First conceived in 1995, the tower marks the completion of a massive redevelopment scheme called ‘The Renaissance of Portsmouth Harbour’, which was funded by contributions from the Millennium Commission,Portsmouth City Council and Berkeley Festival Waterfront Company Ltd. The design and build tender was won byMowlem plc, with Scott Wilson carrying out the detailed structural design as lead consultant. Building work began in 2001 when the tower’s 50m support piles were driven into Portsmouth Harbour.

Spinnaker Tower has three glass encapsulated viewing decks. View Deck 1 is fitted with the largest glazed floor in Europe, allowing visitors to ‘walk on air’ while looking at the quayside, shops and harbour some 100m below. On View Deck 2 visitors can use two interactive pods which display information about the view and show a computer generated reconstruction of three famous ships in the Solent – Mary Rose, HMS Victory, and Dreadnought. On View deck 3 visitors can feel the wind in their hair, as this level is open to the elements. A panoramic glass lift takes visitors up and down the outside of Spinnaker Tower while another internal high speed lift will whisk visitors to the viewing platforms, which are situated at heights of 105m, 110m and 115m. The tower is open to the public 364 days a year with a general admission price of £4.95 for adults.

MJ Information No: 21226