well, it would seem that yes, its a shock but these guys have been in talks with BCC for over a year now ...and whats more.......THE COUNCIL SUPPORTS ITS!!!

Lets give it an official thread

City's skyscraper theme park plan

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41481000/jpg/_41481000_pinnacle.jpgThe tower is similar to the Stratosphere casino in Las Vegas
A £60m skyscraper with theme park rides and a restaurant at the top could be built in Birmingham.
The 175m (574ft) Birmingham Pinnacle will be built next to Millennium Point, if the city council approves the plans.

Rides include a high level seesaw, a freefall parachute drop, a bungee drop and a 50-passenger gyro ride.

The building would be the Midlands' tallest, the first of its kind in Europe and would resemble the Stratosphere tower in Las Vegas.

Richard Pawley, chairman of ROC International Towers which is behind the proposal, said he had been working with Birmingham City Council for the past 12 months.

In 2003, the council said it encouraged well placed, high quality tall buildings that would enhance the city's image.

Mr Pawley said: "The leisure market is set to grow steadily over the next few years and the challenge for us has been to find innovative ways to capture people's imagination. I am sure this theme park will do that."

'Vertical entertainment centre'

Councillor Ken Hardeman, cabinet member for regeneration, said he thought the Pinnacle would be a "magnet" for visitors.

It is hoped that it would attract one million visitors in the first 12 months.

Birmingham City Council confirmed it had been in discussion with the developers and is "broadly supportive of their proposals". It anticipates a planning application "in due course".

If plans are approved, developers said they hope that the "vertical entertainment centre" would be open within two years.

The building would be illuminated by lasers at night and visitors can view the city from an observation point from the top two storeys.

Due for completion later this year, Beetham Tower will become Birmingham's tallest building at 122m (400ft).

The 39-floor tower will include 160 apartments, a hotel and health club.




KEEP IT HERE

Sound more than cool,,,bring it on , i love stuff like this :)

Where abouts is Millenium Point?

Where abouts is Millenium Point?


http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=408000.226790593&Y=287250.38900606&width=700&height=400&gride=408002.226790593&gridn=287174.38900606&srec=0&coordsys=gb&db=GB&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&keepicon=true&zm=0&scale=5000&out.x=9&out.y=9

There.

I'm asuming that this is intended to take the place which Tate Tower was supposed to occupy?

More News Please! :cheer:

Perhaps a combination of the BIRMINGHAM WHEEL project with the BIRMINGHAM NEEDLE project...with some TATE TOWER thrown in for good measure? Can't wait for tomorrows announcement!

what the hell is a vertical theme park?

I imagine it means something along the lines of Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas but I could be wrong.

What the heck.

This should be interesting...

Well this has caught us by surprise.Let's see how the story develops.

pretty cool though. i remember people were discussing how eastside needs touristy things to prevent it from being a housing/business estate. this fits the bill.

I don't get it. Is Brum going to get something like this ?

http://sfphototour.tripod.com/images/sixt_vert-2.jpg

No, i don't think so. It'll be something like the Stratosphere tower in Los Vegas. The one with the rollercoaster at the top.

Wow! This is real interesting, there definately pushing for this "world class iconic skyline" they've been talking about.

This is from Las Vegas - could we see something like this.

http://www.vegas-gallery.de/data/media/24/FotoPreisSturz1.de_DSC04137.jpg

????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Hey Sponger ,I hope it's taller than that ! :)

They did say it would be at least 140m - it could be taller! Hang on to your hats folks!

More news will be announced today. Birmingham post has a huge article on it's front page about the new city park at Eastside, but doesn't mention anything else. Midlands today this morning said it will be housed in (or on) a "Skyscraper"!

I wonder if this has any more substance behind it than the giant wheel, or the Birmingham Gate, or the Tate Tower, or whatever else has been proposed in the past in this area....

At least with lots of ideas there stands a chance of a quality scheme getting off the ground ....... you'd hope any way!!

I hope this is something that is realistic and likely to be built rather than just another ambiguous "vision" that never materialises

Generally speaking it goes like this; if it is a hair brained scheme and you see it in the Birmingham Post/Birmingham Evening Mail you can probably ignore it, but if the BBC have got their teeth into something, you can almost guarantee it will happen ... probably!

Just been listening to the Radio WM (mmm I love Ed Doolan :) ) and on the news they said it would be 175m high and unlike anything else in Europe. It's being put forward by Richard Pawley of ROC International. He was the same guy who talked about a wheel last time and also said it could feature bungee and paragliding (?)

I think has someone been on the glue :crazy2:

If it is that high then perhaps he's talking about having one of the attractions be a Sky Jump. There's one in New Zealand and rumours of one at the Stratosphere. not sure if i'd be first in the queue, need a few pints for courage...

http://www.skyjump.co.nz/

I suppose we are( well,me at least) quite wary of such schemes.Various ideas have come and gone.....I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned at yesterday's EastsidePark presentation.Mind you it's always refreshing to hear about HAREBRAIN projects. ;)

If it is that high then perhaps he's talking about having one of the attractions be a Sky Jump. There's one in New Zealand and rumours of one at the Stratosphere. not sure if i'd be first in the queue, need a few pints for courage...

http://www.skyjump.co.nz/

Something like:

http://www.dopecoder.com/gallery/auckland_sky_tower.jpg

Richard Pawley for Mayor of Greater Birmingham ;)

here's another http://www.disordered.org/desktop/Auckland.jpg

Something like that would be fantasic.Portsmouth's Spinnaker Tower is very impressive too.

That tower in Auckland, New Zealand is huge, the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. 175M tower would be great though for Birmingham, I've been to the top of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas, that is about 350M high and is really scary, the only people going on the rides up there were the Japanese tourists.... they don't seem to be afraid of anything!!

I think this is going into the realms of the stupid, but what the heck, I'll play along.

the NZ thing is 192m (630ft) to I assume the viewing jumping (?)platform while the whole thing is 328 m (1,076 ft). So I hope anything they build will be a LOT heigher than 170 M.

also: http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~pbourke/skytower/

here is the article on the BBC website

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/4840984.stm

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41481000/jpg/_41481000_pinnacle.jpg

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41481000/jpg/_41481024_pinnacle203jpg.jpg

60million, 175metres and called the Pinnacle :)

over to you mr whitby...

isn't the tower where the other half of the split library was to be built? thrill rides and reference libraries can co-exist!

and you'll have a good view of the nice new park

WTF?!?!?!?!

Erm......................

I haven't a clue what to think of that. It's a bit outrageous really. A bolt out of the blue that's for sure.

Erm, right, well I think it's a great idea. Not sure I'm a fan of the garish white... but... what the hell.

anyone gonna do a render so we can see what 175Metres looks like in relation to the rest of the skyline?

clearly this is a replacement for the much mooted "Birmingham Needle". More interestingly I wonder if the CAA will raise any objections given its 175m height!!??

Short arse!

Its a good bit lower than the cenral ridge being at Millenium Point, so it probably be ok.

might be an idea for someone to edit this thread title from "140m" to "175m" :o)

In fact that a rather nice render, I thought for some reason,it was the one in the USA.

Nice, a bit cross between B'ham Post Office tower and a knickerbocker Glory with a straw in the top, http://www.fabfoodpix.com/images/preview/pF001443.jpg but in a good way. Now just stick 50 to 100 meters onto it.

This and the BT Tower will be like a modern day version of our Perrot's Folly and Water Tower two towers....

Says on the BBC 'could be open within two years'.... that'd be something....

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/collections/Birmingham_Mail/frontpage.jpg

Rush out and get the afternoon mail!

I really have my fingers & toes crossed that this design gets approved asap. I don't want another AC fiasco where it can take nearly 10 years (and counting) to get a tall-tower design off the ground

looking at that render on the front page of the mail .... it probably looks deceptive but the tower doesn't look like its 175m ... more like 100m and rather squat

is that render to scale

it doesnt look too much beigger than the BT tower

Las Vegas County authorities and/or the designers of the Stratosphere may have something to say about it though, it looks almost to be a straight copy.

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/collections/Birmingham_Mail/frontpage.jpg


yeah maybe this is just an artists impression and it will look different

Would the deck be at 140 and the top of the pinnacle at 175?

BT tower is 152 and on higher ground so from a distance they should look about the same

^I'd guess so foxy.

Not THAT similar to the one in Las Vegas...
http://www.bigfoto.com/sites/galery/las_vegas/lv22_stratosphere.jpg

This is fantastic...just what we want to see in the second city...BRING IT ON!!!

