The Friday Photo: BT Tower

The BT tower is a dominant and familiar presence in the Birmingham skyline. Built in 1965, the building is our tallest. When it was built it was known as the GPO tower and then after that the Post Office tower. The tower is designed to be stable in high winds, the channels at each corner funnel the wind and counteract its force against the tower. It is essential that the structure remains stable or the signal to/from the aerials will go out of line. I love seeing the BT tower when I am in St Paul’s Square because the contrast between this relatively modern structure and the Georgian architecture of the Square sums up the variety we see in our architecture.