Trellick Tower: A self-guided tour

The Trellick Tower is arguably the most famous piece of council house architecture in London, if not the country.

As well as being a symbol for the by-gone era of high-rise brutalist buildings, Trellick became synonymous with social problems, ranging from racial tension to troubled youths, in its notorious heyday.

The Guardian says: "One Christmas, vandals on the 12th floor opened the fire hydrant and unleashed thousands of gallons of water into the lifts, blowing fuses and leaving the block without electricity, heat, water or toilet facilities. Grind up another three floors and you would be where a 27-year-old woman was dragged from the lift and raped. Down the same corridor a depressed young mother jumped to her death. On the 21st floor, an 11-year-old girl was dragged from a lift into the chute room and attacked."

(Read the rest of The Guardian's article here - it's fantastic)

The tower of tightly packed flats, with the separate lift tower bringing people every third floor, was designed by Erno Goldfinger (who based his design on the Trellick's little sister - the Balfron Tower in east London) in 1966 for the Greater London Council. Construction was completed in 1972.

Its 31 storeys contain 217 flats, some of which now sell for almost £500,000. One is for sale now, on the 30th floor.

The thin service tower houses the lifts, as well as a rubbish chute and emergency stairs.

Approaching the tower from Westbourne Park station, Trellick can be seen from afar, and embarking on my unguided tour I first pass through the Edenham estate to get to the base of the tower.

The Trellick's surrounding houses are surprisingly low and terrace like, donning interesting garage door designs that perhaps give an idea of the area's historic context.

Walking through the estate, I came upon the first of a series of concrete walkways linking the buildings here.

 They don't make for friendly walking.

This photo shows the second, lower slab of the complex - which sits just to the south of the tower.

From this walkway I also see, for the first time, the recreational area at the base of the tower, from which the above flats seem to grow.

It is completely cut off from any kind of street with passing traffic, and no people could ever really know what was going on down here. There is no doubt that it is spaces like this that contributed to the general malaise of the building.

Eventually I emerge onto the main road.

This leads to the main entrance of the building, where residents installed a door entry intercom system and a 24-hour concierge in the mid-1980's - a step that led to a much friendler atmosphere tower, eventually stamping out the social problems associated with Trellick. 

Walking around to the north side of the tower, it is easier to get right up to the building and even walk underneath it - though this doesn't look like an enticing prospect.

The passage leads back to the back of the building and from there down to the recreational area/basketball court, via a flight of steps.

The bars on the left of the picture here protect what looks like an abandoned area under the building.

Ending my tour here seems appropriate, as it is from this angle that the true scale of the tower can really be appreciated.

Finally, leading on from my earlier posts referencing music videos the Trellick Tower deserves a mention. It featured in Blur's 'For Tomorrow', The Gorrilaz' 'Tomorrow Comes Today' and The Good, The Bad and The Queen's 'Kingdom of Doom' - all spearheaded by Damon Albarn, who today lives nearby in fancy Notting Hill.

But the video I'm posting here is Depeche Mode's 'Little 15'. Just because I love Depeche Mode (and the first two minutes all centre around the building).