Marks Barfield Architects’ Brighton i360 will no longer feature a wind turbine on the tower, after concerns were raised that high winds could cause the structure to move.
Developers i360 have applied for planning permission to remove the wind turbine from the design, despite initial plans to use it as an energy source for the cable car which will transport passengers to top of the tower.
Chief engineer John Roberts said further analysis had found the turbine could have caused faults and posed safety concerns.
“Detailed studies by our damping specialist showed that the wind turbine would have stopped the tower damping system from working properly and the turbine itself would have been susceptible to damage,” he said.
“An important aspect of the tower design has been to ensure that it can withstand very high winds in the worst possible storms. To deal with these conditions, there are damping systems mounted internally within the tower and the exterior of the tower is clad with perforated aluminium cladding, which disrupts the flow of the wind.”
The wind turbine was intended to provide 20 per cent of the energy for the cable car ascent. Instead, the developers plan to capture 50 per cent of the energy on the cable car’s descent procedure, thus allowing a greater energy saving than originally anticipated.
A further change has been the removal of the rainwater harvesting system. Roberts added: “We had originally hoped to harvest the rainwater but as the roof of our single-storey beach building is also the boarding platform for the i360, unfortunately the water will be too dirty to be used, even in the toilet system.”
Developers i360 reiterated that they intend to make the project as sustainable as possible by signing up to a ‘green energy’ tariff, installing a food composter to turn waste from the on-site restaurant into water, using LED lighting, as well as reusing materials and natural ventilation.
Standing 162m (531.5ft) high, the i360 will be the UK’s tallest visitor attraction outside London when it is complete (scheduled to open in summer 2016). Visitors to the tower will enter a glass pod, with views slowly unfolding as it rises to the top of the structure.