Exactly what the Birmingham Skyscraper Forum needed to bring it back to life, can't live on the virtues of HCT forever can we??!!

looking at that render on the front page of the mail .... it probably looks deceptive but the tower doesn't look like its 175m ... more like 100m and rather squat

They've probably squished the image to get it all onto the front page! :llama:

here are some attempts by me of integrating it into the skyline, i know they are way off in position terms, but i am trying to get a rough idea of scale etc

http://i1.tinypic.com/s49f2o.jpg

http://i1.tinypic.com/s49f9d.jpg

Gaz, you've ruined me picture!! I think they can probably do away with the BT Tower when this goes up, and build something decent in it's place!

wow it seems things are moving along in brum

just hope this is for real

^^ hehe sorry

it looks pretty rediculous

Unveiled: Brum's theme park in the sky Mar 24 2006
By Jon Griffin, Birmingham Mail



EUROPE'S first theme park in the sky is on its way to Birmingham with a £60 million scheme providing the city's tallest building.

The spectacular new tourist attraction will become a dazzling feature of the Birmingham skyline after multi-million pound plans to develop a vertical entertainment centre were unveiled today.

The Birmingham Pinnacle - a 175m tower and the first of its kind in Europe - will be developed next to Millennium Point to provide a futuristic tourist attraction and a major economic boost for the city.

The landmark will become the tallest building in Birmingham and house a selection of theme park rides and a specialist restaurant at the top of the viewing tower.


Once the £60 million development receives planning approval to become a prominent feature of the regeneration of the Eastside area, developers hope the theme park will open within two years. They are forecasting that the unique tower will attract one million visitors in the first 12 months, transforming Eastside as a tourist destination.


Attractions will include a freefall parachute drop, a gyro tower ride which will take up to 50 passengers, a bungee drop ride, an eight-seat giant drop and a seesaw ride. The man behind the scheme, Richard Pawley, chairman of ROC International Towers, said: "We have identified a unique opportunity in Birmingham for the development of a major destination attraction and we are delighted that plans for this are now at an advanced stage.


"While this would be the first tower of its kind in Europe, the concept is attracting interest in other parts of the world and I anticipate we will be announcing plans for similar ventures around the globe in the near future."


Mr Pawley has been working with Birmingham City Council on bringing the tower to the city over the past year.


The tower will be located on one-and-a-half acres of land next to Millennium Point.

this is what the las vegas tower has at the top

i think you can just make out some rides

http://www.nevadaweb.com/garrett/towertop.jpg


i really want to see some proper renders but obviously we will have to wait till the proper planning application goes in

but i really like it!!! :)

hmmmmm....ROC Ltd is not a worldwide company at all....ts based in birmingham....

62 CENTENARY PLAZA
BIRMINGHAM
WEST MIDLANDS
B1 1TB

I like the idea and something like that would be ideal for the area.The ground in that area is low compared to the city core.How high could they build without infringing the CAA limit.

I hope this penetrates the CAA limit like a... you know.

BLUNTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well it's no good pussyfooting around with the muppets. Let's fuck 'em! Let's bang their dirty ass height limit like a....<insert suitable analogy>...

Hmmmm. This all looks a touch suspicious.

Check out Roc International Towers' web site - http://www.rocinternationaltowers.com/

Under construction and a link to Richard Pawley's virgin.net email address?

Thanks for the link.

oooop/....well actually look again...in the 5 minutes between looking at it lol

It's a bvit of a shoddy website. That crappy Mail render is one of their renders... the tower looks different in it though... or is it just the angle it's viewed from? It doesn't look as fat in the middle in one of them as t'other. And there's the odd missing word or what have you.

But hey... if they've been talking to the council for 12 months, maybe something'll come of it...

oooop/....well actually look again...in the 5 minutes between looking at it lol

Blimey! That wasn't there 5 mins ago!

If it's truly going to be a pinnacle though, they need to bung another 30-40m on top of it... Richardson's Broad Street tower will look almost as tall due to topography, as will BT Tower, and Arena Central could surpass it, being on higher ground, even if not built to full 175m.

It says planning will be submitted in May - 6 months to start construction - opens spring 2008. :cheers:

Planning application to be submitted in May.

Fuck me, so they're not hanging aorund then.

Can we all see the council accepting this?!

Wouldn't it be marvellous if it went through as swiftly as The Cube!

I hope Whitby et al are using this to show that they are not (as has been suggested) dragging Birmingham down with low aspirational projects. Time will tell...but in the words of Paul McCartney..LET IT BE!!!

sorry to be so negative here but i think the thing looks horrible! not to mention 100meters too short. and by the time this thing gets built (circa 2025 at the rate birmingham city council work) it'll probably be 30meters shorter still if the CAA get their way!

Wouldn't it be nice to have the Rogers library in The Pinnacle's shadow though? :)

Quite an optimistics timeframe they're looking at. If it gets approval in May, we'd see it rising by the end of 2006... that's impressive! :)

sorry to be so negative here but i think the thing looks horrible! not to mention 150meters too short. and by the time this thing gets built (circa 2025 at the rate birmingham city council work) it'll probably be 30meters shorter still if the CAA get their way!
I suppose we will get some detractors...but hey. :)

sorry to be so negative here but i think the thing looks horrible! not to mention 100meters too short. and by the time this thing gets built (circa 2025 at the rate birmingham city council work) it'll probably be 30meters shorter still if the CAA get their way!

I can see why you think it's vile... I'm undecied myself. But hey, we're allowed some vulgarity on our skyline.. it's all good fun :happy:

I agree that it's a little short... but you can't knock 175m in brum.. that's just greedy :) 200m would be better though, and would really prove to be a pinnacle.

I wonder why it wasn't mentioned at yesterday's presentation.Distancing?
From a clinical view it deflects wonderfully the rage created at Wednesday's NEC decision .Coincidence?

It really would be a bit Vegas-sy if we had a supercasino down the road from this blooming thing :)

well i dont know what you gyus have been looking at but this ste is not on low ground at all

yes, granted it is not on the ridge that the council are encouraging towers......but the height on the land on the plot is 108m AOD.......meaning anything over 134m tall (BST height) can be built unchecked by the CAA...however, this will probably cause eyebrows to be raised!

This is quite an exciting prospect for Brum,but why not make it taller? The top of the spire is at 175m I assume making the main structure approximately the same or smaller than the BT tower... not good enough ....and won't the caa stick the mutts in at some point, if this starts construction this year I will come to Brum and show my arse on top of the selfridges bridge!Probably end up another farce like the Arena Central.I want this to happen but have my doubts. BTW if the caa do stick their mutts in the developers my decide to build it in Manc and double the height :cheers:

I have a horrible feeling that once these plans are submitted in May the CAA will stick the boot it with objections and bog the whole process down to a long crawl.

Its a shame someone doesn't shove the Pinnacle Tower up CAA's arse and tell 'em to feck off out of Dodge!

er! guys, hello! this is ghastly!

If Birmingham wants a world class skyline, plonking a building that looks like its been extracted from some dodgy chinese theme park, in the middle of the city is NOT the way to go about it!

er! guys, hello! this is ghastly!

If Birmingham wants a world class skyline, plonking a building that looks like its been extracted from some dodgy chinese theme park, in the middle of the city is NOT the way to go about it!

I have to agree the idea is cheep and tacky and design wise it looks like a tall version of the tower at the fort shopping park, total shit.

I wonder why it wasn't mentioned at yesterday's presentation.Distancing?
From a clinical view it deflects wonderfully the rage created at Wednesday's NEC decision .Coincidence?

Not forgetting that there are to be local elections in May.

I love the idea,,but it looks very similar to the BT tower.

I love the idea,,but it looks very similar to the BT tower.

No.. not really! This one is far tackier, but it is better than nothing. This could turn into a selfridges type building that might be liked now, but in a few years people will look back and shake their heads. I can't see how the theme park could be that amazing, i think people will go up the tower for the views and the experience.
On Midlands Today they stated the building could begin construction before the end of 2006, and if it's approved, it will hopefully spark off a series of tall proposals for Brum, just like the approval of Heron Tower set off a chain of new towers propsed in London.

You gullible bunch of imbeciles! Check the time of month! It's an early April Fools joke obviously.

Jesus...they really take you all for mugs don't they? :| :no:

Well, I'm not falling for such an obvious ruse, even if you lot have! :D

Do you HONESTLY think that this proposal is supposed to be taken seriously?

It's no beauty but its fun and interesting and publicity grabbing and the public will get a lot more enjoyment from it than any glassy corporate effort of which one can find anywhere (almost). Think of all these people who will experience height for themselves, gotta be good skyscraper PR for Brum! :)

You gullible bunch of imbeciles! Check the time of month! It's an early April Fools joke obviously.

Jesus...they really take you all for mugs don't they? :| :no:

Well, I'm not falling for such an obvious ruse, even if you lot have! :D

Do you HONESTLY think that this proposal is supposed to be taken seriously?

