Telecom Tower London, Cleveland Street Building, Image, Architect, Design, Date
BT Tower London : Architecture
Key Tall Building in central London: 60 Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, England, UK
post updated 26 Mar 2020
Telecom Tower
Date built: 1961
Chief Architects: Eric Bedford & G. R. Yeats
Ministry of Public Buildings and Works
BT Tower in London
Photos © Adrian Welch – from 1 Oct 2012:
Photos © Keepclicking – from 10 Sep 2012:
Location: 60 Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, W1T 4JZ
photos © Nick Weall
Also known as the BT Tower and GPO Tower
picture © Adrian Welch
Location: Holland St, central London
Telecom Tower, London – contact: 020 746 8348
photograph © AJW
620 ft high, once contained rotating restaurant at the top
The Telecom Tower was bombed by the IRA
The main structure is 177 metres (581 ft) high, with a further section of aerial rigging bringing the total height to 189 metres (620 ft). Its Post Office code was YTOW.
Upon completion in 1964, it overtook the Millbank Tower to become the tallest building in both London and the United Kingdom. The structure helf these titles until 1980, when it in turn was overtaken by the NatWest Tower.
pictures © AW
It replaced a much shorter steel lattice tower which had been built on the roof of the neighbouring Museum telephone exchange in the late 1940s to provide a television link between London and Birmingham.
The narrow cylindrical shape was chosen because of the requirements of the communications aerials: the building will shift no more than 25 centimetres (10 in) in wind speeds of up to 150 km/h (95 mph). Initially, the first 16 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, a revolving restaurant, and finally a cantilevered steel lattice tower.
To prevent heat build-up, the glass cladding was of a special tint. The construction cost was £2.5 million.
BT Tower London building photographs (with blue sky) taken with Panasonic DMC-FX01 lumix camera; Leica lense: 2816×2112 pixels – original photos available upon request: info(at)e-architect.com
BT Tower images – scanned photos by Isabelle Lomholt:
Location: 60 Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, London W1T 4JZ
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Comments / photos for the Telecom Tower London – Cleveland Street Architecture page welcome