The i360 is one of the biggest engineering projects to happen in the UK in recent years and the team behind it hopes it will inspire a future generation of architects and engineers.
It was anticipated early on that there would be huge interest in the tower’s construction and so the i360’s chief executive Eleanor Harris decided to document every stage of the construction on film.
As she explained: “Before we even started building we brought in our filming partner, Latest TV, who along with our two official photographers have been working with us for the past year to capture every stage of the construction.
“Latest has created a series of short films, each lasting a couple of minutes. Although the build hasn’t finished, we thought now was a good time to share the work so far.”
Those initial films are now online and can be watched by CLICKING HERE. They include films on the concrete pour, both beach landings and the fitting of the first steel can. New footage will be added to the page after each major construction event or milestone.
There is also behind the scenes footage and interviews from a range of people involved in the project, including the architects David Marks and Julia Barfield, tower construction project manager Neal Mardon from Hollandia, and Dan Argles, the project manager from Mackley.
Eleanor also features in the films and she said the footage from Latest TV, which is narrated by the i360’s public liaison officer Ruth Chapman, was proving to be an excellent way for people to keep up to date with the building of the tower.
She said: “There really is a lot of interest in how we are building the tower and in some ways the i360 is already an attraction even though it won’t open until next summer.
“These videos are brilliant for people who perhaps can’t make it down to the site, have missed any of the work or who want to get a different perspective on the work we are doing. We also have received a lot of interest from overseas – either from locals who have moved abroad or people who are from other countries but are excited to see what we are doing here.
“It is great to have the team from Latest TV documenting the build. The building of the i360 is a historic time for Brighton and it is fantastic to have it being recorded at every stage by a local TV crew who have been able to pop down to site whenever something momentous has happened.
“They have got to know our team really well and are frequent visitors to our site.
“It is great to see these films coming together.”