Control Towers In The Uk
Thread Starter
Control Towers In The Uk
Many British civil airfields have gained new towers in the last ten years or so. Newcastle's and Edinburgh's are similar and recent, Bristol's is fairly new as is Heathrow's and the ones at East Midlands, Stansted and Luton are around ten years old (correct me if I'm wrong). However, some are rather older and still in everyday use, Leeds Bradford (41 years) and Teesside (probably even longer) being two examples. Manchester Barton is an antique.
Do architects have a specific lifespan in mind when designing towers these days or are they just expected to keep going indefinitely, subject to upgrades and maintenance ?
I feel the tower at EGNM may have to be replaced before too long but I'd hate that to happen as it so distinctive !
MC
Do architects have a specific lifespan in mind when designing towers these days or are they just expected to keep going indefinitely, subject to upgrades and maintenance ?
I feel the tower at EGNM may have to be replaced before too long but I'd hate that to happen as it so distinctive !
MC
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: around
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
EGJJ have just got there new tower. Not sure if they are in or not though. There old one is still standing but must be older the 40 years old. I guess you make it last as long as you can unless your made of money.
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Home
Posts: 177
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I would imagine that from an architectural point of view most towers are, like the majority of other buildings, designed to stand indefinitely. Generally new towers are constructed not because of any structural issue with the previous buildings but because the progression of technology and expansion of airport operations has rendered it necessary. Heathrow is a good example, I don't think there are any structural issues with the old tower (the building is still in use) but the expansion of the airport's operations led to the necessity of the development of the new tower.
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Long White Cloud
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yes, EGJJ have a new tower and approach centre (after about 3 years of delay) but have not yet moved in. The existing tower/approach room is filled with asbestos and leaks and is also beyond economic repair. The move to the new building is supposed to be March 2010 but a firm date has yet to be set.
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Middle England, UK
Age: 42
Posts: 105
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Cranfield tower was built in 1959 I believe & it certainly feels like it (& looks it too). Its one of them structures as you drive toward it you either love the eccentricity of it or you loath it with a vengance.
I'm more the latter. Its cold in the winter, slightly damp, dirty, falls apart at regular intervals and has blind spots - not to mention the stairs of death at the back where the only thing stopping plummetting off the roof is a sheet of glass... exciting eh!
Now the airfield has grown up and things have moved and become defunct (main runways etc) its' now in the wrong place - nowhere near the centre of the runway and with limited visibilty of the local area.
Good website for reference (although nothing to do with me) is:
http://www.controltowers.co.uk/C/Cranfield.htm
I'm more the latter. Its cold in the winter, slightly damp, dirty, falls apart at regular intervals and has blind spots - not to mention the stairs of death at the back where the only thing stopping plummetting off the roof is a sheet of glass... exciting eh!
Now the airfield has grown up and things have moved and become defunct (main runways etc) its' now in the wrong place - nowhere near the centre of the runway and with limited visibilty of the local area.
Good website for reference (although nothing to do with me) is:
http://www.controltowers.co.uk/C/Cranfield.htm
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Saffron Walden, UK
Age: 46
Posts: 182
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wonder what it'll be like in the wind this weekend in that monstrosity near Hounslow?
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Berkshire, UK
Age: 79
Posts: 8,268
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Aye - that ponced-up ice-cream cornet!! I'm not so sure about the old tower's future but I'm glad I spent my time there. Even that used to rattle around a bit in 70 kt winds! I'd be terrified beyond belief in the new one.
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Saffron Walden, UK
Age: 46
Posts: 182
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'd be terrified beyond belief in the new one.
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: isle of man
Posts: 59
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ronaldsway is still operating in acontrol tower from the last war. However, a new one is shortly to be completed, to be operational next year. Is the current one the oldest still operational at a 'commercial' aerodrome?
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: somerset
Posts: 120
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The central core of Bournemouth's was built by the RAF in 1943, the VCR added in the 50's and the other extensions in the early 1960's. Although pretty grotty from the outside is has been updated (err...in parts) on the inside.It was, by the way, identical to the Ibsley control tower which still stands, albeit as a skeletal concrete shell.
Thread Starter
Bournemouth and Blackpool superficially share a similar design of tower. Ex-MOD I expect. The old VCR at Edinburgh was much the same design as well if I remember rightly. The age of some of these buildings makes me wonder how much longer they can go on. Maybe new towers are exclusively for busy commercial airports with lots of pax (and money) these days.
Good to see IOM and JER getting new homes. I fear if LBA were to get a fancy new, tall structure, it would have its head in the clouds a lot of the time. And then, there's where to put it.
How does Teesside get on ? The tower there sits among a jumble of buildings and isn't the tallest. Are there any "visual considerations" I wonder ?
Good to see IOM and JER getting new homes. I fear if LBA were to get a fancy new, tall structure, it would have its head in the clouds a lot of the time. And then, there's where to put it.
How does Teesside get on ? The tower there sits among a jumble of buildings and isn't the tallest. Are there any "visual considerations" I wonder ?
Bournemouth's tower is basically the Air Ministry Works Dept design/drawing number 518/40, as is Hawarden's, Carlisle's and probably Blackpool's. There are quite a few other towers of wartime vintage still in use, some in the Highlands and Islands. As far as operational military ones go, Cosford's is the oldest. Built 1938/39-ish.
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London (Babylon-on-Thames)
Age: 42
Posts: 6,168
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I think Glasgow's is certainly as old as the "new" Abbotsinch airport development, dating it to at least 1966, whereas Prestwick's is I believe a 1955 build or thereabouts?
Was the old tower at EDI demolished? I know the old LGW one is still there. What are they used as now?
Was the old tower at EDI demolished? I know the old LGW one is still there. What are they used as now?