Errm......

If it was an April fools day joke, surely it would have been announced on..... April Fools day?

And getting Birmingham Post & Mail AND the BBC in on it.

Thats the mother of all wind ups don't you think?

My gut feeling now is that its either for real, or its a false proposal to try to help get rid of/raise the CAA limit so ACT and BST can finally be built to their full height.

or its a false proposal to try to help get rid of/raise the CAA limit so ACT and BST can finally be built to their full height.

There must be a bit of that in their reasoning.

Errm......

If it was an April fools day joke, surely it would have been announced on..... April Fools day?

And getting Birmingham Post & Mail AND the BBC in on it.

Thats the mother of all wind ups don't you think?

My gut feeling now is that its either for real, or its a false proposal to try to help get rid of/raise the CAA limit so ACT and BST can finally be built to their full height.


Not necessarily - some of the more elaborate April Fools hoaxes don't need to be pulled on the actual day! There ARE such things as April Fools jokes coming a week early and yes, the TV and media get in on it too and rise to the occasion in style - for many years now the Wirral Globe (free weekly newspaper published in Merseyside serving Wallasey, Birkenhead and Bebington areas) habitually come up with fake news stories designed to hoodwink the public - a whole week early, thus using the timescale to disguise the fact that it was all a hoax. One notorious story was published a few years back during the last week of March which announced that whole areas of housing in Moreton had to be potentially evacuated as a result of the erosion of nearby Leasowe Embankment leading to breaching by the Irish Sea, thus resulting in flooding. This caused quite a lot of alarm until it was revealed as a hoax on April 1st. Another elaborate "hoax" story that was also published a week early went on about a proposal to build two new underground Merseyrail stations to serve Birkenhead shopping precinct direct and the old Priory - people fell for this one despite the fact that in order to do this the existing lines would have had to be diverted off their current courses thus would have been rather unfeasible!

So if they could do it, then what is stopping this Brum story being designed to create the same stir? ;)

Errm......

If it was an April fools day joke, surely it would have been announced on..... April Fools day?

And getting Birmingham Post & Mail AND the BBC in on it.

Thats the mother of all wind ups don't you think?

My gut feeling now is that its either for real, or its a false proposal to try to help get rid of/raise the CAA limit so ACT and BST can finally be built to their full height.

Didn't the P&M and the BBC cover the library and NSS proposals ?.

D'ya know Martin I think you're right. I thought there was something fishy about this.I mean approval being submitted in a few months and construction starting later in the year.... no way. Like I said earlier, I will bear my arse outside of selfridges if this happens.

Didn't the P&M and the BBC cover the library and NSS proposals ?.

yes they did......but arent they REAL PROPOSALS?

if i had just seen the website or if i had just heard this from one source then i too would think it too much of a wind up. but this has been unveiled on the same day through ALL local press ....its very organised...

i like the idea...and for once this might not be the prettiest but this is something that will get the public behind skyscrapers...... and shows the city off that its not afraid to try new things.

I am waiting and watching... :cheers:

Come on - face it - this is NOT real. It's just a bloomin' clever hoax get you all salivating. Can't believe so many of you are falling for it. So it's 175m? A tad coincidental considering AC was approved by Prezza at that height but absolutely no other Brum proposals exist in the pipeline planned to that same threshold.

Not a case of smelling a rat, but the whole fucking colony! :|

I think if it is an AFD's prank then Im more than confident its gonna piss a lot of people off and won't endear us any more closer to Whitby and his gangstas. He's already got us all steamed over the Library, NSS and AC. If he is now trying to play silly buggers with another fantasy vision then he really is walking on thin ice

Just to let some of you lot know, the proposal is for real and they want to start construction by the end of September at the latest.

Over the years aswell they will change the rides accomdated in the original setup to move with people's oppinions.

Its a good addition to the skyline, it might be a little bit taller then the 175m aswell as I think that's to the top of the one ride. Birminghams a vibrant, energetic city, let AC, BST and HCT be our pride, let this be our entertainment. stop being so damn miserable women.

Jesus Christ do you think is a valuable addition to your skyline! A fucking tacky Vegas/Blackpool style theme park ride! If Birmingham aspires to a world class skyline I really dont think this is the way to go!

50m+ taller and 10 times better, yet this dont get criticised? :dunno:

http://www.**************************/liverpoolphotographs/images/beacon2.jpg

do not fret, why would someone need to invent a hoax like this when we've had Arena Central for the past 9 (fuck me 9 already) years.

If it does get planning aproval at the height specified then personally it will quite literally be a dream come true, I can see people coming from far and wide to use this facility, I certainly would... imagine being locked into the tallest sky-coaster in Europe, at the heart of Britain WITH A STAND OFF VIEW OF THE CITY CENTRE :) The view from floor 19 of the Rotunda was fascinating for me, twice the height would be :dizzy: I was thinking how Brum is severely lacking an Observation point at close range the other day, it may be a PR stunt by the company but who cares, as someone said earlier.. Its a bit of fun.

Jesus Christ do you think is a valuable addition to your skyline! A fucking tacky Vegas/Blackpool style theme park ride! If Birmingham aspires to a world class skyline I really dont think this is the way to go!

Umm, now your Science tower isnt much better is it! Birmingham gets bashed at everything it does. Its unbelievable. A themepark in a skyscraper in Birminghams entertainment and cultural area, shock horror. Its notin the city centre, it wont look out of place and feel it to be riducled so much is nothing short of ridiculous.

50m+ taller and 10 times better, yet this dont get criticised? :dunno:

http://www.**************************/liverpoolphotographs/images/beacon2.jpg

No thats crap too I'd die if someone tried to build that in Glasgow city centre but then again it would look badly out of place in the finest Victorian city in the world. Birmingham must in a worse state than I remember if the locals think this will be a valuable addition. You have some beautiful buildings in the city and stunning areas skirting the city centre - you should be looking at buildings to compliment these not add to the ghastly concrete mess in some parts.

ERROR

Yep - cause the CN tower is a concrete mess!

This is gonan be situated next to Birminghams first park forover 100years and in the centre of a £6,000,000,000 project that isincreasing the citybyover180 hectares. Masshouse,Martinea, City Park Gate, Warwick Bar,The Pinnacle are forming a completely new skyline in the eastside to compete with AC, HCT, BST and co in the westside.

There ispossibly no bad thing about this project and to say there is ... well :(

Has anyoneseen the videoon the BBC wesbite?

Jesus Christ do you think this is a valuable addition to your skyline! !

I don't think he visits the Bham Metro Area anymore... not enough bad shit was going on for him to fix since his resurrection.

A fucking tacky Vegas/Blackpool style theme park ride! If Birmingham aspires to a world class skyline I really don't think this is the way to go!

By the looks of things it will be a fair few things rolled into one, if it were to be a fair ground ride on a pole then yeah... it's a crock of foo! but an observation tower/restaurant/what-the-feck-you-want-on-fecking-top-just-to-bump-up-the-height type affair then I hope it does the business. I watched it on BBC and later on Central news and it looked.. quite superb IMO.

Umm, now your Science tower isnt much better is it! Birmingham gets bashed at everything it does. Its unbelievable. A themepark in a skyscraper in Birminghams entertainment and cultural area, shock horror. Its notin the city centre, it wont look out of place and feel it to be riducled so much is nothing short of ridiculous.

You replied as I was typing. I am not anti-Birmingham in anyway ( see above ) I just dont think thats a great addition. Did I mention our Science Tower? No I didnt. Interestingly though its only the second titanium glad complex in Europe ( after the guggenheim in Bilbao ) and the worlds only fully rotating tower. The IMAX there is also the busiest in the world outside North America. I'm just saying I really think a major European city like Birmingham can surely come up with something a little better.

Yep - cause the CN tower is a concrete mess!





Are you really trying make comparisons between that proposal and the CN tower?!

CN Tower is actually quite... "a concrete mess" when you get up close, although the lift on th eway up is OK, the view from top is good but TBH it didn't stick with me and I scammed my way up free... an observation needle lookin towards the city centre is imperative and this looks dead smart. good luck. :)

personally I think its just what this city needs: there are quite a few tall buildings going up in Brum but most of them are not meant for the general public. The Pinnacle Tower (probably AKA the Needle in a former vision) is just what the public needs, a meeting point, a focal point, an iconic venue to entertain & enjoy. It will also attract tourists from far and wide.

Look at the success of the Wheel in the Square, a superb attraction that will hopefully be a permanent structure. Well Im also hoping Pinnacle will attract the same kind of acclaim and interest. I dare say BCC may ask the architects/designers to modify the outer structure during preliminary submissions to make it look less tacky perhaps - but most importantly the "will" and the momentum is there to get the job done asap. And that must be applauded

I remember there were two rich brothers a fair while ago who wanted to build a 2000ft deck in Dudley was it? I'm not sure but that would have been mental.

