The i360 turns 10: a decade of views and controversy

Ten years on the Brighton seafront, and the i360 is still one of the most talked-about things in the city. The tower celebrated its tenth anniversary on 4 August, having first opened to the public on the same date in 2016, and the decade behind it has been anything but quiet.

At 162 metres, it remains the highest moving platform in Europe. The glass pod carries up to 200 people at a time to 138 metres above sea level, taking in 360-degree views of Brighton, the South Downs and the English Channel. The journey runs to about 25 minutes — roughly eight minutes up, a pause at the top, and eight minutes back down — and the pod is fully enclosed and climate-controlled, with seating, standing room and a bar serving drinks on selected flights. There is no voice-over or information panels inside, so the view does all the work.

It was designed by the team behind the London Eye, Marks Barfield Architects, with Julia Barfield and David Marks at the helm. Barfield still chairs the board and presides over Brighton i360 Ltd, while Marks, who co-founded the firm in 1989, passed away in October 2017. The steel structure was engineered by the Dutch specialists Hollandia Infra BV, and the pod itself was built by Poma. Planning permission was granted back in 2006 under then-council leader Simon Burgess, construction began in July 2014, and the total project cost ran to £46 million, with a £36 million loan from the Public Works Loan Board routed through Brighton and Hove City Council.

It has not always been smooth going. The tower opened as the British Airways i360, only becoming the Brighton i360 after that sponsorship ended in November 2022. Financial troubles eventually caught up with it: the attraction entered administration in November 2024 and closed with immediate effect on 20 December. In January 2025, the council wrote off a £51 million debt to make a sale possible, and the hospitality group Nightcap, run by Sarah Willingham and Michael Toxvaerd, bought the business in February 2025 for £150,000. It reopened on 8 March 2025, and Willingham has since put £400,000 into repairs and over £1 million into improvements, with a further £1.5 million earmarked for hospitality offerings in September 2026.

The numbers have been part of the row too. A CIPFA report published in March 2026 found that original visitor projections were not met, with first-year numbers coming in at roughly a third of what had been forecast, and both that and a council 'Lessons Learnt' report criticised the financing model and the lack of independent scrutiny. There were early teething problems as well: nearly 200 passengers were trapped in the pod in 2016 when the control system entered safety mode, the pod got stuck twice in September that year, and a broken cable left passengers trapped for two hours in February 2017.

Still, the tower has its moments. It has picked up nine awards for design and innovation, including a RIBA National Award, and has hosted everything from Caterham Cars using the pod as a showroom in 2021 to Sam Ryder filming the music video for 'Somebody' on top of it in 2022. It sits on Lower King's Road, about 20 minutes from the station, near the remains of the old West Pier, which was destroyed by arson in 2003 and declared irreparable in 2004. The West Pier Trust keeps the site going and runs the West Pier Centre in an arch nearby, open midday to 3pm on Fridays through Mondays, with exhibitions and community sessions. The i360 itself runs all year, including bank holidays, so there is no real off-season if you fancy the view.