What WAS on - West Pier

From the Brighton Herald for 2nd. February 1918:-

West Pier illumination.

The remains of the West Pier are now being permanently illuminated by a new lighting installation installed on the British Airways i360 boarding deck. The equipment was designed by Do Architecture, the firm which created the British Airways i360 tower lighting system. It uses specialist marine LED technology with sophisticated lenses to create a series of intense and focused beams of light, while consuming very low amounts of energy and requiring little maintenance. The scheme  is the result of a cooperation between BAi360 and the West Pier Trust.

Each evening after twilight, and after the starling murmuration has finished,  white light will pick out the standing ruin until midnight. The illumination will throw focused beams of white light out to the structure that will occasionally play off the rolling waves, creating a fitting adornment to the historic structure and extending the reach of its visual presence from day into night.

Earlier temporary lighting

The West Pier Centre opens

BA i360 landscaping - update

West side. The Activity/Performance piazza 

East side. The Heritage piazza

On the west side of the i360 the work is complete with high-standard paving and street furniture.

On the east side the heritage installation is still progressing. The planned spiral of reclaimed piles is beginning to take shape. It is intriguing how, in the background, the remaining beach piles of the West Pier enter the composition.

The east side piazza is also intended to be home to a restored West Pier kiosk which is till awaiting funding.

See also - Seafront mathematics

Sea walls

View east from West Pier

This postcard from  the early 20thC shows, in the bottom LH corner, an exposed sea-wall on the east of the West Pier. It is of similar design to that on the west side of the pier,  a gap having been left between them to accommodate the already existing Pier. The build-up of shingle has presumably rendered them redundant, which is a good thing inasmuch as the i360 is now occupying the self-same gap.

See also:- Brighton Beach

What no spire?

I am beginning to fear that this is it. This is what people at ground level will see for 99% of the time. Seen through a telephoto the i360 tower appears to have been capped off with a shallow dome, undetectable from the ground,  and a warning light. Only for brief periods, when the pod is poised at the top of the tower will the purpose of the tower be evident and the design of its finial irrelevant.  

The original design provided for the tower to be surmounted by  a vertical rotor wind turbine.  As well as providing some green power for the operation of the lift this would also have had the advantage of distinguishing the tower unambiguously from an oversize industrial chimney stack.

The wind turbine idea was dropped however due to fears of its effect on the wind dynamics of the tower. No equivalent visual substitute has so far been installed. As far as appearance goes the tower appears to be no longer in accordance with the plans approved.

The Burning of the West Pier

Video by David Fray, 28th March 2003.

The i360 construction begins.

This afternoon at the West Pier site the start of construction of the i360 viewing tower was marked by a Ground-breaking Ceremony.

L to R, Cr Theobald, Julia Barfield, David Marks

Leader of the Council Cr. Jason Kitkat 

Short speeches were made by the architect David Marks and the Leader of the Council Cr. Jason Kitkat, and, in the brilliant sunshine, it was impossible not to share some of the project vision of the former and the economic optimism of the latter. It was also intriguing to learn some details of the construction process which will involve landing the great sections of the tower on the beach from barges. These sections will be added to the tower at its bottom end, jacking up the previous assembly within a giant supporting steel frame. David Marks promised plenty of viewing points so whatever ones opinions about the tower walks along the seafront over the next couple of years will provide plenty of interest.

Ground-breaking.

Robert Goff's West Pier

The Curator gives a short, illuminating talk about one of the prints from the current exhibiton in the Print Gallery, Brighton Museum.

Mike Holland & the West Pier

A glimmer of hope?
Sorry about the flicker.

Summer cloud

See also: Winter sunshine.

Passacaglia & Fugue

• "Passacaglia" 1998. Charles Hadcock's best known work.
• "Fugue". The West Pier; a joint work by Eugenius Birch 1866, and the 'Ravages of Time & Arson', 1975 to the present.
• "Passacaglia & Fugue in C minor by J S Bach, c.1710.

Charles Hadcock studied fine art at the Royal College of Art. His first solo exhibition was in London in 1991 at the Royal British Society of Sculptures in Old Brompton Road. It explored Charles' unique  interpretation of the key elements of mathematics, music, earth texture and engineering. Many of his public works are cast in iron and can be seen in numerous sites in London and around the country including "Verticil" in Hanover Square, London.

Last days of the West Pier

The death of the West Pier was a long, drawn-out affair but this must have been one of the last postcards to illustrate it in full use with people strolling up and down and enjoying the sun, sea air and views of the historic Brighton & Hove seafront. Sussex Heights behind the Metropole was finished in 1966, and the rhenish helm-topped clock tower of the Clifton Road Congregational Church can just be seen on the horizon on the centre-line of the pier. This church, designed by Thomas Simpson, was demolished in 1972. The pier was finally closed to the public in 1975.

What is particularly remarkable about this picture is the apparently good condition of the pier just a few years before closure. It was at this time owned by AVP Industries who took over the West Pier Company in 1965. AVP was also responsible for Sussex Heights and the decapitation of the Metropole. It is ironic that for a small fraction of the millions spent on these projects and a less negative attitude from the Council the Pier might have been saved and become as important to Brighton's unique architectural heritage as the Royal Pavilion.

Council urged to dump i360 seafront tower plan

Council urged to dump i360 seafront tower plan
A petition signed by 15 residents reads: ". . . it will ruin Brighton's historic Georgian seafront."

On the other hand . . . the site, as it is, is not exactly an attraction to the "historic Georgian seafront" and the West Pier Trust was never swamped with alternative proposals.

Then & Now: the seafront from Embassy Court

                      In 1951:-

                           In 2005:-

Since the 2005 photo was taken, the bandstand has been restored and its immediate surroundings appropriately landscaped; but the aesthetically pleasing rhythm of the walled formal gardens, laid out in 1884, has been lost.

When Brighton had three piers . . .

The Chain Pier in the foreground was destroyed by storm in 1896 and the Palace Pier, started in 1891, was a recognizable pier by then even though building progress had been slow. It wasn't opened to the public until 1899. So for a few years Brighton had three piers. On the distant West Pier one can make out the pavilion at the seaward end. This was added in 1893 so this photograph was taken sometime between 1893 and 1896.