When, in 1862, the new Eixample district began to be developed, the city council had not yet resolved to supply drinking water to all its dwellings. On the 14th of October of that same year, the honorary intendant of the province of Barcelona, Jaume Safont i Lluch, granted this land to the Societat de Crèdit i Foment de l'Eixample de Barcelona, which in turn hired the architect Josep Oriol Mestres i Esplugas to design a water tower to supply the area. The municipal architect did not initially approve Mestres' project (a hexagonal tower which was 24 m high with a capacity for 730 m³ of water) because it exceeded the maximum height of 20 m permitted in the Eixample. In May 1867, Mayor Luis Rodríguez Téllez signed the building permits, considering that it was not possible to guarantee a good water flow in the tall buildings if the tower was the same height as the tall buildings. This construction formed part of a group of buildings intended for the elevation and distribution of water by means of a 20 hp steam engine (which was later electrified) to raise the water from the lower well to the upper reservoir.

With a hexagonal ground plan, the structure of this tower's elevation comprises six levels, the last of which was used as a water tank, and a roof terrace. These levels are visible from the outside through the brick mouldings that mark the presence of the floor slabs. The entire construction is made of exposed brick and the openings are in the form of semi-circular arches without frames. On the first four levels, the flat enclosing walls are evenly connected to the corner pillars. However, on the fourth level, instead of windows, there are balconies resting on lowered arches with brick balustrades forming rhomboids. From this level onwards, the reinforcement walls have a circular plan that is adapted to the building by means of segmental arches and brick corbels. The fifth level has the openings in the form of twinned arches within blind arches. As this was originally the last level reserved for the upper cistern, it has the old crowning of the building, with a cornice decorated with corbels. The sixth level rises above this cornice, which is the result of a later raising, and has a new stucco cornice decorated with corbels and oculi. Ventilation on this level is provided by narrow vents cut directly into the wall.

Inside, six radially arranged walls compartmentalise the space and distribute the enormous weight of the upper cistern. Each of these compartments is covered with supporting lowered vaults, except for the compartment containing the staircase leading to the top of the tower.