council official referring to the building delay said "It is personally very embarrassing as project manager and is very disappointing and upsetting".
The overall development project was over budget, with the tower costing £35.6 million alone. Taxpayers were never intended to fund the tower, but Portsmouth City Council eventually contributed £11.1 million towards construction.
In March 2004, Portsmouth Council's former leader Cllr Leo Madden resigned as leader of the Labour Group on the council after a highly critical report of the council's handling of the project and its failure to exploit revenue opportunities, such as the Millennium. Barry Smith, the project's legal advisor, also retired after being suspended on full pay, mostly because of controversy over the contract with the builders, which at one point would have cost the council more to cancel than to complete.
The Spinnaker Tower has suffered from a number of issues since opening, including a malfunctioning external glass
lift
Lift or LIFT may refer to:
Physical devices
* Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods
** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop
** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobil ...
. During the final construction phase, a protester from the rights group
Fathers 4 Justice
Fathers 4 Justice (or F4J) is a fathers’ rights organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2001, the group aims to gain public and parliamentary support for changes in UK legislation on fathers' rights, mainly using stunts and protest ...
scaled the tower wearing a
high-visibility jacket and unfurling a banner in the process. Another incident happened a year later when a
base jumper managed to get past site security and jumped off the Tower; he quickly ran off site after parachuting down.
The tower was dedicated on 16 October 2005 and opened two days later. On opening day, the tower's
project manager
A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have the responsibility of the planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined start and a defined f ...
, David Greenhalgh, and representatives of Mowlem and Maspero were stranded in its malfunctioning external lift (built by Maspero) for an hour and a half.
Abseiling
Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to Bela ...
engineers were called to rescue them. Some, including the franchise's chief executive, felt it was rather fitting that these particular people had been trapped. The external lift was removed during December 2012.
Once open, the tower attracted crowds in excess of expectations, despite only the internal lift working, with more than 600,000 people visiting it in the first year. It is one of a number of observation towers around the world that have become popular, including
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
's
Harbour Centre
__NOTOC__
Harbour Centre is a skyscraper in the central business district of Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada which opened in 1977. The "Lookout" tower atop the office building makes it one of the tallest structures in Vancouver an ...
, Toronto's
CN Tower
The CN Tower (french: Tour CN) is a concrete communications and observation tower in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Built on the former Railway Lands, it was completed in 1976. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway c ...
,
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
's
Tower
A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...
, New York City's
One World Trade Center
One World Trade Center (also known as One World Trade, One WTC, and formerly Freedom Tower) is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Mer ...
(as well as the original
Twin Towers) and Shanghai's
Oriental Pearl Tower
The Oriental Pearl Radio & Television Tower () is a TV tower in Shanghai. Its location at the tip of Lujiazui in the Pudong New Area by the side of Huangpu River, opposite The Bund, makes it a distinct landmark in the area. Its principal design ...
.
In June 2006, the local press raised a concern that the tower might be forced to close. All public buildings in the UK require disabled access under the 1995
Disability Discrimination Act
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, a number of countries have passed laws aimed at reducing discrimination against people with disabilities. These laws have begun to appear as the notion of civil rights has become more influential globally ...
. With the external lift inoperative and only a single internal lift and stairs available as emergency escape routes, disabled people were not allowed to access the tower if they would be unable to use the stairs because a minimum of two escape routes are required by law. This problem was rectified by investing in an evacuation chair and training staff to use it. In the event of evacuation, should the internal lift be inoperable, those unable to navigate the 570 steps can use the evacuation chair.
The Spinnaker Tower, being a landmark of southern England, features in the title sequence of the BBC South Today news programme. It also features on ITV News.
In June 2009, the tower's operators succeeded in gaining permission for a freefall ride to be attached. It opened to the public in June 2018 and featured a bungee jump freefall into a crash net.
In 2006, the tower won the
RICS
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is a global professional body for surveyors, founded in London in 1868. It works at a cross-governmental level, and aims to promote and enforce the highest international standards in the val ...
Project of the Year award and the RICS Regeneration award.
