The Trellick Tower
Whether departing by railway train from Paddington Station, driving above the streets on the Westway, or cycling alongside the Grand Union Canal, the Trellick Tower is one of the more prominent landmarks of north Kensington. It has been a much debated building since its construction forty years ago, often cited in heated debates over the merits of modernist architecture and initially, the building was unpopular with the public and even some architects of the era.
Opinions have changed over time and with the bridging of generations, its distinctive lines have become a fondly familiar feature of the neighbourhood. Building styles have changed and in our post-modernist period, the Trellick Tower is now seen as a reminder to a better example of sixties architecture. Drawn back in from the cold, the tower is now a fashionable place to live and the social housing waiting list is long. A far cry from its early years, when prospective tenants were allowed to decline council invitation to be housed there, due to the acute problems often associated with sink estate tower blocks.
The transformation from being a 1970’s ‘tower of terror’ was set on its wheels by controlling who entered the building. A concierge system and ‘entry intercom’ put paid to prostitutes and drug peddlers using the building's communal areas to ply their trade. Margaret Thatcher’s encouragement of home ownership led to up to one in ten apartments within the building now being in private ownership, with the largest ones selling for up to £470,000, at the peak of the last property boom.
The Trellick Tower was built between 1968 and 1972 by Hungarian born architect Erno Goldfinger. He had earlier built the similar Balfron Tower in east London and he even lived in his building for a couple of months. The experience enabled him to make many design improvements, mostly internally, with this second tower. He showed more concern for those living in such blocks than many of his contemporaries and after the completion of the Trellick Tower, Goldfinger anonymously asked a new tenant whether he could look around her apartment. Asking her what she thought of her new home, she spouted forth, in particular complaining for not having a proper broom cupboard, not knowing until much later his true identity. Unusually for the period, Goldfinger insisted that the building should have double glazed windows. The high level of finish is no doubt a major reason for the tower having in 1998 been awarded protected building status with a ‘Grade II Star’ listing.
Part of the Trellick Tower’s distinctive appearance arises from a separate lift shaft with walkways connecting to the main building. High up, a boiler house cantilevered out above the lifts, with oil-fired boilers to provide central heating for all the apartments. There were early problems with the system, which compounded by the 1973 oil crisis not long after the building opened, meant that the boiler house was almost immediately redundant. The boiler house lies empty and applications to turn it into a private penthouse apartment were apparently refused.
Two hundred and seventeen flats are spread over thirty-one floors, above which there are marvellous views to the four compass points from the building’s roof and when walking up there, it is apparent how little land surface space the building takes up, considerably raising the local population density per square foot. An urban skydiver once fell to his death from the roof when his parachute failed to open and the building has sadly seen a number of distressed souls who have deliberately jumped without ‘chutes.
Erno Goldfinger provided the name for James Bond’s villainous adversary. Ian Fleming’s book, published in 1959, irked the architect so much that he threatened legal action, eventually deciding not to sue after the publishers agreed to pay his preliminary costs, throwing in six free copies of the book. Suggestions that Fleming had been an objector to Goldfinger’s demolishment of several cottages in Hampstead to build himself a self-designed house, as being the reason for the choice of name for the villain are probably peripheral. Indeed, Fleming often used the names of his acquaintances, apparently in his day the membership list of Boodle’s, Fleming's St James’s club, read like an index of Bond characters.
Perhaps not worth a visit on its own, but after a stroll through the Portobello Road on a market day, head northwards to the Golborne Road with its popular cafes and junk shops and you’ll be nearing the Trellick Tower. Don’t bother asking where it is, simply look upwards.
The Trellick Tower
5 Golborne Road
London
W10 5PL
Opinions have changed over time and with the bridging of generations, its distinctive lines have become a fondly familiar feature of the neighbourhood. Building styles have changed and in our post-modernist period, the Trellick Tower is now seen as a reminder to a better example of sixties architecture. Drawn back in from the cold, the tower is now a fashionable place to live and the social housing waiting list is long. A far cry from its early years, when prospective tenants were allowed to decline council invitation to be housed there, due to the acute problems often associated with sink estate tower blocks.
The transformation from being a 1970’s ‘tower of terror’ was set on its wheels by controlling who entered the building. A concierge system and ‘entry intercom’ put paid to prostitutes and drug peddlers using the building's communal areas to ply their trade. Margaret Thatcher’s encouragement of home ownership led to up to one in ten apartments within the building now being in private ownership, with the largest ones selling for up to £470,000, at the peak of the last property boom.
The Trellick Tower was built between 1968 and 1972 by Hungarian born architect Erno Goldfinger. He had earlier built the similar Balfron Tower in east London and he even lived in his building for a couple of months. The experience enabled him to make many design improvements, mostly internally, with this second tower. He showed more concern for those living in such blocks than many of his contemporaries and after the completion of the Trellick Tower, Goldfinger anonymously asked a new tenant whether he could look around her apartment. Asking her what she thought of her new home, she spouted forth, in particular complaining for not having a proper broom cupboard, not knowing until much later his true identity. Unusually for the period, Goldfinger insisted that the building should have double glazed windows. The high level of finish is no doubt a major reason for the tower having in 1998 been awarded protected building status with a ‘Grade II Star’ listing.
Part of the Trellick Tower’s distinctive appearance arises from a separate lift shaft with walkways connecting to the main building. High up, a boiler house cantilevered out above the lifts, with oil-fired boilers to provide central heating for all the apartments. There were early problems with the system, which compounded by the 1973 oil crisis not long after the building opened, meant that the boiler house was almost immediately redundant. The boiler house lies empty and applications to turn it into a private penthouse apartment were apparently refused.
Two hundred and seventeen flats are spread over thirty-one floors, above which there are marvellous views to the four compass points from the building’s roof and when walking up there, it is apparent how little land surface space the building takes up, considerably raising the local population density per square foot. An urban skydiver once fell to his death from the roof when his parachute failed to open and the building has sadly seen a number of distressed souls who have deliberately jumped without ‘chutes.
Erno Goldfinger provided the name for James Bond’s villainous adversary. Ian Fleming’s book, published in 1959, irked the architect so much that he threatened legal action, eventually deciding not to sue after the publishers agreed to pay his preliminary costs, throwing in six free copies of the book. Suggestions that Fleming had been an objector to Goldfinger’s demolishment of several cottages in Hampstead to build himself a self-designed house, as being the reason for the choice of name for the villain are probably peripheral. Indeed, Fleming often used the names of his acquaintances, apparently in his day the membership list of Boodle’s, Fleming's St James’s club, read like an index of Bond characters.
Perhaps not worth a visit on its own, but after a stroll through the Portobello Road on a market day, head northwards to the Golborne Road with its popular cafes and junk shops and you’ll be nearing the Trellick Tower. Don’t bother asking where it is, simply look upwards.
The Trellick Tower
5 Golborne Road
London
W10 5PL
London in motion has some of the best London Stock Footage and London Library Footage with moving clips of many of the above mentioned places to see, are available to browse through by simply visiting the ‘Trellick Tower’ category of this website. New additions of London video clips are being frequently uploaded and further categories will be appearing over the coming months.
Copyright: London In Motion 2009
Email: tom@londoninmotion.com
Copyright: London In Motion 2009
Email: tom@londoninmotion.com
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