Trellick Tower
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Trellick Tower is a Grade II* listed
tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. ...
on the Cheltenham Estate in
Kensal Town Kensal Town is a district located partly in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and partly in the City of Westminster. The Grand Union Canal, which passes through it, forms the boundary of the two boroughs. Kensal Town is a sub-distri ...
, London. Opened in 1972, it was commissioned by the
Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...
and designed in the
Brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the b ...
style by
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
Ernő Goldfinger Ernő Goldfinger (11 September 1902 – 15 November 1987) was a Hungarian-born British architect and furniture designer. He moved to the United Kingdom in the 1930s, and became a key member of the modernist architecture, Modernist architectur ...
. The tower was planned to replace outdated social accommodation, and designed as an improvement on Goldfinger's earlier Balfron Tower in Poplar, East London. It was the last major project he worked on, and featured various space-saving designs, along with a separate access tower containing a
plant room Plants are the eukaryotes that form the kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria to produce sugars fro ...
. High-rise apartments and Brutalist architecture were falling out of favour by the time the tower was completed, and it became a magnet for crime, vandalism, drug abuse and prostitution. Conditions gradually improved in the 1980s after the establishment of a residents' association. Security measures were put in place and a
concierge A concierge () is an employee of a multi-tenant building, such as a hotel or apartment building, who receives and helps guests. The concept has been applied more generally to other hospitality settings and to personal concierges who manage the e ...
was employed, which led to lower crime levels. By the 1990s, the tower had become a desirable place to live, and although it still contains predominantly social housing, demand for private flats has remained high. A local landmark, it has been Grade II* listed since 1998, and has retained its distinctive concrete facade as a result. A fire broke out in 2017, but the concrete structure meant damage was limited, unlike the nearby
Grenfell Tower Grenfell Tower is a derelict 24-storey residential tower block in North Kensington in West London, England. The tower was completed in 1974 as part of the first phase of the Lancaster West Estate. Most of the tower was destroyed in a Grenfell T ...
. Trellick Tower has featured in film and television several times.


Location

Trellick Tower is on the Cheltenham Estate in Golborne Road,
Kensal Town Kensal Town is a district located partly in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and partly in the City of Westminster. The Grand Union Canal, which passes through it, forms the boundary of the two boroughs. Kensal Town is a sub-distri ...
,
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (often known by its initialism as RBKC) is an Inner London, Inner London borough with Royal borough, royal status. It is the List of English districts by area, smallest borough in London and the secon ...
(RBKC). It is bounded to the north and east by Meanwhile Gardens and the
Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...
, and to the south by the A40 Westway and the
Great Western Main Line The Great Western Main Line (GWML) is a main line railway in England that runs between London Paddington and . It connects to other main lines such as those from Reading to Penzance and Swindon to Swansea. The GWML is presently a part of t ...
leading from
London Paddington station Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, London railway station and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by ...
. The nearest stations are
Kensal Green Kensal Green, also known as Kensal Rise, is an area in north-west London, and along with Kensal Town, it forms part of the northern section of North Kensington, London, North Kensington. It lies north of the canal in the London Borough of Brent ...
(
Bakerloo line The Bakerloo line () is a London Underground line that runs between in suburban north-west London and in south London, via the West End. Printed in brown on the Tube map, it serves 25 stations, 15 of which are underground, over . It runs par ...
and
London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greate ...
),
Ladbroke Grove Ladbroke Grove ( ) is a road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, which passes through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue. It is also the name of the sur ...
and Westbourne Park (
Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...
and Hammersmith & City lines). The tower is served by
London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...
route 23.


