Trellick Tower is a block of flats located in North Kensington, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London as noted by Boland (1998). According to Atkinson (n.d), the tower has 31 storey blocks of flats, and the design was by architect Erno Goldfinger in the Brutalist style. The Greater London Council commissioned the tower in 1966, which was completed in 1972 with is a grade II* listed building 98 metres tall (Boland 1998). This essay will discuss the housing estates/ suburbia focusing on the Trellick Tower in London and its relationship with the broader history.

Trellick Towers

In the period between the1960s and 70s, countless tower blocks sprouted up all over the UK in a rushed and misguided attempt to provide homes for families (Boland 1998). The towers and the estates upon which they squatted quickly proved to be ineffectual, disintegrating communities and providing fertile grounds for crime and other social complications. In recent years, many of these tributes to alienation and botched planning have been thankfully demolished (Barnard 2007). However, one of the most famous examples from that era “London’s Trellick Tower” is still standing, stronger and, unlike many of its destroyed concrete cousins, it is now a celebrated piece of late 20^th century architecture (Barnard 2007).

The Tower and the Broader History

The tower and the estate have a lot of historical, and architectural interest as their designer was Erno Goldfinger, a significant figure in post-war British architecture. Goldfinger arrived in London in 193 having trained as an architect in Paris, where he had associations with the other notable modern movement architects. Some of the architects were Auguste Perret and Le Corbusier who are well known in the world. In the early 1960s, the London County Council commissioned Goldfinger to design the Cheltenham Estate in Northern Kensington, which replaced the existing sub-standard late 19^th century housing. Trellick Tower comprises of 217 flats and some non-residential space built between 1968and 1972 with 31 storeys. The tower is very thin and sculptural and dominated by the dramatic boiler house structure with the interiors having numerous features such as the light switches and door. The trellis tower surrounds. The external design of the buildings contains cross walls and horizontal concrete bands providing a strong and consistent rhythm. The external appearance comprises of the unique bush-hammered in-situ reinforced concrete with precast pebble panels and brick-work of very high quality.

Some of the features in the building are intact up to date, for instance, the doctor’s surgery at number The tower has a separate lit and is service tower linked to every third story to the access corridors. Tellick Tower covered a place for criminal activities such as rape, child’s assault, and anti-social behaviour making many tenants reuse any transfers to the building. Several security improvements, such as the door entry intercom and the employment of a concierge took place in the mid-1980s, after the formation of a new residents’ association.

There was an addition of four low power television relay transmitters with aerials to the existing equipment on the top of the building. The addition was to reduce the challenges of signal reception in the adjacent districts, such as Notting Hill and Westbourne Grove. The BBC and Ofcom media refer the transmitter installation to as Kensal Town, and it had many benefits to the residents in the signal transmission. At the top of the tower is the plant room with the boiler and hot water tanks at the top to enhance the flow of water without the use o pumps. In the 1973, a year later the opening of the tower, the oil-fuelled boilers in use became obsolete due to the 1973 oil crises. Electric heaters are nowadays in use, and many of the initial single panes of glass are now double-glazed in the existing wood frame for durability purposes.

Apartments are duplex and flooded with light on both sides, and the flats have balconies, which provide views as far as South Downs. The Trellick Tower is in Edenhan estate and attracted a lot of criticisms from the residents, Goldfinger’s peers, and commentators. The tower is now a desirable place to live since the improvement of its security systems. The tower is under the management of a Tenants Management Organization (TMO) that engages in refurbishing the building as part of the building maintenance. The major repairs are on the concrete wars and floors and the refurbishment of the common areas. There are other Goldfinger’s buildings appearing in the statutory list including the Trellick Tower. Today, the Tower represents something of a last stand by high-rise architects although it was Goldfinger’s last commission, and for many years his least popular. In true Modernist fashion, Goldfinger’s Tower paid little heed to its surroundings, such as the dwarves nearby buildings, and its Brutalist concrete exterior made it even more striking.

                                  Trellick Tower’s revival                              

The same Tenants’ Management Organization running Kensal House now manages Trellick. Under the TMO’s guidance, security systems like CCTV and a concierge are part of the building, and crime has fallen in and around the building. The flats themselves are large by tower-block standards, and packed with space-saving devices. The bathrooms are each of minimal dimensions and the doors of wood and glass slide rather than open out, and can partition certain parts of each flat.

Glass is plentiful in order to let in as much natural light as possible and adjoining the main tower is a service tower incorporating lifts, stairs, and The flats have large balconies, which if you are high enough up, offer views across the North Downs. Trellick Tower stands today as a monument to the modernism’s revival. Unlike system built-blocks, such as Ronan Point, the tower is structurally strong and survived to see the deficiencies in its service elements rectified. Trellick is now under 24-hour concierge and security for over a decade making the residents more comfortable. The story of Trellick suggests that when a tower block has proper management, high-rise living is viable.

Trellick Tower is a preference to filmmakers, such as the one

Conclusion
Trellick Tower is a block of flats located in North Kensington, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London with 31 storey blocks of flats designed by architect Erno Goldfinger in the Brutalist style. The tower and the estate have a lot of historical and architectural interest, as their designer was Erno Goldfinger. Today, the Tower represents something of a last stand by high-rise architects although it was Goldfinger’s last commission, and for many years his least popular. Trellis Tower is a preference or musicians, artists, and filmmakers, such as the one featured in the 1988 film ‘For Queen and Country’ and provide a filming location for shopping.

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