Express Lift Tower, Northampton

The Express Lift Company commissioned Stimpson & Walton to design this 127-metre tall landmark which was completed in 1980 and officially opened by the Queen in 1982. It was given Grade II listed status in October 1997 making it the youngest listed building in the UK at the time. It is now affectionately known as ‘The Northampton Lighthouse’ after broadcaster Terry Wogan labelled it in interviews.

The Tower was built for testing lifts and their components and for training staff in their installation and maintenance. The Tower contains 3 shafts. The high-speed lift shaft was for testing lifts at speeds of up to 7.5 metres per second. The tallest shaft contained a permanent service lift and gives access to a laboratory above the fast lift. The third and lowest shaft contained shafts (one above the other) for testing hydraulic lifts, medium speed lifts, and has two 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 was used by the British Standards Agency for its own independent testing. Both exterior and interior are simply finished. The upper part of the tower has a distinctive profile with pierced openings and bracings to reduce wind resistance

This was the only lift testing tower in Britain and the largest of just two in Europe. It was built from over 4,000 tons of concrete much of which was slip cast in just three weeks of continuous concrete pouring.

Completed: 1980