Express Lift Tower
EXPRESS LIFT TOWER, TOWER SQUARE
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1031518
- Date first listed:
- 30-Oct-1997
- List Entry Name:
- Express Lift Tower
- Statutory Address:
- EXPRESS LIFT TOWER, TOWER SQUARE
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2005-07-19
- Reference:
- IOE01/14549/01
- Rights:
- © Mr Roger Ashley. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1031518
- Date first listed:
- 30-Oct-1997
- List Entry Name:
- Express Lift Tower
- Statutory Address 1:
- EXPRESS LIFT TOWER, TOWER SQUARE
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- EXPRESS LIFT TOWER, TOWER SQUARE
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- West Northamptonshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Northampton
- National Grid Reference:
- SP7371160583
Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 24/11/2011
SP 76 SW
725/15/10021
NORTHAMPTON
TOWER SQUARE
Express Lift Tower
(Formerly listed under Weedon Road)
II
Lift testing tower. Commissioned 1978, built 1980-2 by Stimpson and Walton for the Express Lift Company Limited; Michael Barclay Partnership engineers. Reinforced concrete, the lower 90m constructed with a separate outer skin formed by continuous slip pour (in 3 weeks). Internal shaft walls and upper parts jump formed concrete. Concrete raft foundations. 127m in height, tapering from 14.6m at the bottom to 8.4m at the top, circular to reduced wind resistance with piercing at the top to further lower this. Inside are 3 rectilinear shafts arranged on three sides of a square. The high speed lift shaft runs the full height of the tower and determined its height, and is for testing lifts at speeds of up to 7 metres per second and is the shaft where faults are most regl11arly simulated. The tallest shaft contains a permanent service lift and gives access to a laboratory above the fast lift. The third and lowest shaft contains shafts (one above the other) for testing hydraulic lifts, medium speed lifts, and has 2 training shafts. There are further engineers' rooms at the base of the tower, one used as an exhibition room, and a rooftop observation room. There are two staircases, one the full height of the building. A smaller space at the base of the tower is used by the British Standards Agency for its own independent testing; its presence is the result of partial government funding for the tower. Both exterior and interior simply finished. The upper part of the tower has a distinctive jagged shape with pierced openings and bracings to reduce wind resistance. Glazed observation room at top. Inside there is a contrast in finishes between the smooth outer skin and more textured jump formed surfaces. Included as a unique structure. This is the only lift testing tower in Britain and one of only two in Europe. There is a small (60m) tower in France. The building is important, too, as a demonstration of the importance of the lift technology to modern tall building construction. It is also a significant local landmark.
Listing NGR: SP7371160583
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 468918
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 13-Jun-2026 at 17:37:58.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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