CN Tower is actually quite... "a concrete mess" when you get up close, although the lift on th eway up is OK, the view from top is good but TBH it didn't stick with me and I scammed my way up free... an observation needle lookin towards the city centre is imperative and this looks dead smart. good luck. :)

I thought the CN tower was actually better then what I expected. the views are amazing and the glass flooring at the top is something special. how many african elepahnst can each one hold? An obervation tower looking toward the city centre with a park underneath and rides above looking at arguable one of the best skylines in Europe is something that is imperative.

And to think by 2007/08 we would ahve these underconstruction.

ThePinnacle 175m
Arena Central 175m
BST 134m
Martineau Galleries 110m
City Park Gate 100m
Masshouse Offices, Warwick Bar, Snow Hill etc, the views will be something extra special

I remember there were two rich brothers a fair while ago who wanted to build a 2000ft deck in Dudley was it? I'm not sure but that would have been mental.

That were Richardsons, they've settled for a 134m tower on Broad Street now.

P.S This is all good news for Brum,local companies who have a deep passion for the city are turning to towers, Ian Simpson might have abit of a challenege in the coming years.

http://img353.imageshack.us/img353/8565/bob4tm.png

I remember there were two rich brothers a fair while ago who wanted to build a 2000ft deck in Dudley was it? I'm not sure but that would have been mental.

That could well have been local hero's the Richardsons Twins, the men behind the Merry Hill development and more recently the BST proposal :)

so i think the sensible consensus is, lets wait a while, see what happens. i admit this does seem a little out of the blue but it aint a hoax - if it is then BCC, the post/mail, developers and the BBC are in on it - i dont think so. i think it'd be good, it'll stop eatside from turning into a hosuing estate or business complex. its something new and original, itll attract a lot of media attention, not to mention tourists.

and anyway, got everyone talking didnt it?

So when you guys getting Arena Central and how talls it really going to be?

for more details follow this link and click the "See How the Pinnacle would dwarf its neighbours" video link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/4840984.stm

So when you guys getting Arena Central and how talls it really going to be?

This existing thread will fill you in with the details. We're hoping its going to be around 175m

http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=242205&page=35&pp=20

I thought the CN tower was actually better then what I expected. the views are amazing and the glass flooring at the top is something special. how many african elepahnst can each one hold?

IMO it looks better from afar.. and at night, from memory the glass flooring was a samll section and was smothered by little kids rolling over it without fear, It's a good addition but if brum has one... fuck it, why not make the whole floor re-enforced glass... got to be as strong as concrete surely? Still, maybe I am a fussy sod but CN tower was not on my list of Toronto must do's, again.... the view was bland and erm... bland with a few scatters of high rises here and there.

IMO it looks better from afar.. and at night, from memory the glass flooring was a samll section and was smothered by little kids rolling over it without fear, It's a good addition but if brum has one... fuck it, why not make the whole floor re-enforced glass... got to be as strong as concrete surely? Still, maybe I am a fussy sod but CN tower was not on my list of Toronto must do's, again.... the view was bland and erm... bland with a few scatters of high rises here and there.

I agree but the bottom of the tower was very nicely done and with it being rightnext to Planet Hollywood and the Skydome it was pefectly situated, im a bit dissappointed you didnt enjoy the views though, the golden tower in Toronto, forgot the name is one of my favourites anywhere in the world :) When I visted we had the pleasure of having 3,000 odd people + Jackie Chan running up the bastard thing lol.

Hopefully with the park and co it should also have a very metropolitan feel. Im very excited about this project, unqiue for Europe and its coming to our city. A major tourist attraction is what we need especially with its proximity to Selfridges.

P.S Coming back on the train today I noticed the skyline to the left of St Andrews at night is phenominal, Imagined it with all these new builds and thought to myself easily top 10 in Europe once all completed.

of course if the Pinnacle does become a reality (or even if it doesn't gfd) there will be plenty of other cities around the country looking for their own versions, probably a lot taller too

This existing thread will fill you in with the details. We're hoping its going to be around 175m

http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=242205&page=35&pp=20

Thanks.

the link isnt working!!!!!

the link isnt working!!!!!

just tried the link and works fine.

However, no need to panic: its only the Arena Central thread further down the Birmingham page on here

Ive played around with a picture from future skyline thread and came up with this, unfrotunately quite a few towers are missing that have been built but still looks pretty impressive.

Towers named left to right.

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/7272/untitled8oe.png

*The Pinnacle 175m
*City Park Gate 100m
*Masshouse 7x 50-75m
*Martineau Galleries 110m
*Rotunda 81m
*City Center 76m
*HCT 122m
*New Street 1 & 2 - 125m (roughly)
*Orion 1 & 2 - 92 & 70m
*Paradise Circus 2x 120m
*BT Tower 152m
*Alpha 100m
*Arena Central 175m (245m)
*Arena Central 7x 50-70m
*Hyatt 75m
*Cube 79m
*Quayside 70m
*BST 134m
*Cumberland House 62m
*5 ways shopping 73m + 60m

Not necessarily - some of the more elaborate April Fools hoaxes don't need to be pulled on the actual day! There ARE such things as April Fools jokes coming a week early and yes, the TV and media get in on it too and rise to the occasion in style - for many years now the Wirral Globe (free weekly newspaper published in Merseyside serving Wallasey, Birkenhead and Bebington areas) habitually come up with fake news stories designed to hoodwink the public - a whole week early, thus using the timescale to disguise the fact that it was all a hoax. One notorious story was published a few years back during the last week of March which announced that whole areas of housing in Moreton had to be potentially evacuated as a result of the erosion of nearby Leasowe Embankment leading to breaching by the Irish Sea, thus resulting in flooding. This caused quite a lot of alarm until it was revealed as a hoax on April 1st. Another elaborate "hoax" story that was also published a week early went on about a proposal to build two new underground Merseyrail stations to serve Birkenhead shopping precinct direct and the old Priory - people fell for this one despite the fact that in order to do this the existing lines would have had to be diverted off their current courses thus would have been rather unfeasible!

So if they could do it, then what is stopping this Brum story being designed to create the same stir? ;)

I've never heard of an April fools joke spanning a week or more - this must be why the people of Merseyside are so completely messed up :nono: ;)

I agree with Sonny97 - Birmingham needs a city centre public viewpoint rather than having to stand on the top level of a multi storey car park to take in the views. Also, you'd be able to spend as long as you liked soaking in the views unlike the constantly moving and time governed wheel.

Yeah it looks a bit tacky at this stage but any landmark is fine by me. All cities should have a mixed bag of buildings. As long as Birmingham gets some more "grown up" towers, we should be alright!

people are too negative

this is not a april fools joke -

i think it is a great idea
obviosly the renders look tacky, but that is not going to be what it looks like, as it is still in planning stages, and i am sure that they will make it look classy and beautiful.
the video on the BBC website doesnt work for me either

the video on the BBC website doesnt work for me either

I normally use Firefox but when I clicked the video link it didn't work, so I had to take a deep breath and fire up IE, works fine on that :)

sorry what is ie and how do i use it to view the video?

sorry what is ie and how do i use it to view the video?

oops, I meant Internet Explorer (IE) and then try the link to the video

ok thanks Sonny

it works now

I think it looks rather inelegant, to be honest. It's like a really really thick rod with virtually no design finesse whatsoever. I might support the CAA if they put the boot into this one, actually...

Agreed, this is too stumpy, too thick. Add another 50-100 meters and it's look fine.

Heck, if this is a Aprils fools joke/pie in the sky windup, we might as well have a decent one...

Although thinking about it, it would have to be a certain height for the internal rides/slides to work, stick too much height on it, and everything will go wrong.

Wonder if it'll have a helter-skelter going around the outside, with the coconut mats and all that??

Hmm, the more I think about this, I've a feeling Martin may have a point about this one being a April Fools joke...

Looks cool. I work at Millennium Point every day.

I'm guessing this will replace the point that would have made Millennium Point a point. Some 300m high viewing platform IIRC, anyone got any info on this?

All the businesses has closed in the last 2 or 3 months apart from one where this Pinnacle will go.

Masshouse is going up, but incredibly slowly. East park seems like it will never happen (it will one day), they did say it was going to start after Millennium Point was completed, the old sorting office is still there where the park will go.

^^
@ Stephen...


