Brighton i360 newsletter issue 3

Focusing on design and construction There is enormous interest in the design, construction and engineering of the Brighton i360. Our Chairman, David Marks from Marks Barfield spoke at a recent business lunch hosted by the Argus. He was able to explain more about the project and why he chose Brighton, how he got planning permission, how realistic the projected visitor numbers are and why there was such confusion about the council’s loan to fund the project. By the end of his talk the room was buzzing with excitement about the Brighton i360 and the positive impact it will have on the city. You can read more about his talk on our blog.

David’s wife, Julia Barfield of Marks Barfield, is also a director of the Brighton i360. September saw her address a group of women professionals in construction.

Brighton i360

Newsletter - Issue 3 - October 8th 2014 Welcome to the third project newsletter for the Brighton i360. We have had an incredibly busy month with Marks Barfield, Hollandia, Poma and Jacobs working hard to finalise the plans for the tower, pod and base building, and major excavation works taking place on the site in order to prepare for the next phase of the project: the foundations of the build.

Livening up the beach side hoardings

Would you like to know more?

If you would like us to come and talk to your community or business group, please get in touch.

If you know anyone that might enjoy our newsletter, please pass this on to them and let them know they can sign up for more information on our website http://www.brightoni360.co.uk/

Twitter: @thebrightoni360

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Brighton University students interested in the engineering of the Brighton i360 Pinterest should make sure they are available to www.pinterest.com/Brightoni360 listen to our Chief Engineer, John Roberts You can also keep up to date on our progress on 8th October. He will be giving a talk by following us on social media.

The i360 blog on the design and engineering of the http://brightoni360.wordpress.com i360 to a group of engineering students.

John will continue working with the Engineering Department to develop a study programme around the i360 for final year projects.

© Brighton i360 Limited 2014

Those of you who have been keeping a keen eye on our progress will have noticed changes taking place both inside and outside the hoardings.

With 11.5 million cars passing and six million people visiting the beach, we wanted to make sure that there was something interesting to look at. We commissioned local design company, Thomas and Trotman. to create some panels that would provide information about the i360 and give them a visual sense of what is to come. If you haven’t seen them yet, take a walk to the upper promenade on Kings Road – the image of the pod is exactly a third of the size of the actual design. Whilst you are there, take a look through the peep holes we’ve incorporated into the hoardings too. You look directly on to the construction site and can see all the

action. We’ve even got a set at child’s height – if anyone was ever interested in a collection of diggers, it’s the kids!

Along with our information panels we wanted to inject a bit of Brighton’s vibrancy and creativity. On the 4th September we invited top graffiti artists; Aroe, Gary, Rebus and Radio to paint a section of the hoardings facing the beach. Aroe is known internationally for his visually complex projects and has had huge success with the Run DMC and James Brown murals in Kensington Street – a site that is now renowned as an international site for graffiti.

Gary, Rebus and Radios are also recognised as leading artists and keen graffiti fans will recognise their style at many of the city sights.

It was a beautiful sunny day and the crowds and media gathered to watch each artist design their own mural. While Aroe, Rebus and Radios focussed on a unique design surrounding their names, Gary created huge letters spelling out the word Bristelmstune – the name of Brighton listed in the Domesday Book. It was a nice way to link the old to the new, a theme that sits perfectly with the Brighton i360. The guys worked late into the evening and it was amazing to see the completed work when we arrived the next morning.

If you missed our graffiti event, check out ourlblog to see pictures of Aroe and his team at work. Aroe returns later this autumn with a team of artists recruited from across Europe to finish a second stretch of the hoardings.

Make sure you sign up to our twitter feed and Facebook page as we will be announcing the dates as soon as we have them confirmed.

We are now based on site!

When you are involved in a project the scale of the i360, it is crucial that you know exactly what is going on and how it will be of interest to, or affect the local and wider community.

The best way for us to do this is from the site itself, so our small team has moved into the Mackley porta cabins based on the Brighton beach site.