Design

The tower is tall ( including the communications mast) and is a Grade II*
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
. The design is based on Goldfinger's earlier and slightly smaller Balfron Tower in Poplar, East London. It has a long, thin profile, with a separate lift and service tower linked at every third storey to the access corridors in the main building, which overall has 31 floors. Flats above and below the corridor levels have internal stairs, while the 23rd and 24th floors are taken up by maisonettes split over the two floors. Overall, the building contains 217 dwellings and was originally owned by the GLC with the flats rented as council flats. All the apartments have balconies. The other building, containing shops and amenities, has seven floors. The service tower has two additional floors higher than the main building, which includes a projecting
plant room Plants are the eukaryotes that form the kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria to produce sugars fro ...
that holds the main heating system. It is fully linked by stairs in addition to the lifts, and also has a refuse chute mechanism. The majority of the plant and the
hot water storage tank A hot water storage tank (also called a hot water tank, thermal storage tank, hot water thermal storage unit, heat storage tank, hot water cylinder, and geyser) is a water tank used for storing hot water for space heating or domestic use. Water ...
is located in the plant room, which reduces the need for pumps and reduces the amount of pipework needed. Shorter pipe runs also reduce heat loss. The oil-fired boilers originally used became obsolete due to the
1973 oil crisis In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Eg ...
, the year after the tower opened. The flats now have electric heaters and the plant room, although disused, still houses most of the now defunct mechanism. Goldfinger designed the entire tower block freehand on
butcher's paper Butcher paper is a type of kraft paper originally sold to butchers for the purpose of wrapping meat and fish. It is now used for a wide variety of purposes, notably in primary education where it is used for arts and crafts, such as hanging artwork ...
. He planned various communal areas, and purposely put slight variations in the structure so that each apartment would look different. He included a number of space-saving designs, such as using sliding doors to access bathrooms, and light switches embedded in the door surrounds. All apartments have large windows facing the balconies, in order to let in as much natural light as possible. As well as residential accommodation, there are a variety of shops, an office, and a youth centre. Throughout, quality materials were used in construction, including better fixtures and finishing the balconies with cedarwood. It was intended to be a good example of social accommodation alongside modern design.


History


Planning

Construction of Trellick Tower began in 1968, in order to replace sub-standard local Victorian housing. The tower was one of several such buildings, and was initially welcomed as a way of resolving the crises of post-Second World War housing. Goldfinger said "the whole object of building high is to free the ground for children and grown-ups to enjoy Mother Earth and not to cover every inch with bricks and mortar". Goldfinger had been encouraged to construct Trellick Tower by the
London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...
(LCC) following the success of Balfron Tower, which had been commissioned in 1963 and opened four years later. He took his inspiration from Balfron, where he had moved into one of the apartments in order to experience what life would be like for the tenants, and invited residents round for regular cocktail parties to tell him their likes and dislikes. This feedback was incorporated into the design of Trellick Tower. Many immigrants from the
West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
and the Caribbean settled in Trellick Tower, as for them it was one of the few affordable places to live in London. The tower opened on 28 June 1972; construction costs ran to £2.4 million. It was the last major project Goldfinger worked on; his reputation suffered as concrete tower blocks became unfashionable, and he died in 1987 before it could be restored.