Well, you obviously haven't heard the latest then.... Apparently Liverpool are now proposing a huge 52 metre tall John Lennon Statue - the biggest in the world - to be erected in the Pier Head... close to the site of where the fourth grace was going to be! Helter Skelter, indeed! It's going to be submitted to the City Council for official planning permission as of April12th. :D

The Post's editorial doesn't seem to keen on the idea.It asks questions about The Needle and The Wheel.....what happend to them?It also asks if such a structure is suitable for a learning quarter.Altogether a lukewarm response.

Take it from me, hoax or not, I very much doubt this is going to happen cos we all know how Brum likes to dither about. This is just another such example of an ill thought out scheme destined to be just a fantasy vision - like the two that came before it proposed for this locality.

nice quote in the birmingham post


The skyline of Birmingham could be dramatically changed after plans were unveiled for a new £60 million tourist attraction for the city.
The Birmingham Pinnacle, or The Pin for short, would be located next to Millennium Point and would be Europe’s first vertical theme park – housing a number of rides as well as a restaurant.

Developers behind the project also hope it will be help with the regeneration of the Eastside area of the city.

City-based developers ROC International Towers believe the 574-ft high tower will become the tallest building in the city.

Richard Pawley, chief executive officer of the company, said the development would house a selection of rides from a freefall parachute drop to a high-level seesaw ride.

He said: “It has been my great desire to provide the city of Birmingham with an exciting and innovative tourist attraction for some time now.

“We are at a very advanced stage with this proposal. The acquisition of the land, the finance, and the project team of specialists are all in place, so it really now comes down to us obtaining planning approval, which we hope will happen shortly so that we can proceed.”


nacho, i can see the point of the reader, but to those in the know, it seems to be a little uninformed...the needle was to show the suggestion that something tall should stand in the eastside and was never meant as a propper proposal (even stated that in the newspaper)...and the wheel was regected as a result of the centenary square one...though good to see people following this

The information that I have is that this is a serious proposal with financial backing already in place. The man behind it is the owner of Drayton Manor so he has plently of experience in the theme park business. Whether it actually happens is of course by no means certain but this is not a hoax.

Apparently Liverpool are now proposing a huge 52 metre tall John Lennon Statue - the biggest in the world - to be erected in the Pier Head...

oh for god sake. the beatles were fuckin ages ago, get over it. lennon was a twat anyway. peace, love, peace, love and all that crap, til he beat his wife up. they already have the lennon airport, just go the whole hog and rename the city lennonpool (hmm... quite catchy actually)

Lets hope this doesnt end up like the ill fated needle concept.

oh for god sake. the beatles were fuckin ages ago, get over it. lennon was a twat anyway. peace, love, peace, love and all that crap, til he beat his wife up. they already have the lennon airport, just go the whole hog and rename the city lennonpool (hmm... quite catchy actually)

See how easy it is to fool the general public. :laugh:

damn it! i hate it when im used to prove a point. hmm... bollocks. lennons still a twat tho

^^
@ Stephen...


Well, you obviously haven't heard the latest then.... Apparently Liverpool are now proposing a huge 52 metre tall John Lennon Statue - the biggest in the world - to be erected in the Pier Head... close to the site of where the fourth grace was going to be! Helter Skelter, indeed! It's going to be submitted to the City Council for official planning permission as of April12th. :D

That's rubbish, it's going to be the whole group! Once they've worked out how to stop the Ringo Figure from falling over face first into the mersey.

Not to be outdone Manchester is erecting a 52.000000001m statue of Liam Gallagher giving the figure facing in Liverpool's general direction

I have no doubt this is not a hoax. Richard Pawley was the guy who suggested the wheel a couple of years back. So many people said it was too similar in concept to the London Eye even though it was spokeless with the access sunk into the ground. The wheel wasn't unique and because of this I'm sure it was one of the reasons it was canned.

The pinnacle is. It's unique, lighthearted and I think it will be a good addition to the city. However, almost every visiting tourist will go up it so it's very important that it's of similar architectural quaility to Millenium Point and the New Park and not the Fort Shopping Centre or Martineau Place.

Incidentally, I went to one of the T-Mobile drive in cinema things last summer down here and unexpectedly the sunset & skyline were incredible. How the setting sun reflected off the rotunda gave me goosebumps and was the one of the most sublime urban scenes I've every experienced. :tongue4:

this area of birmingham is toally underued....approaching on the train today past millenium point, i realised how much it would impose on the skyline....it would be amazing if it gets built..... and its one of the best views of the skyline from there...though lets ust hope they dont wana look in the other direction lol

Look like no Birmingham needle then? Or (eastside) Ferris wheel for that matter?

Not to be outdone Manchester is erecting a 52.000000001m statue of Liam Gallagher giving the figure facing in Liverpool's general direction

forget this pinkacle tower, if liverpools set to get a john lennon statue and manchester a liam then birmingham should have a 175m high ozzy!!

forget this pinkacle tower, if liverpools set to get a john lennon statue and manchester a liam then birmingham should have a 175m high ozzy!!

I have only one thing to say:

I AM IRON MAN

In victoria Square.

Now the time is here for ironman to spread fear
http://i2.tinypic.com/sb1q52.jpg

New attraction would tower above the rest

The man behind plans to build a 574-foot-high tourist attraction planned for Birmingham claimed yesterday that the tower would bring much needed regeneration to the city’s Eastside area.

Richard Pawley, chief executive officer of Birminghambased ROC International Towers, said his company had been working on the £60 million Birmingham Pinnacle project for two years.

He said it hoped to submit a planning application by May and, if granted permission, building work would begin six months later. It should be ready by Spring 2008.

“We have identified a unique opportunity in Birmingham for the development of a major destination attraction and we are delighted that plans for this are now at an advanced stage,” he said.

“The leisure market is set to grow steadily over the next few years and the challenge for us has been to find innovative ways to capture people’s imagination. I am sure this theme park will do that.

“While this would be the first tower of its kind in Europe, the concept is attracting interest in other parts of the world and I anticipate we will be announcing plans for similar ventures around the globe in the near future.

“The fact that we are in this position now is due to the tremendous support we have received from Birmingham City Council, who are keen to have a landmark attraction in the city.” Mr Pawley’s plans for the tower, which will be located on one-and-a-half acres of land next to Millennium Point, include an external glass viewing lift and an eight-seat giant drop ride.

It will also feature an eight-seat bungee jumping drop and a high-level seesaw ride.

He said the planning team had paid close attention to the issue of sound pollution and would do everything they could to limit the noise.

Clive Dutton, director of planning and regeneration at Birmingham City Council, said the project was still at an early stage.

He said consultations were needed with the Civil Aviation Authority to determine whether the height of the tower would be suitable.

“What’s really exciting about what is being proposed is that a company is working to invest so much money in Birmingham,” he said.

“This will dramatically improve the skyline in Birmingham. It has all the makings of a project to add something special – a world-class skyline in a world-class city.” Mr Pawley has also received support from MP Khalid Mahmood (Lab Perry Barr).

Mr Mahmood said: “Birmingham, for a long time, has needed to be the regional capital and we always lose out to Manchester and other places.

“Another 500 jobs are hugely welcomed. We want more people and we want more businesses to come into Birmingham to revitalise the city centre.” Coun Ken Hardeman, cabinet member for regeneration at Birmingham City Council, said he fully supported the proposal.

“I have been aware of this potential visitor attraction and supportive of it for a considerable time and we have been working with the developers to identify a potential site and a design befitting our aspirations for Eastside,” he said.

rhona_ganguly@mrn.co.uk...

those dreaded three little words!

you just watch for the C.A.A to raise objections and push BCC and the architects into compromise with a greatly reduced tower.

Now the time is here for ironman to spread fear
http://i2.tinypic.com/sb1q52.jpg

http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/9315/ainsdale050693zh.jpg

Is that robbed off Waterloo beach in Liverpool?

Is that robbed off Waterloo beach in Liverpool?

Both by Gormley, I think the Birmingham predates the beach ones, and Angel of the North by a couple of years.


DA-DA-DAAARR-DAR-DARR

Both by Gormley, I think the Birmingham predates the beach ones, and Angel of the North by a couple of years.


DA-DA-DAAARR-DAR-DARR

Well our have arms. :baeh3:

Well our have arms. :baeh3:

Sorry, the "DA-DA", was an attempt to phonetically spell out the IRON MAN guitar part, although now you mention it, the IRONMAN being 20 foot heigh, and being rock hard, could easyly duffy up your little beachmen, with their little spindly arms (and child bearing hips) or not.

Although I think the angel of the North could probably win in a big Gormley Statue fight...

FIGHT! FIGHT!

(sorry, is this going off subect?)

:) Without a doubt Ste,I think this thread needs to get back on track,if this is real I'm happy for you. :okay:

I'd rather have a 21st centry Blackpool tower of the midlands, cough, than another Big wheel, as everyones got one these days...