Up until now Mackley, our contractor, provided a liaison for the public. We have now recruited our own Public Liaison Officer who is based at the site each morning. Ruth Chapman will be working closely with the contractors and stakeholders. You can reach

Ruth via email at: enquiriesbrighton.co.uk or by phone on: 07804 633080.

© Brighton i360 Limited 2014

The Construction

Building a community

What’s in the Pipeline?

This month has been all about pipelines… one filled with sewage and one with electrical cables!

When we started excavating the site we knew we would have to divert the Victorian sewer that runs directly through the plot of the i360 building and feed any electrical cables through newly created pipes running under the site. What we didn’t really know was exactly where the sewer and cables were and what else we might find underground. As Mackley put it, there was just a ‘rough guide’ to what lay beneath!

The sewer requires 120m of rerouting so that it falls 5.5 metres from the building. While we were digging the trenches Mackley stumbled across their first hidden problem: the remains of an old sea wall buried under the beach. The team had to excavate it before we could move forward with the sewer diversion. It has now almost entirely been removed and once we have taken out the last piece, we will be able to put the rest of the hoardings up as planned.

Now that Mackley are able to continue with the sewer diversion

they have begun to work on the manholes. At each junction a manhole must be created, which means 4 in all; 2 as part of the new pipework and 2 at the points where it will join the old sewer. The first one is currently under construction and the second will be started in the next few weeks.

With the sewer works underway, the next challenge was working out where the 8 massive electrical cables were.

Mackley took to the task with gusto, mapping the whole area accurately before they began excavating. The detailed information was not just of use to them - when they were originally laid the city was much smaller, so using the information Mackley had prepared, UK Power Network (UKPN) were able to come up with a plan to increase capacity and deliver the energy needed by our growing city. They will replace the old cables with new, greater capacity cables as part of the works taking place.

While the sewer team have been using diggers to create the trenches, the electrical cable team have had to use a

suction excavator to blast the area with air and vacuum up the debris.

The cables are so delicate you may have seen us hand digging too; any damage done to the cables could cut the power to much of Brighton and Hove! When UKPN replace the cables, they will run them through a concrete pipe beneath the building.

This will enable them to easily pull the cables through if repairs are needed in the future.

Helping with the regeneration and growth of Brighton and Hove is important to us and we are happy facilitating the works by the Council and UKPN. We are doing our best to minimise the disruption and continue to support the West Pier arches businesses so that visitors know that they are very much open for trading. Our brand new hoardings board advertises the fantastic shops and if you haven’t been down there already, they are well worth a visit.

As we build the i360 tower, we are also working hard to build relationships with the local and wider community. This section of the newsletter will give you more insight into what the i360 team have been doing, and what they have planned for the next few weeks.

Meeting the locals During August and September Eleanor Harris, our Chief Executive, met with many of our neighbours including: the Regency Square Area Association committee, the West Pier arches new businesses and Al Fresco. They were joined by a representative from Mackley so that each could get a full understanding of the works taking place. Eleanor also met many of the businesses on Kings Road and the Chair of the Preston Street traders. There is huge public interest in our project and Eleanor was also invited to give a talk to members of CMPA community group representing residents in Clifton, Montpelier and Powis area to the north of our site.

Becoming a local business Eleanor spoke at several business briefings in the City to explain more about the potential of the i360 in the wider business community, as well as meeting with tourism and culture leaders such as Brighton Festival, Brighton marathon, Paddle Around the Pier and Visit Brighton. There are so many fantastic events in the Brighton and Hove calendar - we are keen to get involved!

We are committed to the local community and have now joined the Regency Square Area Association, Visit Brighton, Brighton Chamber of Commerce and the Tourism Alliance.

We have also inputted to the seafront strategy consultation.

If you would like to hear Eleanor talk about the Brighton i360, she has been invited to speak at a Chamber

of Commerce lunch on Tuesday 18th November. Tickets should be available soon on the Chamber of Commerce website.

© Marks Barfield Limited 2012