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| BT TowerBT Tower Location map Not open to public
The BT TowerThe BT Tower in London's West End, previously the Post Office Tower, is a strikingly tall cylindrical building at 60 Cleveland Street, W1. The main structure is 175 metres tall, with a further section of aerial bringing the total height to 188 metres. History of the BT Tower (ex Post Office Tower)The tower was commissioned by the GPO when it was responsible for both post and phones in the 1960s. The primary purpose of the tower was to support the microwave aerials then used to carry telecommunications traffic from London to the rest of the country. The tower was designed by the architects of the Ministry of Public Building and Works - the chief architects were Eric Bedford and G. R. Yeats. The building is concrete clad in glass. The narrow cylinder shape was chosen because of the requirements of the communications aerials: the building will shift no more than 25 cm in wind speeds of up to 150 km/h. Initially the first sixteen floors were for technical equipment and power, above that was a 35 metre section for the microwave aerials, and above that were six floors of suites, kitchens, technical equipment and finally a gridwork aerial. To prevent heat build-up the glass cladding was of a special tint. The construction cost was £2.5 million. Construction began in June 1961. The tower was topped out on July 15, 1964 and it was operational from October 8, 1965. The building contractors were Peter Lind & Company. The tower was officially opened to the public on May 16, 1966. As well as the communications gear and office space there were viewing galleries and a souvenir shop. A slowly rotating restaurant, the "Top of the Tower", on the 34th floor made one revolution every 22 minutes. A suspected IRA bomb exploded in the roof of the men's toilets at the Top of the Tower on October 31, 1971 and it was subsequently closed to the public for security reasons. The restaurant closed in 1980 public access to the building ceased. The BT Tower today
GPO telecommunications services were split off in 1981 (in advance of the 1984 privatisation) and the tower was renamed the London Telecom Tower. After the rebranding of the company to British Telecommunications in 1992 it became the BT Tower. The building remains closed to the public. The tower's revolving restaurant has been re-opened, and is now used by BT but only for corporate sponsorship events and promotions. The tower is still in use, and is the site of a major UK communications hub. Fibre optic links have replaced microwave links for most mainstream purposes, but the tower is still used for microwave links. The base of the tower contains the TV Network Switching Centre which carries broadcasting traffic and relays signals used by the BBC and other television broadcasters. The BT Tower was given grade II listed building status in 2003. Official BT website: www.bt.com |
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