Although apparently, and rather suprisingly they're taking the Manchester one out, which seems to be a bit of a shame really.

edited to add: And I'd rather have the Ferris wheel than the Forward Statue.

Weeee!!!

http://www.rocinternationaltowers.com/IMAGES/IMAGE4.jpg

"flight trainer out over the edge of the tower terrace 300 feet up"

(from http://www.rocinternationaltowers.com )

Sounds scary to me!

And is it my purile sense of humour that finds the term: "VERTICAL ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE" amusing? Just me then...

Well, I for one am delighted by this prospect and I do not think it is a hoax. I have been wondering why Whitby has been banging on about "instantly recognisable skyline" etc etc and now we know why! And very interesting that they managed to keep it so quiet so long...

I looks a bit gaudy, but will be a big pull to MP and I suspect it will look a bit more normal when built :)

I do wonder why 175m has been mooted - do we suspect that the CAA has acquiesced and said "well, you've got AC planning for 175m so that applies across the city now"? I hope it does go taller though.

Woody - you mentioned the site being 108M AOD. If I am not mistaken, the airport is 90m AOD so this would mean The Pin would be 193m above the runway :)

Oh, and for the critics - check out Seattle's Space Needle - a real icon for the city and great fun to go on :)

http://www.pcimagenetwork.com/seattle/seattle8.jpg

Well, I for one am delighted by this prospect and I do not think it is a hoax. I have been wondering why Whitby has been banging on about "instantly recognisable skyline" etc etc and now we know why! And very interesting that they managed to keep it so quiet so long...

I looks a bit gaudy, but will be a big pull to MP and I suspect it will look a bit more normal when built :)

I do wonder why 175m has been mooted - do we suspect that the CAA has acquiesced and said "well, you've got AC planning for 175m so that applies across the city now"? I hope it does go taller though.

Woody - you mentioned the site being 108M AOD. If I am not mistaken, the airport is 90m AOD so this would mean The Pin would be 193m above the runway :)

im not thinking this is a good thing though!?!?!?

out of curiosity, if the CAA did have to be involved (and it woudl seem this is to be the case) can the council throw any form of weight behind the project???

COME ON WHITBY, DO SOMETHING GOOD FOR ONCE!

Oh, and for the critics - check out Seattle's Space Needle - a real icon for the city and great fun to go on :)

http://www.pcimagenetwork.com/seattle/seattle8.jpg

I simply have a general dislike for these things, be it this or observation towers, I just don't like them, think they are tacky, and a waste of money, and would not want to see one in Manchester ever. They for some reason can work wonders in a seaside type of an environment however, and something like this would work in Blackpool, but Birmingham? When these things are used I think that they should be put in place to further enhance a well established tourism spot, as I really can't see how they will create one by themselves. They will have novilty value at first of course, but I don't think that people will keep coming back in the longer term. I don't think that the London Eye attracts people to London, they would go anyway, it's just a way of getting them to shell out even more cash when they do go however.

Sorry, hate it.

Also, if they have to do such things as this, can't they simply incorporate most of the theme-park bits into a normal building?

^^Of course, the Space Needle was created as part of an expo (or similar) in the 60's so it did rightfully have a role to play.

IMO one of the great shames of British cities is that there is nowhere to go high and view the city. Now this could be feasible in a new general purpose tower, but most of those under construction/proposed for Brum are residentials and so having tourists traipsing around is more hassle than it is worth.

I am pleased with this proposal and I think it will be self-sustaining, What you say about novelty value is true Weastey, and a simple viewing platform would be victim of that, but a this would become part of the city's tourism repertoire (along with a visit to the neighbouring Thinktank) and should mean the place maintains footfall.

As for the seaside thing - why have one on the coast? After all - half the view would be water ;) Seriously though - on a clear day the views would be considerable. And Paris got away with it when building the Eiffel Tower....

wow, im shocked, only 3 posts in this thread today??? is everyone bored of tis all of a sudden lol?

They will have novelty value at first of course, but I don't think that people will keep coming back in the longer term.

lol... yeah it's really crap, I mean who in their right mind would want to travel 500ft up a skyscraper in a lift on a beautiful summers evening and wine and dine as you gain a view of a hazy sunset over Britain's second biggest city, it would be so tacky... just imagine the awful view... as far as the eye could see, a mass scattering of glowing lights emitting from the dozens of bustling city suburbs in every direction, a flow of white and red from the two major motorways cutting through the urban cityscape, I think the worst thing would be the view over the city centre, with all those city streets coming to life and you, sat there in a sky lounge or worse still, out in the open air on a spiraling roller coaster, spewing your guts out onto the passers by 500 foot below :cheers:

I can testify that whichever city I have been to in the world, if there is a place to gain a circumspection whether it be a hill, mountain or viewing tower, I make a bee-line for it, even if I am not that impressed its something that you just do.

p.s the space needle in Seatle is one of my favorite constructions in the world, it looks like something from the old black and white flash gordon shows.

I been up all the tallest buildings in Australia and New Zealand - in Melbourne, Sydney & Auckland they were all great. All different. Think it would be a great thing for Brum. But remember we also have the Cube which will be great views form the 17th story.

lol... yeah it's really crap, I mean who in their right mind would want to travel 500ft up a skyscraper in a lift on a beautiful summers evening and wine and dine as you gain a view of a hazy sunset over Britain's second biggest city, it would be so tacky... just imagine the awful view... as far as the eye could see, a mass scattering of glowing lights emitting from the dozens of bustling city suburbs in every direction, a flow of white and red from the two major motorways cutting through the urban cityscape, I think the worst thing would be the view over the city centre, with all those city streets coming to life and you, sat there in a sky lounge or worse still, out in the open air on a spiraling roller coaster, spewing your guts out onto the passers by 500 foot below :cheers:

I can testify that whichever city I have been to in the world, if there is a place to gain a circumspection whether it be a hill, mountain or viewing tower, I make a bee-line for it, even if I am not that impressed its something that you just do.
nice post.. :) :applause:

I can testify that whichever city I have been to in the world, if there is a place to gain a circumspection whether it be a hill, mountain or viewing tower, I make a bee-line for it, even if I am not that impressed its something that you just do.

Which if you read all of my posts on the matter, you would know why they simply don't just do it in a normal building!

I wonder why you can't have a nice meal at the top of the BT Tower in London anymore, or the Radio City tower in Liverpool?

It's a hare-brained idea that will not work in the long run and looks tacky. Build a 60 storey office tower and stick a viewing platform on the top if you must.

I'd leave the roller coasters to the likes of Alton Towers and Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

I simply have a general dislike for these things, be it this or observation towers, I just don't like them, think they are tacky, and a waste of money, and would not want to see one in Manchester ever.

Well, judging by the article in the Guardian today, it looks like you'll get the chance to moan at one in Manchester as well.

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1740429,00.html

Well, judging by the article in the Guardian today, it looks like you'll get the chance to moan at one in Manchester as well.

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1740429,00.html

That's been doing the rounds for ages (was in the MEN which belongs to the Guardian last March), and yes, I think it's crap!

It will not be built, it was just a bit of good news whitby put out after all the flak he has been getting lately. First we will have the local elections and then 2 weeks later the planning application will get booted out.

Call a cynical git but i am long enough in the tooth to know how people like whitby work.

Unfortunately,I tend to agree.

I forgot it was the local elections!

Doomed then, from about 2 seconds after the results come in.

lol... yeah it's really crap, I mean who in their right mind would want to travel 500ft up a skyscraper in a lift on a beautiful summers evening and wine and dine as you gain a view of a hazy sunset over Britain's second biggest city, it would be so tacky... just imagine the awful view... as far as the eye could see, a mass scattering of glowing lights emitting from the dozens of bustling city suburbs in every direction, a flow of white and red from the two major motorways cutting through the urban cityscape, I think the worst thing would be the view over the city centre, with all those city streets coming to life and you, sat there in a sky lounge or worse still, out in the open air on a spiraling roller coaster, spewing your guts out onto the passers by 500 foot below :cheers:

I can testify that whichever city I have been to in the world, if there is a place to gain a circumspection whether it be a hill, mountain or viewing tower, I make a bee-line for it, even if I am not that impressed its something that you just do.


:pepper: :pepper: :pepper: :pepper: :pepper: :pepper:

I wonder why you can't have a nice meal at the top of the BT Tower in London anymore, or the Radio City tower in Liverpool?



Poor standards of safety when it comes to the likes of evacuation maybe. :dunno:

I remember that the London one was because someone, IRA I suppose, tried to blow it up, or something like that, and then it remained closed ever since?

I wonder why you can't have a nice meal at the top of the BT Tower in London anymore, or the Radio City tower in Liverpool?



