Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
National Lift Tower
The National Lift Tower (previously called the Express Lift Tower) is a lift-testing tower built by the Express Lift Company (a lifts division of the General Electric Company[self-published source?]) off 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 can be viewed from Arbury Hill, the highest point in Northamptonshire.
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 1104–1105. 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 analyzed 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 4 in) tall, 14.6 m (47 ft 11 in) in diameter at the base and tapers to 8.5 m (27 ft 11 in) 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. The building's small, obround shaped windows were a design motif of the Express Lift Company, whose lift control panels featured control buttons and floor indicators of the same shape.
In January 1997, the tower fell out of use after Express was taken over by Otis (who typically used its test facilities in the United States). 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 BS 5655 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 1997–1998.
The building is now privately owned and has been renamed the National Lift Tower. Following extensive renovation and repairs, the tower was re-opened for business in October 2009. The tower is used by lift companies for research, development, testing and marketing. As well as being a resource for the lift industry, the building is also available to companies requiring tall vertical spaces, for example companies wishing to test working-at-height safety devices.
There are six lift shafts of varying heights and speeds, including a high-speed shaft with a travel of 100 metres (328 ft 1 in) and a theoretical maximum speed of 10 m/s (33 ft/s).
Hub AI
National Lift Tower AI simulator
(@National Lift Tower_simulator)
National Lift Tower
The National Lift Tower (previously called the Express Lift Tower) is a lift-testing tower built by the Express Lift Company (a lifts division of the General Electric Company[self-published source?]) off 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 can be viewed from Arbury Hill, the highest point in Northamptonshire.
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 1104–1105. 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 analyzed 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 4 in) tall, 14.6 m (47 ft 11 in) in diameter at the base and tapers to 8.5 m (27 ft 11 in) 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. The building's small, obround shaped windows were a design motif of the Express Lift Company, whose lift control panels featured control buttons and floor indicators of the same shape.
In January 1997, the tower fell out of use after Express was taken over by Otis (who typically used its test facilities in the United States). 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 BS 5655 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 1997–1998.
The building is now privately owned and has been renamed the National Lift Tower. Following extensive renovation and repairs, the tower was re-opened for business in October 2009. The tower is used by lift companies for research, development, testing and marketing. As well as being a resource for the lift industry, the building is also available to companies requiring tall vertical spaces, for example companies wishing to test working-at-height safety devices.
There are six lift shafts of varying heights and speeds, including a high-speed shaft with a travel of 100 metres (328 ft 1 in) and a theoretical maximum speed of 10 m/s (33 ft/s).