Commercial sponsorship with Emirates (2015–2020)
![Spinnaker tower being repainted](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Spinnaker_tower_being_repainted.JPG)
In May 2015, as part of a wider effort to "generate additional revenue by using the advertising potential of council-owned land and other assets", Portsmouth City Council proposed selling the tower's naming rights to a commercial sponsor. The proposed sponsorship deal would include the naming rights for the tower for at least five years, repainting and rebranding the tower in the sponsor's choice of colours and logos and new signage to be installed "no later than July 17" ahead of the
2015 America's Cup World Series. Dubai-based airline
Emirates
Emirates may refer to:
* United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern country
* Emirate, any territory ruled by an emir
** Gulf emirates, emirates located on the Persian Gulf
** Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, the individual emirates
* The Emirat ...
was reported to be the favoured sponsor, with the tower to be renamed as the Emirates Spinnaker Tower.
On 5 June 2015, the city council confirmed that Emirates had been secured as the sponsor. Councillor Luke Stubbs said: "It's clearly a very good deal for the city and shows the benefit that Portsmouth is deriving from the America’s Cup... This also associates Portsmouth with a global brand and that can only be a good thing." The tower was to be repainted in a red and white colour scheme—similar to that of local football rivals
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club () is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, which competes in the . Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. The club play i ...
—as part of the rebranding but following a petition with over 10,000 signatures, Portsmouth City Council decided to rethink the change. Portsmouth City Council leader Donna Jones said: "We are working up a new design for the tower
hich
Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
will reflect the city’s heritage... I don’t want a tower in the city
hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
no one likes the look of." The new design, unveiled on 19 June 2015, featured a blue, gold and white colour scheme.
Tim Clark, President and CEO of Emirates said: "We listened to the feedback and worked with the council to adapt the designs in order to create something that Portsmouth residents will be proud of." In April 2021 the tower was repainted its original all-white colour, as the five year sponsorship deal with Emirates had ended on 30 June 2020.
Gallery
File:Copy_of_pano3.jpg, Panoramic view of the first deck, showing the glass walkway.
File:Spinnaker Tower and harbour.JPG, The Tower overlooking the harbour.
File:SpinnakerStaircase.JPG, The triangular staircase that must be navigated should an evacuation be needed.
File:Spinnaker Tower mascot.jpg, 'Spinny', Spinnaker Tower's former mascot.
File:Spinnaker_Tower_Looking_Down.jpg, The view through the glass floor of the tower.
File:Rear view of the Spinnaker Tower.jpg, Rear view from ground level of the tower.
File:070627 GFC Pmth hbr.JPG, Spinnaker Tower and harbour from the air, 2007.
File:Spinnaker Tower (8103253059).jpg, Spinnaker Tower from the water, 2012.
File:Front Of the spinnaker tower in 2019.jpg, Spinnaker Tower in 2019
File:Souvenir Coin you can take home.jpg, Visitors can buy a coin of their choice for £2 at the machine at the exit to the lift
File:Back of the coin.jpg, This is the back of the coin
Events
*
The Magic Numbers
The Magic Numbers are an English pop rock band consisting of two brother-and-sister pairs, from Hanwell in west London. The group was formed in 2002, releasing their debut album titled '' The Magic Numbers'' on 13 June 2005. Their follow-up al ...
played a live acoustic set at the Spinnaker Tower on 20 February 2007.
* The tower hosted the third of
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
DJ
Annie Nightingale's live annual 'tower broadcasts' on 21 September 2006, featuring Santos and
The Plump DJs, following similar shows from the
BT Tower
The BT Communication Tower is a grade II listed communications tower located in Fitzrovia, London, owned by BT Group. Originally named the Museum Radio Tower (after the adjacent Museum telephone exchange), it became better known by its unoff ...
, London and the
Television Tower
Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-made ...
, Berlin.
* Spinnaker Tower hosted one of the regional events for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
events in 2006. This involved the mascot of the event,
'' recorded the 2006 ''Book of the Year Award'' inside the tower.
* Contestants on
had to climb over 1,500 steps to the top of the tower as part of their weight-loss task during February 2011.
* BBC's ''
'' was hosted and filmed at Spinnaker Tower as part of a series of free local events in 2012.
* In 2014,
.