Spinnaker Tower opens

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The Spinnaker Tower, at 170 metres the tallest publicly accessible structure on the south coast, opened to the public on 18 October 2005 at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth. The tower had been conceived in the mid-1990s as a landmark for the millennium, but construction delays and funding difficulties pushed its completion back by several years. The tower's distinctive sail-shaped design, by architects HGP and structural engineers Scott Wilson, is intended to evoke Portsmouth's maritime heritage. Twin steel arches clad in glass-reinforced plastic rise from the waterfront to support three enclosed viewing platforms at 100, 105, and 110 metres. The lowest platform includes a glass floor through which visitors can look down to the ground below. Despite its troubled gestation, the Spinnaker Tower rapidly became the defining symbol of modern Portsmouth, visible from across the harbour, from the Isle of Wight ferries, and from Portsdown Hill. It draws over 300,000 visitors annually and anchors the Gunwharf Quays development. The tower's silhouette appears on road signs, promotional material, and in the mental map of anyone who lives in or visits the Solent area.