|
Sussex Heights is a residential tower block in the centre of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Built between 1966 and 1968 on the site of a historic church, it rises to — as of March 2013 Sussex Heights is the 48th tallest building in the UK. Until 2005 it was the tallest residential tower in the UK outside London.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Sussex Heights )〕 Richard Seifert's design has been criticised for its overbearing scale and contrast with neighbouring Regency architecture, but it is acknowledged as an "imposing and prestigious" luxury apartment block with good facilities. Peregrine falcons have been resident at the top of the tower for several years, and have successfully bred. Until 2015, it was the tallest structure in Brighton, however it has now been exceeded by the i360 Tower, which stands 162 metres. ==History== Charles Busby was part of an architectural partnership (with Amon Wilds and his son Amon Henry Wilds) which gave Brighton much of its character in the 19th century. They met high demand for residential, ecclesiastical and public buildings of all types in the rich, fashionable town by producing elegant designs which combined contemporary architectural expectations with imaginative devices (such as prominent cornices, bold bay windows and columns with decorative capitals) in a distinctively "powerful and assertive" style. Busby has been described as the best architect of the three, having already achieved much by the age of 20. He moved to Brighton in 1822 and joined Amon and Amon Henry Wilds.〔 One of their commissions was St Margaret's Chapel, a proprietary chapel built near Regency Square for Barnard Gregory, a local speculator and businessman. The Greek Revival/Neoclassical church stood at the end of St Margaret's Place, just behind the seafront. Built in 1824, it was one of five Anglican churches to be constructed in the town in six years—an indication of the growth being experienced at the time.〔 The chapel is usually attributed to Busby alone (and has been called "his finest church" and "the best Classical church in Brighton"), but Amon Henry Wilds has also been identified as its designer. It had a gigantic tetrastyle portico of Ionic columns, a stuccoed façade, a large dome over the nave and a cupola. The first service was on 26 December 1824, and the church could accommodate 1,500 worshippers.〔 John Oldrid Scott carried out alterations in the 1870s.〔〔 The church closed on 30 September 1956 after congregations fell.〔 It survived until 1959,〔 but it stood within a zone of proposed redevelopment behind the Metropole Hotel, Alfred Waterhouse's prestigious seafront hotel of 1888 (once England's largest outside London) which was itself about to be altered by the R. Seifert & Partners architectural firm. St Margaret's Chapel was demolished in June of that year, and the same firm was commissioned to build a series of exhibition and conference halls topped by a block of flats on the site. Work on the hotel itself started in 1961, followed a few years later by the rest of the redevelopment.〔 The block of flats was given the name ''Sussex Heights'' after the historic county of Sussex in which Brighton is situated, and work started in 1966.〔 The 24-storey tower was finished in 1968.〔 The building had 91 two-bedroom flats and 24 with one bedroom, all with balconies, allocated garage space and leases of 125 years. The typical sale price of a two-bedroom flat in 1968 was recorded as £5,950 (£ in ); by 2006 it was £250,000 (£ in ).〔 Sussex Heights is the tallest building in Sussex and the only building in Sussex taller than . It is also one of the tallest structures in Sussex, although the mast at Heathfield transmitting station is tall and Shoreham Power Station is tall. Peregrine falcons have nested at the top of Sussex Heights since early 1998, when a nest box was erected. A breeding pair moved in and successfully reared two chicks. Although the birds occasionally used the (now destroyed) West Pier as well, Sussex Heights has been a successful breeding ground ever since.〔 The Sussex Ornithological Society rings the chicks each year and has installed a webcam through which activity in the nest box can be viewed. As of 2010, 40 chicks have been reared.〔 The nest box was threatened with removal in January 2010 when renovation work was scheduled, but this did not happen and the 2010 breeding season produced two chicks.〔 In November 2013, Sir Terence Conran's architectural practice Conran and Partners—who had recently worked on Embassy Court and Saltdean Lido elsewhere in the city—were commissioned to refurbish the building. Work was expected to begin in spring 2014. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sussex Heights」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|