BT Tower

The BT Tower stands in Fitzrovia, a central London district, as a 177-metre communications tower with aerial rigging that brings its total height to 189 metres. Built in 1964 for the General Post Office, it was originally called the Museum Radio Tower and later became the Post Office Tower and Telecom Tower. In 1991 it received its current name, and since 2024 it has been owned by MCR Hotels. Historic England listed it as a Grade II building in 2003. For seventeen years it held London’s height record until 1980. The tower’s primary purpose was to carry microwave telecommunications traffic across the country via stations at Harrow Weald, Bagshot, Kelvedon Hatch and Fairseat. Designed by Eric Bedford and G R Yeats, its concrete-and-glass cylinder resists wind shifts of up to 150 km/h without moving more than 25 centimetres. Construction began in June 1961 and the revolving restaurant was prefabricated by Ransomes & Rapier. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Harold Wilson in 1965. Visitors find a 360° LED screen on floors 36 and 37 that displays news across central London. The tower still contains the original lift shafts, now served by ThyssenKrupp elevators that reach the top in under thirty seconds. Above the restaurant on the 34th floor sits the BT Tower Observatory, which monitors urban air quality and greenhouse gases for the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. The building’s narrow form and glass cladding remain unchanged since the 1960s, offering a clear view of London’s changing skyline.