British Airways i360, Brighton (must see)

By the ruins of the old West Pier of Brighton Beach is British Airways i360. It is an enclosed viewing pod that rises over 500 feet on a needle like structure. Visitors to the pod have 360 degree views of Brighton, the South Downs and the English Channel. British Airways i360 pulls in 790,000 visitors every year. The site is owned by the West Pier Trust.

The tower was conceived as a "vertical pier." Italianate ticket booths, salvaged from the West Pier, bracket the entrance to i360. The beachfront building serves as access to the tower and it has a brasserie, cafe and gift shop. The circular rising and descending viewing platform or pod has a capacity for 200 people at a time.

The glass passenger pod was designed by Poma, cable car builders and specialists. The pod is 59 feet in diameter. It moves up the supporting needle to a maximum height of 453 feet and then returns to ground level. It is heated and air-conditioned.

Plans for the tower were submitted in 2006. Construction started in the Netherlands in 2008. Hollandia, a Dutch steelworks firm, made prefabricated steel sections of the tower. The column is 13 feet in diameter. It is the most slender tower in existence.

British Airways i360 opened on August 4, 2016. "Flights" leave every half-hour and last 25 minutes, top to bottom. Happy landings!