BT Telephone House, Sheffield - March 2014
Topped with Kaplan & tablets
"It's good to talk"
Topped with Kaplan & tablets
"It's good to talk"
The Sheffield Telephone House, also known as the BT Telephone House, the BT House or the BT Tower, is a tower on Charter Row in Sheffield. It is 56 metres tall, and has 15 floors. It was formerly owned by BT, managing the phone networks in Sheffield, and was built in 1972 on the site of old council housing.
In January 2012 a business consortium of Ace Liberty and Stone purchased the site, and BT vacated the building in October later that year. Around 400 BT workers and agency staff were made redundant due to the move, although some employees were offered the chance to take up work at Plusnet's offices in the city, as the company is a division of BT Group.
In March 2014, Telephone House was purchased by developer Vita which intends to convert the building into 347 ‘high-standard’ apartments. The value of the project is £35 million and the revamp of the tower will involve a complete refurbishment of the interior and a facelift for the exterior, with all the windows being replaced. The ground and basement floors will be used for communal facilities such as a gym, cinema, games room, laundry and a reception area.
When myself and Kaplan first started hitting rooftops in Sheffield, this place was one of the first to go on 'the list'. It's the eighth tallest building in Sheffield, however if you discount church spires and clock towers (without a 'rooftop' as such), it actually ranks fifth. Regardless of statistics, it needed topping.
We've been keeping a regular eye on the place and eventually after months of waiting, watching, checking and hoping, finally Kaplan announced that he'd spotted some tell-tale signs. Coincidentally, tablets had also been watching the place, so a collaborative effort was made to investigate further.
Props to Kaplan for dispelling my usual defeatist attitude and proving that the gap wasn't as tight as it looked. Props also to tablets for not pissing all over our exit
Someday, when the development is complete and the students have moved in, we'll top it again.
But until then...
Ta very much
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