Decline

By the time Trellick Tower opened, high-rise tower blocks were becoming unfashionable. The LCC had been replaced by the
Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...
(GLC) by the time construction started, who put more stringent construction and financial constraints on the project. Shortly after its completion the building was transferred to the RBKC local council. Goldfinger had intended that tenants should be vetted for suitability and petitioned the GLC for the building to have proper security and a
concierge A concierge () is an employee of a multi-tenant building, such as a hotel or apartment building, who receives and helps guests. The concept has been applied more generally to other hospitality settings and to personal concierges who manage the e ...
, but the council declined his request. This meant that the building was open access and rough sleepers and drug criminals took up residence in its corridors. Drying rooms on the ground floor, designed by Goldfinger to stop tenants hanging laundry on the balconies, were vandalised before the tower block opened. By the late 1970s Trellick Tower was a scene of crime and
anti-social behaviour Anti-social behaviours, sometimes called dissocial behaviours, are actions which are considered to violate the rights of or otherwise harm others by committing crime or nuisance, such as stealing and physical attack or noncriminal behaviours s ...
, and many tenants were very reluctant to move in. On one occasion vandals set off a fire extinguisher on the 12th floor, with water from the sprinkler system flooding the lifts and leaving the tower without electricity, heat or running water over the Christmas period. A pensioner was forced to use the stairs after all the lifts were out of order, and subsequently collapsed and died. On the 15th floor, a 27-year-old woman was dragged from one of the lifts and raped. The tower became nicknamed "The Tower of Terror" and residents attempted to be re-housed. The GLC spent more than £300,000 on an
intercom An intercom, also called an intercommunication device, intercommunicator, or interphone, is a stand-alone voice communications system for use within a building, small collection of buildings or portably within a small coverage area, which funct ...
system and wholesale electrical repairs, but reliability and management problems made them counterproductive. In 1982 a man was killed after jumping off the top of Trellick Tower when his parachute failed to open. He was a member of a group of dangerous sports enthusiasts who were interested in
BASE jumping BASE jumping () is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend to the ground. BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antenna (radio), antenna ...
. The action was condemned by the
British Parachute Association British Skydiving is the national governing body for skydiving in the United Kingdom. Overview British Skydiving was founded in 1960 to organise, govern and further the advancement of sport parachuting within the UK. British Skydiving aims t ...
.


Revival

With the introduction of the "
right to buy The Right to Buy scheme is a policy in the United Kingdom, with the exception of Scotland since 1 August 2016 and Wales from 26 January 2019, which gives Secure tenancy, secure tenants of Council house, councils and some housing associations the N ...
" council homes, several of the flats were bought by their tenants. On 8 October 1984 a new residents' association was formed. As a result of pressure from the occupants, several security improvements including a door entry intercom system were installed, and a
concierge A concierge () is an employee of a multi-tenant building, such as a hotel or apartment building, who receives and helps guests. The concept has been applied more generally to other hospitality settings and to personal concierges who manage the e ...
was hired in 1987. In 1994 residents in the tower, along with other residents in Kensington & Chelsea council properties, elected to self-manage the properties, in order to avoid increased rents and the threat of eviction. Four low-power television relay transmitters with aerials were added to the communications equipment on top of the lift tower in December 1989, to solve reception problems for some residents of adjacent districts, including
Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...
and Westbourne Grove. The transmitter installation is referred to by the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
and
Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...
as "Kensal Town". In 1991, Sand Helsel, Professor of Architecture at
RMIT The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...
, made a BBC documentary praising Trellick Tower, which helped to change public opinion in its favour. The tower subsequently became more respectable owing to its location close to
Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...
and the gentrification of the neighbouring Golborne Road. Property prices rose and flats in the tower came to be regarded as highly desirable residences; requests to sell flats began to be posted on the tower's communal noticeboard. By 1999 a flat in the tower could sell for £150,000 (£ as of ). In 2013 a three-bedroom end apartment (with views on three sides) was let for £2,600 pcm. The tower itself is a local landmark and was awarded a Grade II* listing in 1998, which included the main building and the adjacent row of shops and amenities. Also included is a doctor's surgery with the original shop front and layout. Most of the flats are still social housing, but a significant minority are now privately owned. On 19 April 2017 the top floors of the tower caught fire, believed to have been started by a discarded cigarette. There were no injuries. The building's listed status meant that the concrete facade could not be covered over, which is thought to have prevented a far worse fire similar to
Grenfell Tower Grenfell Tower is a derelict 24-storey residential tower block in North Kensington in West London, England. The tower was completed in 1974 as part of the first phase of the Lancaster West Estate. Most of the tower was destroyed in a Grenfell T ...
which happened a few months later.


Redevelopment plans

As of 2021, there are plans to demolish neighbouring buildings and to extensively alter the tower's immediate surroundings, including by adding a sixteen-storey block at an immediate right angle to the tower. The charity
Open City In war, an open city is a settlement which has announced it has abandoned all defensive efforts, generally in the event of the imminent capture of the city to avoid destruction. Once a city has declared itself open, the opposing military will ...
described the plans as "the latest in an ongoing programme of incremental demolition of Goldfinger’s world renowned social housing estate which has already seen the neighbourhood’s Edenham Residential Care Home knocked down", adding the tower to its 'Buildings at Risk' list. The plans would also involve destroying a graffiti wall, and a campaign has been started to oppose the scheme.


