Trellick Tower is an iconic 1970s skyscraper standing on the Cheltenham Estate in North Kensington, London. Known for its stark concrete aesthetic and distinct geometric forms, this famous building is one of the most recognisable examples of Brutalist architecture in the UK.
Trellick Tower was designed by Hungarian architect Ernő Goldfinger in 1966 for the Greater London Council. Construction was completed in 1972 at a total cost of £2.4 million. The design of the skyscraper was based on Goldfinger’s earlier development, the Balfron Tower in East London. Trellick Tower has 31 floors and 217 flats, which were for council rent.
Photo by Paul The Archivist, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The complex consists of three blocks: the main one, housing the flats, a six-storey residential block and a free-standing service tower, which is connected to both buildings by links on every third floor. The tower houses lifts, staircases and refuse chutes, and is topped by a boiler room. The Trellick Tower incorporates a variety of innovative design features, such as two-storey flats with an entrance on every third floor, which enabled the reduction of internal public corridors and increased the size of the units.
Goldfinger took care of details such as double glazing on the windows to reduce noise, rotating window systems for easier cleaning and individual ventilation units for each flat. The service tower contained most of the mechanical equipment, including an oil-fired boiler and water tanks, reducing the need for pumps. The original plan was to house a concierge in the lobby, but this idea was abandoned, with serious implications for the safety of the building.
Even before the building was settled in 1972, there was community opposition to the construction of multi-storey community facilities. The lack of controlled access to the block attracted vagrants, drug addicts and traffickers of illegal substances, resulting in an increase in crime in the area. Tenants left the high-rise building en masse, and costly renovations were carried out in the 1980s, but with little success. The infamous building became known over time as the ‘Tower of Terror’.
Despite the design’s flaws, Goldfinger defended it until his death in 1987 as a work of pure geometry, beauty and the perfect arrangement of horizontal and vertical elements. In 1984, a new residents’ association was formed and began efforts to revitalise the building. Protection was introduced in 1986 and in 1998 English Heritage recognised Trellick Tower as a Grade II listed building, improving its image and safety.
Today, the Trellick Tower is a testament to the modernist movement in architecture, characterised by an austere Brutalist aesthetic. Despite its turbulent history and social problems, the building has regained its reputation through redevelopment efforts and is today revered as an icon of 20th century architecture.
Source: architecture.com, archdaily.com
Also read: Architecture | UK | London | Brutalism | Skyscraper
