Client Overview

Built by the team who created the iconic London Eye, the new British Airways i360 is the world’s tallest moving observation tower.

The 162-metre high structure took two years to construct using 850 tonnes of steel, after planning permission and listed building consent were granted back in October 2006. The i360 holds the Guinness World Record for the slenderest tower, with a diameter of just 3.9 metres at its widest point.

It was funded with the help of a local authority loan from the Public Works Loans Board (PWLB), a government funding agency who provide financial support to major building projects. The i360 is projected to generate more than three times more than it requires to cover loan repayments.

Brighton & Hove City Council have pledged to reinvest the proceeds from ticket sales in the wider development of the seafront and its infrastructure.

Project Brief

LTP Integration was appointed by Optelma, following our previous experience working for British Airways on the London Eye.

The architectural lighting manufacturers – who have offices in Oxfordshire, London, Paris and Switzerland – tasked us with the specification and provision of a control solution that could be programmed to deliver an array of lighting effects triggered by the movement of the pod.

LTP Integration’s status as a Traxon/e:cue partner and value added reseller, as well as our experience in architectural lighting schemes of this nature, were pivotal to the delivery of this element of the project.

Technical Solutions

LTP Integration supplied a Traxon/e:cue control system to architectural lighting manufacturers Optelma for this project. The system automatically controls the interior and exterior lighting to the pod carriage as it travels up and down the structure during both day and night.

Optelma has manufactured and supplied a curved length of its Quad Linear System, a bespoke ring of light that contains RGBW LED.

Suspended internally above the carriage roof, the luminaire appears to float in mid-air during the pod’s 450-foot journey to the top of the structure, while its occupants quaff champagne and take in the breathtaking views.

Optelma commissioned LTP Integration to program the e:cue system to change the colour of the interior lighting as the pod travels up and down the structure. 

A number of scenes are programmed; linked to different triggers, to deliver varying effects, hues and dimming across the channels. The system also activates and de-activates the carriage exterior downlights to stunning effect.

Outcome

The world’s first vertical cable car, conceived and designed by the creators of the London Eye, is now open to the public and offers spectacular 360° views of Brighton and the south coast during both day and night.

LTP Integration’s architectural lighting expertise, especially with regards to structures of such scale, has helped to deliver a remarkable new visitor attraction that can be seen for miles.

Comment

“The concept for the lighting at the top of the tower is that it ‘breathes’, gently brightening and fading at the average rate of a person breathing at rest.” – Marks Barfield Architects (Developer)