St Francis Court

St Francis Tower, originally named Franciscan Tower, is the 3rd tallest building in Ipswich, England and comprises 116 flats, standing at 172 feet (52 m) tall.[2] The building was built in a modernist design consisting of 16 floors, eight flats each floor. St Francis Tower is located on Franciscan Way, in the centre of Ipswich.[3]

St Francis Tower
Former namesSt Franciscan Tower and Ipswich Central
General information
StatusComplete
TypeResidential
Address23 Franciscan Way, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 1NA
Town or cityIpswich
CountryEngland
Coordinates52.0548°N 1.1506°E / 52.0548; 1.1506
Completed1962
Renovated2005
Height52m
Technical details
MaterialConcrete
Floor count16
Lifts/elevators2
Other information
Number of rooms116
References
[1]

History

The 16 floor building was constructed in the early 1960s as part of the Greyfriars development designed by Edward Skipper & Associates. The building was one of the most important buildings of the project as it provided homes for the citizens who worked in the Greyfriars Development. The project was not well received and in the 1980s and 1990s the development was partially revamped and the rest was destroyed, The all concrete building was recladded and renamed to St Francis Court in the 1990s.[4]

Fire

In 2001 a fire broke out on the 7th floor of the tower which led to seven people being sent to the local hospital. This was the sixth fire that broke out in the block in five years, this being the most serious. It took 70 firefighters and 12 fire engines to put the fire out. It was unclear of what the cause of the fire was but a number of explosions were a result of carbon based materials getting too hot.[5]

References
  1. "St Francis Court". .emporis.
  2. "St Francis Tower". .emporis.
  3. "St Francis Tower". .skyscrapernews.
  4. "Ipswich: Revealed 50 years on". Ipswichstar.
  5. "Tower block evacuated". Ipswichstar.
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