Sussex Heights

Sussex Heights
Sussex Heights seen from the St Nicholas' Church Garden of Rest on Dyke Road (to the north)
Location within central Brighton
General information
Type	Residential tower block
Architectural style	Modernist
Address	Sussex Heights, St Margaret's Place, Brighton BN1 2FQ
Town or city	Brighton and Hove
Country	United Kingdom
Coordinates	50°49′21″N 0°08′56″W / 50.8225°N 0.1488°W / 50.8225; -0.1488Coordinates: 50°49′21″N 0°08′56″W / 50.8225°N 0.1488°W / 50.8225; -0.1488
Construction started	1966
Completed	1968
Owner	Sussex Heights (Brighton) Ltd
Height	334 feet (102 m)
Technical details
Floor count	24
Design and construction
Architect	Richard Seifert
Architecture firm	R. Seifert & Partners

Sussex Heights is a residential tower block in the centre of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Built between 1966 and 1968 on the site of a historic church, it rises to 334 feet (102 m)— as of March 2013 Sussex Heights is the 48th tallest building in the UK. Until 2005 it was the tallest residential tower in the UK outside London.Richard Seifert's design has been criticised for its overbearing scale and contrast with neighbouring Regency architecture, but it is acknowledged as an "imposing and prestigious" luxury apartment block with good facilities. Peregrine falcons have been resident at the top of the tower for several years, and have successfully bred. Until 2015, it was the tallest structure in Brighton, however it has now been exceeded by the i360 Tower, which stands at 162 metres.

Charles Busby was part of an architectural partnership (with Amon Wilds and his son Amon Henry Wilds) which gave Brighton much of its character in the 19th century. They met high demand for residential, ecclesiastical and public buildings of all types in the rich, fashionable town by producing elegant designs which combined contemporary architectural expectations with imaginative devices (such as prominent cornices, bold bay windows and columns with decorative capitals) in a distinctively "powerful and assertive" style. Busby has been described as the best architect of the three, having already achieved much by the age of 20. He moved to Brighton in 1822 and joined Amon and Amon Henry Wilds.

One of their commissions was St Margaret's Chapel, a proprietary chapel built near Regency Square for Barnard Gregory, a local speculator and businessman. The Greek Revival/Neoclassical church stood at the end of St Margaret's Place, just behind the seafront. Built in 1824, it was one of five Anglican churches to be constructed in the town in six years—an indication of the growth being experienced at the time. The chapel is usually attributed to Busby alone (and has been called "his finest church" and "the best Classical church in Brighton"), but Amon Henry Wilds has also been identified as its designer. It had a gigantic tetrastyle portico of Ionic columns, a stuccoed façade, a large dome over the nave and a cupola. The first service was on 26 December 1824, and the church could accommodate 1,500 worshippers.John Oldrid Scott carried out alterations in the 1870s.