# What's This Weird Building In Portsmouth/Gosport, England

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-weird-building-in-portsmouth-gosport-england/969245>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 7, 2022, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-weird-building-in-portsmouth-gosport-england/969245 "2022-08-07T13:33:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2022, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-weird-building-in-portsmouth-gosport-england/969245/1 "2022-08-07T13:33:52Z")

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[This white building that resembles an unfurled sail appears multiple times in this video](https://youtu.be/hQBSg1cmIsY?t=7), (it’s in the exact middle of the frame at the starting point that I embedded), but we don’t get a clear view of it. The narrator is walking around near a military installation, so I’m guessing it serves some communications, cermonial, or military purpose. Unfortunately, he never gets close enough to it for a good, lingering shot.

What’s the deal, @Mangetout ??

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**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2022, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-weird-building-in-portsmouth-gosport-england/969245/2 "2022-08-07T13:43:13Z")

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I may not eat everything but I found it.

> **[Spinnaker Tower](https://www.spinnakertower.co.uk/)**
>
> Spinnaker Tower is the Sail of the Solent. A 170-meter high observation tower offering spectacular views and outstanding experiences.

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-weird-building-in-portsmouth-gosport-england/969245/3 "2022-08-07T20:57:05Z")

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Yeah, Spinnaker Tower. It was originally going to be called the Millennium Tower, but it overran and construction didn’t even begin until 2001; costs ran out of control and the original design was pruned back, resulting in a tower that was only about 2/3 of the height of the initial plan - it was all quite the farcical mismanaged public construction project (it was intended to be entirely privately funded/self-funded, but the city council had to intervene and rescue it by injecting tens of millions of pounds)