Trellick Tower
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Trellick Tower is a 31-storey block of flats in North Kensington, London which is an iconic building on the west London skyline. It was designed in the Brutalist style by architect Ernö Goldfinger, after a commission from the Greater London Council in 1966, and completed in 1972. It is a grade II* listed building and is 98 metres tall (120 metres including the television transmitter).
Goldfinger's design is based on his earlier and slightly smaller Balfron Tower (in Poplar, east London), and is in effect a sister building. It has a long, thin profile, with a separate lift and service tower linked at every third storey to the maisonettes in the main building. The building contains 217 flats and was originally entirely owned by the GLC with the flats rented as social housing. 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. By the late 1970s Trellick Tower had a very poor reputation for crime and anti-social behaviour, and many tenants resisted a transfer there. However, with the introduction of the 'right to buy' council homes, many of the flats were bought by the tenants.
On October 8, 1984 a new residents association was formed. As a result of pressure from the occupants, several security improvements including an entryphone system and the employment of a concierge were undertaken from the mid-1980s. Property prices rose and flats in the tower came to be regarded as highly desirable residences by some people. Private properties inside the tower now sell for high prices, ranging from £225,000 for a one-bedroom flat to £350,000 for three-bedrooms. However the brutalist architecture is now out of style and the building is still regarded by some Londoners as one of the ugliest in the city.