Cultural references

Trellick Tower has appeared on T-shirts, featuring in adverts, films, and songs, and attracting visitors. The tower was the filming location for ''
Shopping Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A Retail#Shopper profiles, typology of shopper types ha ...
'' (1994), written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, as well as being featured in the film ''
For Queen and Country ''For Queen and Country'' is a 1988 crime drama film co-written and directed by Martin Stellman and starring Denzel Washington, Dorian Healy, Bruce Payne, Amanda Redman, Sean Chapman and Graham McTavish. Filmed in Panavision, Washington stars as ...
'' (1988), starring
Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles Denzel Washington on screen and stage, on stage and screen, Washington has received List of awards and nominations ...
. Additionally, it can be seen in the films ''
Withnail & I ''Withnail and I'' is a 1987 British black comedy film written and directed by Bruce Robinson. Loosely based on Robinson's life in London in the late 1960s, the plot follows two unemployed actors, Withnail and "I" (portrayed by Richard E. Grant ...
'' (1987), '' London Kills Me'' (1991), '' Never Let Me Go'' (2010) and '' Paddington ''(2014). The tower is believed to have been the inspiration behind J. G. Ballard's dystopian novel ''
High Rise A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction ...
'' (1975) and its 2016 film adaptation directed by
Ben Wheatley Ben Wheatley (born 1972) is an English filmmaker, film editor, and animator. Beginning his career in advertising, Wheatley first gained recognition and acclaim for his commercials and short films, before transitioning into feature films and tele ...
. The tower also features in
Martin Amis Sir Martin Louis Amis (25 August 1949 – 19 May 2023) was an English novelist, essayist, memoirist, screenwriter and critic. He is best known for his novels ''Money'' (1984) and '' London Fields'' (1989). He received the James Tait Black Mem ...
' black comedy novel '' London Fields''. Several music videos have featured Trellick Tower, including releases from Blur (which refers to the tower in their song "Best Days"). Trellick Tower has appeared in several television adverts, including idents for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's coverage of the
2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. The whole of one side of the building's exterior was used for the credits for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's children's television show '' Incredible Games'', starring
David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams (), is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little ...
, in the early 1990s. The tower was used as a filming location (and a character's home) in '' The Professionals'' episode "The Madness Of Mickey Hamilton". Additionally, the tower was used as the location of game developer Colin Ritman's apartment in the ''
Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology series, anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Most episodes are set in near-future dystopias containing Science fiction, sci-fi technology—a type of speculative fiction. The series i ...
'' interactive episode/film '' Bandersnatch''. It was later featured on the cover for the ''Meanwhile'' EP produced by the band
Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett in London, England in 1998. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (gui ...
, after previously appearing in the music videos of both " Tomorrow Comes Today" and " Sleeping Powder". In May 2024 the tower was celebrated in ''Andi Oliver's Fabulous Feasts'' on BBC Two, with celebrity chef Andi Oliver.


See also

*
Tall buildings in London At , St Paul's Cathedral was the tallest building in London from 1710 until it was eventually surpassed by the 118 metre (387 ft) Millbank Tower in 1963. This in turn was overtaken by the BT Tower at tall in 1964. Throughout the 1960s and ...
*
Tower blocks in Great Britain Tower blocks began to be built in Great Britain after the Second World War. The first residential tower block, "The Lawn (Harlow), The Lawn", was constructed in Harlow, Essex, in 1951; it is now a Grade II listed building. In many cases, tower blo ...


References


External links

* – history of the tower * – blog {{Authority control Grade II* listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Grade II* listed residential buildings Skyscrapers in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Brutalist architecture in London Ernő Goldfinger buildings Residential buildings completed in 1972 Residential skyscrapers in London Buildings and structures in Notting Hill 1972 establishments in England