 Alan Stevenson was duly appointed as the engineer for the project aged only 30 . He designed a tower 156 feet ( 48 m ) high with a base of 42 feet ( 13 m ) , narrowing to just 16 feet ( 5 m ) at the lantern gallery . The lowest sections would be solid , although at 26 feet ( 8 m ) feet high they were less than half the height of the base of the later light at nearby Dubh Artach . Nonetheless the structure would weigh 4 @,@ 308 long tons ( 4 @,@ 377 t ) and the volume of the base would be more than 4 times larger than the entire structure of the Eddystone light and twice that of the Bell Rock . With 151 steps to the top it would be the tallest and heaviest lighthouse yet built anywhere in the modern world , and today it is still one of the tallest lighthouse in the United Kingdom . 
