Follow its progress as engineers turn a sketch on a drawing board into the Spinnaker Tower, one of the nation's boldest works of public art.

July 1999:

Work under way on Gunwharf Quays, the shopping and leisure complex which will be the tower's backdrop

November 2001:

A piling barge is towed into Portsmouth Harbour to begin driving the massive steel supports into place

January 2003:

The foundations are in place at last; now the only way is up

February 2003:

Steel shuttering is in place, ready for the first concrete to be poured

March 6, 2003:

Now visitors at Gunwharf Quays can really see some progress

March 13, 2003:

Tarpaulins go round the growing structure to protect from the elements

March 17, 2003:

Suddenly, it's a presence on the harbour skyline as the pillars rise above the top of Gunwharf Quays for the first time

March 26, 2003:

At 137ft, the construction is putting multi-storey flats in the shade

April 1, 2003:

No fooling - safety lighting makes an impressive addition to the night sky

April 11, 2003:

Peeping giant: Views can be seen from unexpected quarters, such as this shot from Trinity Green in Gosport

May 5, 2003:

Giant greets giant: America's most advanced warship, USS Winston S Churchill, is dwarfed by the tower as she enters Portsmouth Harbour

May 14, 2003:

The structure reaches the 360ft mark, the height of the eventual viewing platform

May 28, 2003:

Now you see it ... a strip-tease in the early morning mist

June 24, 2003:

407ft and work starts on the final concrete tier

Next stages in the growth of a giant

Easter to August 2003: The tower’s third concrete leg is built. This will support the metal spinnaker-style sail that gives the tower its name. Metal for the sail’s cross beams will arrive by barge from Italy before they are put together and finished on site.

September to Christmas 2003: The three viewing platforms are built on three separate levels ranging from 330ft to 360ft. The lowest will have a glass floor.

January 2004: The tower’s cone and mast are finally added to complete the structure, taking it to 550ft.

February to Easter 2004: The tower is fitted out, an operation that includes installing lifts. A service lift will run up inside one of the tower legs, while the glass-sided elevator for visitors will shoot up the outside of the other.

May or June 2004: Tower opens.

The view from up there.