National Lift Tower
| National Lift Tower | |
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The Lift Tower in 2009, surrounded by houses.
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 Location within Northamptonshire
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| Former names | Express Lift Tower |
| General information | |
| Status | Complete |
| Type | Tower |
| Address | Tower Square, Northampton NN5 5FH |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 52°14′18″N 0°55′18″W / 52.238433°N 0.921639°W |
| Construction started | 1980 |
| Inaugurated | 12 November 1982 |
| Renovated | July 2010 |
| Client | Express Lifts Ltd |
| Height | 127.5 m (418 ft) |
| Dimensions | |
| Diameter | 14.6 m (48 ft) |
| Other dimensions | Diameter at top 8.5 m (28 ft) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Maurice Walton of Stimpson Walton Bond |
| Website | |
| nationallifttower |
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The National Lift Tower (previously called the Express Lift Tower and known locally as the 'Northampton Lighthouse') is a lift-testing tower built by the Express Lift Company (a lifts division of the General Electric Company (GEC)) off the Weedon Road in Northampton, England. The structure was commissioned in 1978 with construction commencing in 1980, and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 November 1982. It has been a Grade II Listed Building since 1997.
The tower is in St James End, west of Northampton town centre. The area is named after Northampton Abbey, an Augustinian monastery dedicated to St James, which was founded in 1104–05. When the former Express Lift factory, which included the lift-testing tower, was redeveloped for housing in 1999–2000, excavations were carried out to determine the location and remains of any parts of the abbey. A cemetery of c.300 burials was excavated during winter 2000–2001. The bones were analysed to determine the health and burial practices in the late-medieval population of Northampton.
Designed by architect Maurice Walton of Stimpson Walton Bond, the tower is 127.5 metres (418 ft) tall, 14.6 m (48 ft) in diameter at the base and tapers to 8.5 m (28 ft) at the top. The only lift-testing tower in Britain, and one of only two in Europe, it was granted Grade II listed building status on 30 October 1997, making it the youngest listed building in the UK at the time.
In January 1997, the tower fell out of use after Express Lifts closed. In 1999, the tower and surrounding land was sold to Wilcon Homes for development.
From the time it was built, one shaft was specifically used by the British Standards Institution (BSI) for type testing of lift safety components at the time under the BS5655 and BS EN81 standards. Safety Gear testing involved putting the lift cars (frame) into free fall conditions with rated mass at tripping speeds as required by the designers of the safety gear to ensure the lift cars decelerated and stopped within the requirements of the standard. Buffer testing involved impacting them with the maximum and minimum mass at tripping speeds to ensure decelerations were within that requirement by the standard in both cases the aim was to ensure if the lift ever went into free fall or uncontrolled downward movement the safety components stopped the lift without causing any serious injury to the occupant. BSI ceased using the test tower soon after the site was acquired for housing in 1997-98.
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Wikipedia