![]() This civic center centered on the Mall and was Cleveland’s dominant expression of the City Beautiful. Inspired by Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, Cleveland Mayor Tom Johnson and the Group Plan Commission began planning a “civic center” that would run from Superior Avenue all the way to the lakefront. The only problem was where to place this symbol of Cleveland’s progress. In the interest of smoke abatement, the Union Terminal project would rely on switching trains to electric engines at outlying rail yards before passing through the city, including its central rail terminal. Steam locomotives produced excessive amounts of pollutants when converging downtown, hampering Cleveland’s goal of becoming a modern, attractive city. However, it was not commuter railways but rather intercity passenger trains that led to the creation of the Terminal. Ohio had one of the most extensive interurban networks, with over 2,000 miles of track. In the early 20th century, as Cleveland grew as an industrial powerhouse, many Northeast Ohioans used railway lines to get to their destinations. The Terminal Tower, at least as a plan, didn’t start as a tower at all, but instead as a railway station known as the Cleveland Union Terminal. ![]() Despite its eclipse by a later, taller skyscraper, the 52-story, 708-foot-tall Terminal Tower was an instant icon and has arguably remained Cleveland’s most potent symbol. Additionally, the floors containing plant equipment have integrated slatted vents to keep the equipment naturally ventilated.Although today the first sign of downtown that a motorist is sure to spot from any direction is the Key Tower, prior to its completion in the early 1990s the first sight was the Terminal Tower. The design incorporates a number of environmentally friendly features, and functions symbiotically with nature: For example, the cladding is made from 9,216 zinc shingle tiles which age naturally and reduce the need for maintenance, and the floors are designed with a ring of continuous glazing integrated into the façade, allowing natural light in. The tower, which can be seen across Edinburgh and the Lothians, features drainage channels arranged in a double helix pattern across the face of the tower cladding, adding functionality to the design as well as giving it a distinctive look. It’s an architectural configuration that locates all technical equipment at the base, freeing up the observation spaces for movement and sightlines. Otherwise, the colour scheme was predicated on blending into the sky as much as possible.”īritish architect 3DReid created an ATC tower ( pictured) for Edinburgh Airport that melds the tower and base, forming an integrated structure that accommodates 50 NATS air traffic controllers, ATC assistants, engineers and support staff. “Designed to be as discreet as possible on the skyline, an extremely slender steel mast supports the largest visual control room of any control tower in the world, providing an unobstructed 360° cone of vision of the whole Heathrow airfield – the views take your breath away.”īarrett says that the principle applied “was that of a ‘fishing float’ – almost invisible but for a dash of bright colour, which explains the red zone at the base of the top of the tower. “Compared by the philosopher Alain de Botton to a work by Brunel, the Heathrow Air Traffic Control Tower represents the very best of British engineering,” says Stephen Barrett, project partner, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. When Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (architects of British Airways’ LHR Terminal 5) designed Heathrow Airport’s tower ( pictured), the goal was “to create an elegant and memorable building that would be a symbol of the ongoing development of Heathrow without dominating the skyline.” Here’s a handful of next-level (geddit?) examples. They’re also prized by architects as showcases of innovative design. And underpinning this hive of activity is the main equipment room, which keeps the communications, weather, data, surveillance and navigation gear in tip-top condition.Īir traffic control towers are not only functional linchpins at airports. The ACR team handles aircraft in the holding stacks and agrees spacing and sequencing of each aircraft’s final approach. Working together with the VCR is the approach control room (ACR), where another cohort of controllers manage aircraft once they’re within 30 miles of the airport. But there’s a whole lot more that goes on, in and around the tower, that’s out of sight. Perched above the hubbub, in a typical scenario there will be a team of six controllers attending to ground movements, landings and take-offs. The visible part of an air traffic control tower, the glass-clad turret, houses the visual control room (VCR), which handles air traffic within eight miles of the airport.
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