Standing at 429ft it would have been almost as tall as Blackpool Tower. And with its slender, flagpole-like design it would have been a bizarre and striking addition to the Manchester skyline.
Designed by the architects behind the London Eye, the i360 would have been the world's tallest observation tower. But after an initial blaze of publicity, Manchester turned its back on the idea and the futuristic 'vertical cable car' was left searching for a new home.
Following the success of the Eye, husband-and-wife architecture duo Marks Barsfield were inundated with requests for similar big wheels across the globe. First imagined in 2003, the i360 was their idea to meet that demand.
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Costing around a third of the price of the Eye, it was envisaged as a cheaper alternative which could easily replicated. Keen to test the idea at home before exporting it overseas the architects looked at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester as possible locations to build the first tower.
'THE HIGH POD', read the front page headline of the Manchester Evening News on Saturday, March 19, 2005. 'Stunning observation tower set to rise above the city', it continued.
The story unveiled plans for a 'stunning new landmark observation tower' in the city centre. Measuring 4m in diameter with an illuminated beacon at its tip, it would carry an air-conditioned viewing capsule, able to accommodate up to 100 people, the paper reported.
The aerodynamic 'walk-about' pod would be slowly raised and lowered giving passengers spectacular 360-degree panoramic views over the city and surrounding areas. It was optimistically reported the attraction could cater for up to 1m visitors a year - and 'could be a reality in as little as two years time'.
Architect David Marks, from architects Marks Barsfield, told the M.E.N.: "The experience that the London Eye offers people can be replicated. It meant starting afresh and going back to the drawing board, and the i360 observation tower is what we came up with.
"The beauty of the design is that it is adaptable to a range of locations from city centres to countryside, it would cost only a fraction of the millions spent on the Eye, it has low operating costs and therefore would not need the same massive visitor numbers. Apart from offering the general public a spectacular bird's eye view of their locality, it would also be an ideal attraction for private parties, corporate events and education purposes."
But after an initial burst of interest Manchester failed to embrace the idea. Brighton, however, was far more receptive.
Originally intended to be entirely privately-funded, the architects lined up a number of backers and got planning permission in 2006 for a site on the seafront next to ruins of the West Pier. But then the credit crunch hit.
"We had just bought all the steel for the tower," Julia Barfield told the Guardian in 2016. "Then the sky fell in."
Undeterred they plugged away, eventually securing a £36m loan from the local council towards the £46m construction costs.
And in August 2016, 11 years after the M.E.N. first unveiled the plans and 250 miles away from Manchester, the i360 eventually opened.
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