Southampton Sees New Museum Vision

Southampton could soon be rivalling nearby Portsmouth with plans by Avery Architects for a new structure that will be a museum, observation platform and fun ride.The scheme is sail shaped, or perhaps even in the shape of a Supermarine Spitfire tail, the famous World War 2 fighter that was built in Southampton. The edge of the building will have a ride running on it that will lift capsules up one side, over the pinnacle to heights around that of the London Eye, 140 metres or so giving views as far as Salisbury, and down the other side. Inside will be a new Museum on Southampton featuring some of the famous history from the Pilgrim Fathers to the Titanic. There is also set to be an observation platform near the top that will be open 24 hours a day, something highly unusual for such a structure in Britain.Precise heights for the structure have yet to be agreed and so does the site which is currently under consideration to allow the building to fit in as closely as possible to the aspired design. Such a building could run foul of many planning restrictions so the site would need to be suitable from a number of perspectives including Civil Aviation Authority height limits, the accessibility of the site to visitors, land ownership, the content the museum can hold, and potential regeneration and planning gains that such a project can create. Only once these have been resolved can more detailed design work begin on the development.In other-words, it's still early days with the project at "interest and fundraising stage" and given this it might not even happen. If it does give an interesting vision of what could be the leading cultural draw in Southampton in the not too distant future.