Millennium Tower, Durban, Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal
From Archiplanet
| Millennium Tower | |
| Designer | Don Albert & Partners |
| Location | Durban, South Africa |
| Date | 2000 to 2003 |
| Climate | Subtropical |
| Context | Hill or Cliffside |
| Architectural Style | Modern |
| Builder | Protekon |
| Street Address | |
| Notes |
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| Building Details | |
| Client | National Ports Authority |
| Area | 300 sqm |
| Stories | 9 |
| Height | 75 m |
| Length | 20 m |
| Width | 20 m |
| Program | Port Control Tower with weather and tidal barometric features |
| Awards | Winner of the 2000 Millennium Tower Architectural Competition, Winner of the 2005 SAICE Award |
Featuring the world's tallest wind vane at 75m high, the Millennium Tower Port Control Tower also has a giant tidal indicator to show sailors, tourists and surfers the current relative tide level and its direction - a gesture of informational outreach by the National Ports Authority to the beachfront city of Durban. An external stainless steel mesh sunscreen that tracked the movement of the sun around the control room was removed by the port controllers as it was said to have distracted them. The tower has been struck by lightning a number of times and the moving features have experienced periods of inoperation as a result. Commissioned as a forward looking symbol for the city of Durban by means of an architectural competition in 2000, this design by Don Albert and Alex Pienaar was judged best and erected between 2000 and 2003.
