AquEye is the brainchild of Bath-based architect Nick Stubbs, who wants to create an attraction like the London Eye to show off Bath, but didn’t like the idea of such a huge structure, and wanted the attraction to have little to no impact on the city.

“It’s like your personal helicopter, hot-air balloon and magic carpet all rolled into one!”

 

“I was thinking hard about how to view the city of Bath from above, but in a way that didn’t make any permanent change,” says the award-winning architect, Nick.

AquEye is a revolving glass observation pod suspended between two slim, carbon fibre masts, that if given the go ahead, would be built on Pulteney Weir Island, just below Bath’s 18th-century Pulteney Bridge. Its high-tech, low-profile design has been created with historical locations in mind, as it can be set up in a very small space. You can see more about it in the video below:

The glass pod can carry 25 people, and would be launched up over the historical city reaching 65 metres in a mere 20 seconds, where passengers would then be able to take in unparalleled, panoramic views of Bath.

Stubbs continues: “AquEye will lift people high enough to enjoy and interpret the city from above, but will be low profile enough to preserve Bath’s traditional views, as AquEye’s resting position is down and so doesn’t interrupt the city skyline. It’s also a dynamic work of art in its own right; the future celebrating the past of this wonderful, beautifully innovative city.”

“AquEye will bring extra visitors to the city, create jobs and further boost the local economy”

 

And plans for the new attraction have already been well received, with David James, Head of Bath Tourism Plus, saying, “AquEye is a world first. It’s beautifully inventive and will be a fantastic addition to Bath.

“It will bring extra visitors to the city, create jobs and further boost the local economy. It’s a very exciting project and we’re really looking forward to it.”

Hi-tech, low-profile structure

AquEye’s design is already at an advanced stage and the AquEye team has been working closely with a wide range of leading research and engineering companies, including Magma Structures – designers and makers of the world’s tallest free-standing carbon fibre masts, such as the Maltese Falcon superyacht; the University of Bath; the Wolfson Unit at Southampton University; and the National Composites Centre in Bristol, which develops carbon fibre technology for Airbus and Rolls Royce.

A crowd-funding campaign will be launched in November to support the full planning and development of AquEye.