Näsinneula

Näsinneula is an observation tower in Tampere, Finland, overseeing Lake Näsijärvi. It was built in 1970–1971 and was designed by Pekka Ilveskoski. It is the tallest free-standing structure in Finland and at present the tallest observation tower in the Nordic countries at a height of 168 m. The tower opened in 1971 and is located in the Särkänniemi amusement park. There is a revolving restaurant in the tower 124 m above the ground; one revolution takes 45 minutes. The design of Näsinneula was inspired by the Space Needle in Seattle. The idea of a revolving restaurant was taken from the Puijo Tower, which is located in Kuopio, the city of North Savonia.

The base of the tower is at about 15 m of elevation from lake Näsijärvi. There are two elevators, which were changed to new Kone elevators in 2020. Before the update the elevators were manufactured by Valmet-Schliren. The elevators go up to a height of 120 m, to the Pilvilinna ("Cloud Castle") café. The restaurant (called Näsinneula) is one story higher.

The elevator ride to the top takes 27 seconds with a maximum speed of 6 m/s and the elevators carry a maximum of 16 people. The elevators are still the fastest public elevators in Finland. In the event of a blackout, the tower's own diesel emergency generator will start. In an emergency, people can be evacuated with stairs that have 700 steps.

Beacon lights at the top of the tower display a weather forecast: