Trellick Tower

Trellick Tower is a 31-storey block of flats in Kensal Town, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. It was designed in the Brutalist style by architect Ernő Goldfinger, after a commission from the Greater London Council in 1966, and completed in 1972. It is a Grade II* listed building and is 98m tall (120m including the communications mast).HistoryGoldfinger's design is based on his 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; flats above and below the corridor levels have internal stairs. The building contains 217 flats and was originally entirely owned by the GLC with the flats rented as council flats. Shortly after its completion the building was transferred to the local council (the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea). Most of the flats are still social housing, but a significant minority are now privately owned.The tower was completed at a time when high-rise tower blocks were going out of fashion as local authorities were beginning to realise the social problems they caused. Goldfinger intended for the tenants to be vetted for suitability and petitioned the Greater London Council for the building to have a concierge, but these ideas were not adopted. This meant that the building was open access and rough sleepers and drug criminals took up residence in its corridors. By the late 1970s Trellick Tower was a scene of crime including rape and the assault of a child, and anti-social behaviour, and many tenants resisted a transfer there. With the introduction of the 'right to buy' council homes, many of the flats were bought by the tenants. In 1983 the building received a concierge.