The IRA - the BT tower anyway

well we don't have terrorism is the UK anymore so that wont be a problem...
^^ well i wish


but seriously look at the London Eye - massively successful.

I don't think this would be an unsucessfull venture and besides as a bit like the Auckland or Las Vegas Skytowers it'll be part of an entertainment complex (with rollercoasters etc for Brum and a casino in Auckland, Vegas)

but seriously look at the London Eye - massively successful.

Indeed, it's the single most popular paid-for attraction in the whole of London.

Indeed, it's the single most popular paid-for attraction in the whole of London.

Yes, but that was my original point. It doesn't serve to attract people to London, those people would come anyway. People don't say, oh, look at that big wheel in London, let's go to London. It serves as a simple way to get them to part with a bit more cash once they are in London, which they would have visited London Eye or no!

Basically, it complements and enhances an already very popular tourist destination. Quite different to trying to create one with it.

I don't think this would be an unsucessfull venture and besides as a bit like the Auckland or Las Vegas Skytowers it'll be part of an entertainment complex (with rollercoasters etc for Brum and a casino in Auckland, Vegas)

Yes, but look at the likes of say Blackpool and Alton Towers, they are constantly having to add new coasters and other rides to keep up the demand. Alton Towers probably build a new one every 4 years or so, they have to to stop the experience going a bit stale. They have one advantage however, they have room, and even in the worse case can tear down one attraction and build another. You can't really do much in this way with a tower can you? Once it's there, it's there, and if it starts to become unprofitable, it's knackered.

Er.. WeasteDevil.. London is so big no one thing would ever be considered the main attraction.. that's not true for Birmingham, we have the Bullring. That attracts millions every week. and it just so happens that Eastside is on the doorstep of the Bullring. Making it perfect as a location for secondary or larger tourist attractions.

The location is proven as they keep having successful events outside Millenium point (itself a relative failure admittedly) that attract thousands. They had a week long outdoor fairground in February that was so full my girlfiend and i decided we wouldn't go.

Er.. WeasteDevil.. London is so big no one thing would ever be considered the main attraction.. that's not true for Birmingham, we have the Bullring. That attracts millions every week. and it just so happens that Eastside is on the doorstep of the Bullring. Making it perfect as a location for secondary or larger tourist attractions.

The location is proven as they keep having successful events outside Millenium point (itself a relative failure admittedly) that attract thousands. They had a week long outdoor fairground in February that was so full my girlfiend and i decided we wouldn't go.
Go on the first friday, which wasn't in the holiday. There was only about 20 people there.


As for Millennium Point. It doesn't attract an awful lot of people. Not even 1/3 of the retail outlets in the main hub are rented - because MP charge too much rent and nobody goes to the east side IMHO. MP is finding it hard, and Eastside development needs doing ASAP for it to survive. Thinktank had to close IMAX as it wasn't making money. IMAX is something Birmingham should be proud of. Lucky an investor bought it out and reopened it. Thinktank is dead out of the holiday period, maybe one school a day visits. Holidays are not that busy these days either. TIC is doing well, with it being in the top 10 institutions in the UK. iBar is not doing bad, always full and on Thursdays they have live gigs (I live in ibar, I'm a sound engineer so I do the gigs also). As for the Pinnacle, this will lure people over, but I feel it will be a sitting duck in 10 years time. It will bring people over to MP IMHO until Eastpark is done.


I do not like Millennium Point. I feel it was poorly designed, this design doesn't attract enough people in as it isn't special.

It's that bad designed, it's still a building site. The main hub has barriers everywhere, and the front has fencing and mesh over the front of it. Anyone know why?

MP really needs Eastpark and the other construction work doing, MP cannot lure enough people away from places such as Bull Ring whith it being on it's own.

Yes, but look at the likes of say Blackpool and Alton Towers, they are constantly having to add new coasters and other rides to keep up the demand. Alton Towers probably build a new one every 4 years or so, they have to to stop the experience going a bit stale. They have one advantage however, they have room, and even in the worse case can tear down one attraction and build another. You can't really do much in this way with a tower can you? Once it's there, it's there, and if it starts to become unprofitable, it's knackered.


Two storeys at the top of the building will comprise a restaurant and integral bar, observation area with bar/cafe, three ride lifts and one service lift. Because of the ever-evolving nature of theme park rides these days, the building is being designed so that new rides may be introduced periodically to provide visitors with the ultimate thrills and excitement ...

So thats one corner covered, who else wants to try and be clever? ;)

Which if you read all of my posts on the matter, you would know why they simply don't just do it in a normal building!

I wonder why you can't have a nice meal at the top of the BT Tower in London anymore, or the Radio City tower in Liverpool?

It's a hare-brained idea that will not work in the long run and looks tacky. Build a 60 storey office tower and stick a viewing platform on the top if you must.

I'd leave the roller coasters to the likes of Alton Towers and Blackpool Pleasure Beach.


Umm have you ever wondered why the Birmingham wheel stays aslong as it does?

Cause it gets tourists and visitors. That compared to the Pinnacle is nothing. This can sustain momentum for an awful long time.

P.S Get banned for having an oppinion on attitudes towards religion. Yep - free speach my ASS!


BC xxx

Im sure ther 1-360 wouldnt get as much critism would it?

Anything in Birmingham gets thrown so easily its frustrating. If this was planned for any other city Id have been pleased. How many of us would want to go up 500ft to get a picture of Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow ect skylines?

ALL OF US

Be serious guys, jealousy is an awful habbit.

MP is a poorly designed building built on the outskirts of the city centre very much to fend for itself. But Im hoping that with the steady progresss of the Masshouse development and Eastside along with the proposed Pinnacle Tower the MP area might just start to take off as people find it more easier to find now that the inner ring road collar around that area has gone.

It may take another 5 years before MP really justifies itself and it would have helped if the the Council opted for Lord Rogers original Library scheme to be built there. But Im quite confident in a few years time MP will be humming with activity both locally and from tourism

Yes, but that was my original point. It doesn't serve to attract people to London, those people would come anyway. People don't say, oh, look at that big wheel in London, let's go to London. It serves as a simple way to get them to part with a bit more cash once they are in London, which they would have visited London Eye or no!

Basically, it complements and enhances an already very popular tourist destination. Quite different to trying to create one with it.

I wouldn't particularly say that The Pin is going to be built to "attract people to Birmingham" but what it does provide is an extra attraction for people to try when they come to the city for the day or the weekend (as well as for the citizens). If a tourist is coming to Brum for a couple of days, and The Pin is there, who WOULDN'T have a go?

I just hope the viewing platform is one price (say a couple of pounds) and the rides are a separate charge.

Sonny - I agree - MP will become much more successful when the developments spread out to meet it, and with the addition of the park, The Pin, Martineau Galleries and Masshouse, we should see some change soon. And you never know, the library may yet end up there...

Anything in Birmingham gets thrown so easily its frustrating. If this was planned for any other city Id have been pleased. How many of us would want to go up 500ft to get a picture of Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow ect skylines?

ALL OF US

Be serious guys, jealousy is an awful habbit.

It's nothing to do with being in Birmingham or anywhere in my case, it's a simple dislike for these types of tower. I would simply prefer these atractions to be housed in a real useful building. An example of this is the 86th floor of the Empire State Building at 320 metres up. We are never going to get that high, but I can't see a time too far into the distant future when a provincial UK city will get a 200m+ tower, you could easily stick a restaurant and viewing gallery on top of that, all it would require is an extra lift shaft or two.

Two storeys at the top of the building will comprise a restaurant and integral bar, observation area with bar/cafe, three ride lifts and one service lift. Because of the ever-evolving nature of theme park rides these days, the building is being designed so that new rides may be introduced periodically to provide visitors with the ultimate thrills and excitement ...

So thats one corner covered, who else wants to try and be clever? ;)

That's fine, but there is only really so many twists that you can have on a drop ride isn't there? An 175m Alton Towers like Oblivion ride would be interesting for getting out of the thing.

That's fine, but there is only really so many twists that you can have on a drop ride isn't there? An 175m Alton Towers like Oblivion ride would be interesting for getting out of the thing.

But thats why theres 5 rides including Seesaw, Bungey, Gyro Ride etc bit of variety. Im sure as technology advances so will the ability to change the rides.

Im sure ther 1-360 wouldnt get as much critism would it?

Anything in Birmingham gets thrown so easily its frustrating. If this was planned for any other city Id have been pleased. How many of us would want to go up 500ft to get a picture of Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow ect skylines?

ALL OF US

Be serious guys, jealousy is an awful habbit.

Concentrating on the view this tower would have over it's physical appearance is ridiculous. It looks like a giant candy cane for god's sake.

