Tower of Love / dRMM

Architects: de Rijke Marsh Morgan Architects
Location: Blackpool, UK
Landscape Architect: LDA Design
Project Year: 2011
Photographs: Alex de Rijke, Chris Astbury

Project Area: 520.0 sqm
Lead Consultant: LDA Design
Cost Consultant: Gardiner & Theobald
Structural Engineer: Michael Hadi Associates
M&E Engineer: Michael Popper Associates
Breeam Consultant: Alan Pither Ltd
Contractor: FParkinson
Client: Blackpool Council

The “Tower of Love” on the Tower Festival Headland is the first building to be built on the Golden Mile for a great many years. It provides a focal point for visitors; a large sea view restaurant and terrace with local tourist information office at promenade level, and registry offices with ceremony hall above.

Standing on a stepped concrete plinth containing recycled and phosphorescent glass, the engineered timber building is a deliberate eye-catcher and lookout point, clad in golden stainless steel shingles. The expressive form and detailing is a celebration of Blackpool’s renowned exuberance, the bracing coastal weather combined with super-sustainable construction. The ‘telescopic’ wedding tower frames couples exchanging vows within a vertical view of Blackpool Tower, with Registry, reception and restaurant offering horizontal views of the Irish Sea.

Sited in collaboration with LDA Design’s new landscape along Blackpool’s seafront: the building aligns with street views and contributes to the theme of an artificial dunescape. The Tower of Love is designed as a ‘useful sculpture’, set carefully on the steps between the Blackpool Illuminations experience and the sea.