BT Tower

The BT Tower in London is a over the entire height of cylindrical TV tower. The earlier name of the tower was Post Office Tower, then London Telecom Tower, until it was renamed after the company received its present name BT Tower after the privatization of the Post 1984 1992. The address is: 60 Cleveland Street, W1.

History

Chief architect of London's TV tower were Eric Bedford and GR Yeats. Typical of that time was the glazed façade. The narrow cylindrical shape was chosen so that the tower deflects even at wind speeds of 150 km / h is not more than 25 cm. In the first 16 floors, the technical rooms and the power supply are housed. In addition there is a 35 meter high section with directional antennas, which were almost completely dismantled in 2011. In another six storeys above you will find meeting rooms, kitchens, and technical equipment. A special ink to prevent the glass front of the tower heats the interior of the building. The construction costs amounted to £ 2.5m.

Construction began in June 1961, completed on 15 July 1964. The technical commissioning took place on 8 October 1965. The construction company executive was Peter Lind & Company.

For public transport, the opening took place on 16 May 1966. In addition to the operating facilities viewing platforms, a souvenir shop and a revolving restaurant on the 34th floor Top of the Tower were set up, which took a full rotation in 22 minutes.

Following a bomb attack by the IRA in the men's room of the revolving restaurant on the 31st floor on October 31, 1971, the public institutions were closed in 1980 for safety reasons. Nowadays, the observation deck and restaurant are open only to invited guests at exclusive corporate events. The reopening of the restaurant was planned for Christmas 2011, but this was not least in view of the Olympic Summer Games in 2012. Aperture only temporarily for selected people.

By the year 1981, the TV tower was the tallest building in London until it was superseded by the Tower 42. In the same year the tower in The British Telecom Tower was renamed in 1992 in BT Tower. Noteworthy is the fact that the tower until the 1990s, constituted an official secret. This meant that, for example, the tower was not on any official cadastral map. It was only on 19 February 1993 his "existence" by the Parliament was confirmed. Since 2003, the building is a listed building and is managed by the United Kingdom on the so-called listed building stage 2 - a list that includes architecturally or historically significant buildings.

Description

The 189 -meter-high BT Tower is surrounded by several buildings and is located in the city area of London. The tower can be reached by a commercial building.

The reinforced concrete shaft with a diameter of 6.10 meters, is surrounded by a height 35-107 meters with a glass sleeve. The glass facade has an area of ​​7539 square meters. This reinforces the shaft to a diameter of 8.50 meters. The tower is similar to the range a typical high-rise building with a glass facade raster. This area is home to the BT Tower transmitter cabinets and other technical facilities.

Above the glass facade to a height of 143 meters different antenna mounted projectiles. Above this is a multi-storey tower basket, which measures 20.1 meters in diameter. The revolving restaurant is located on 162 meters and the observation deck at 175 meters altitude. The 6.4 meter deep truncated pyramid as the foundation has a diameter of 27.4 meters. The sole of the tower consists of prestressed concrete square plates because the building is difficult because of its texture. It is noteworthy that one has waived despite these conditions on a pile foundation. Above the tower basket to 177 meters, the machine basement for lift motors. In a 12.2 -meter high steel lattice mast forms the tip.

The tower is used to broadcast television and radio programs as well as the transmission of telephone and data lines with a transmission range of 500 kilometers. Its total weight is 65,400 tons.