Concentrating on the view this tower would have over it's physical appearance is ridiculous. It looks like a giant candy cane for god's sake.

Must resist urge... to.. respond..

Also article added:-

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/buildings.php?id=4700

Status
Pre Planning
Proposal date
2006
Construction start
date
2006
Completion date
2008

Very fast...

I really cannot see this starting construction this year. Sorry to be pessimistic.

Yeah - it's not gonna happen. Just another one of those infamous Brum fantasies to add to an ever-growing list I'm afraid.

We all know nothing is going to start on that side now till 2010+ apart from Masshouse.

Concentrating on the view this tower would have over it's physical appearance is ridiculous. It looks like a giant candy cane for god's sake.

If London can have a gherkin... ;)

Concentrating on the view this tower would have over it's physical appearance is ridiculous. It looks like a giant candy cane for god's sake.

It is a fairly basic render that has tried (and failed) to show the lighting scheme during the daytime.

It will be a tall, white beacon, with (probably) a good light show at night.

Yes, I think it could be redesigned to look a bit more classy, but I would be happy as it is, and if it improved, even better :)

I like it too Bio. Yeah it's a little on the 'tacky' side, but I like tacky. Why not have a bit of light-hearted fun instead of stuffy offices and expensive apartments. I'm all for it.

Call me a pessimist though, but I can see the CAA poking their shitty noses into this one....

well we alreayd know the CAA are going to be invloveld...but what will they say?

They'll say 'you can't have this, cut its head off', and we will, and it'll be crud.

well we'll just have to see...... i fail to see that having working on this project for 2 years and being in contact with the council for over a year, this hasnt already come up!

guess who has renderings and info ;)

Out with it then.

C'mon Goth - tell us who!!!!


;)

Just MSNed him... he's writing it up for his site, so keep your eyeses peeled there.

He says it's promising though... which is nice...

Are we thinking that some deal may have been struck with the CAA already (or is nearly there)?

Maybe The Pin is the warning beacon for aeroplanes not to stray into city centre airspace...

If not, barrage balloons are the answer :)

Just MSNed him... he's writing it up for his site, so keep your eyeses peeled there.

He says it's promising though... which is nice...

whats his website?

whats his website?

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/

oh that. didnt realise it was his

So Goth.... any news?

oi oi, ill remind u that i amthe birmingham editor of ssn.com.....annd it is actually me writting this stuff lol

Well hurry up then honeysuckle!

...which means that you are reading this instead of writing it up! Back to work young man!!! ;)

I got the impression Goth was writing it due to his post - maybe you were busy?

lol.......it'll there there by 2moro

Oh, whilst you're on it - can you change Tate from 'vision' to 'fantasy' or just 'cancelled' on SSN? Ta :)

well it was a vision...ie never made it anywhere

Can't say i'm a great fan of what i have seen so far, but if it puts more pressure on the CAA and help push the development of Eastside then i'm all for it, my only concern is that the optmistic timeframe for this, there still will not be much around that area i don't think the park itself will be finished???????Don't going to give a great impression of the city and how many people will venture out to what hopefully be a massive construction site.

Hope the final design looks a bit more classy than what we have seen so far though. Does come across as a slightly pimped version of the BT tower.

erm, maybe someone should check out the mail from cover on page 3 of this thread.

hehe

erm, maybe someone should check out the mail front cover on page 3 of this thread.

hehe

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/news.php?ref=571

Birminghams £6 billion Eastside scheme could become the home of the cities tallest tower and a UK first if plans released this week gain approval from the city council.
The first vertical theme park ever planned in the UK, the Birmingham Pinnacle as it will be know will stand at 175m and is hoped to become one of the cities most popular tourist attractions.
Located on a 1.5 acre plot next to the cities Millennium point, the Pinnacle will be located on the edge of the city centre at the heart of the cities new Eastside development and will over amazing panoramic views of the cities ever growing skyline.
Whilst enjoying these as of yet unseen views of the city, visitors will be able to enjoy a number of white-knuckle rides, including a parachute drop off the edge of the tower and a an external flight trainer, relax in a brand new restaurant or just view the cities skyline in a brand new viewing gallery.
At the base of the tower, there will be 5,000 square metres of commercial development wrapped around a courtyard which will accommodate restaurants, coffee shops, a food-hall, bars, leisure and fitness facilities, family entertainment centres and small to medium sized retail units.
As well as this, the designers of the £60million tower have also planned the tower to allow for new rides and attraction to be added at a later date to ensure that the attraction remains competitive and maintains visitor levels. However, the pinnacles owners have forecast the attraction could receive in excess of 1million visitors in its first 12 months.
However, it is hoped that visitors to the city will not only have to enter the tower site to enjoy this new attraction. At night, the tower will be illuminated by a laser display and will be seen from miles around providing an attractive entrance to the city centre.
ROC International Tower, the company behind the proposal state they are in the advance stages of the scheme and have also been in talks with Birmingham City Council over the last 12 months. Councillor Ken Hardeman, Cabinet Member for Regeneration at Birmingham City Council, added his support for the proposal last week by commenting: "An attraction like this would be a great boost for Eastside and for the city and I am pleased to hear that the plans are progressing."
ROC state that the acquisition of land, the funding and the project team are all in place and all that is left is to submit for planning permission which is hoped to be applied for as early as May for a start on site before the end of the year. It's hoped that construction will be complete and the tower ready to be open to visitors mid 2008.

Article Related buildings :



Project image of the Birmingham

i no, i wrote it

The image is a bit strange/off on the Thumnail

Err. on the http://www.skyscrapernews.com/news.php?ref=571 page anyway! It's just too tall for the frame!

(edited to add: at least they put it up today, and not, err. tommorrow, what with that being the First and all...)

It looks like a glow in the dark tampon applicator! ;)

i was gonna write it but neil beat me to it.

........grrrrrr

Shall we put in one of those rate-a-scraper polls?

See if the voting goes on Geographical split?

^^ :) of course it will. "Don't like it" becomes "we love it" if it was proposed in their city (and we are guilty of that too ;) )

Oh yeah, and good thing EB isn't around because he would argue that it isn't really a building so can't be counted ;)

How's his website going?

oh i miss EB, he made hings so much more interesting lol

I miss Earlybird like I'll miss New Street Station

It looks like light house, better suited in Blackpool

It looks like light house, better suited in Blackpool

I notice Brighton are also going for an observation tower (500 feet/150m) on the seafront http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/4863706.stm

I must say that of course a structure of this height is welcome in Eastside, and a tourist attraction to bring people to the area is good. The fact that a "vertical theme park" will be unique in Britain is a plus, but the renders I've seen so far have left me deeply unimpressed. Light-house like or Blackpool pleasure beach-esque won't fit. I'd prefere to see a slim, slender-profiled elegant tower, maybe with an external steel frame, something that will catch the light. I also agree that the "theme park rides" and the observation deck/restaurant should be seperate in terms of the public should be able to get to the top without paying for a bunch of rides they don't want, or vice versa.

wouldn't surprise me if a host of major towns & cities hopped on the bandwagon and had their own Observation tower/whatever now that they've suddenly become fashionable.

Not taking any bets on either London or Manchester trumping Birmingham with far taller towers than our Pin

ahhhh but thats an observation tower...not a verticle themer park

^^ :) of course it will. "Don't like it" becomes "we love it" if it was proposed in their city (and we are guilty of that too ;) )

Not from me! :D

I simply dislike these things.

^^No, I understand that Weastey :)

I do like them, but I hope this will look a bit nicer when it goes into construction.

You have to put it in to context as to what is already in this vicinity ...... 2 huge gasometers, a railway yard, an industrial wasteland ...... I think a tower like this will be a welcome boost to this area, as long as it is of a high standard, as it will be seen from some considerable distance. £60 million doesn't seem a lot of money to me when you consider HCT cost £70million, BST will cost somewhere in the region of £100million & Beetham Manchester is costing something in the region of £150million?!

^^F*** me! Beetham Manchester £150m???

Either they are being ripped off or ours was under-priced (Laing O'Rourke have lost a lot of money on it...)

I think the extra height of Beetham Manchester, plus it is clad on all 4 sides in quite expensive glass makes a lot of difference to the cost.

I suppose, but twice the cost? The curved facade of ours racked up the price a bit, but then again they made a saving on the structural element because of reduced wind load. I wouldn't have thought the heigh would make much difference pro-rata (i.e. if it is 25% larger then it would be roughly 25-30% more. Blimey.

£60million is quite a lot....you can not compare the cost of this with normal towers....a majority of this will be like the BT tower....ie a massive concrete core which realy doens cost that much....... so, take off £15million for the core, a 5 storey building with rides costing £55million lol...sound better?