Trellick Tower Cheltenham Estate

Trellick Tower is a large residential block constructed between 1968 and 1972 by architect Ernő Goldfinger. It comprises 217 flats, six shops, an office, and youth and women’s centres. The building is primarily constructed of bush-hammered in-situ reinforced concrete, with some pre-cast panels finished with pebbles and timber cladding to the balconies.

The structure consists of a main 31-storey range linked to a 35-storey service tower at a corner, with the lower seven floors of the main range connected to the service core every three floors. The service core houses lifts, stairs, and refuse chutes, featuring a projecting boiler house on the 32nd and 33rd floors. The layout includes six one-bedroom flats on each wing of every third floor, with two-bedroom flats situated above and below, all accessed from the same level. The 23rd and 24th floors accommodate five two-storey maisonettes and two flats.

The service tower is a striking, sculptural form with narrow slit windows, with the exception of the fully glazed boiler house. This contrasts with the highly glazed, trabeated grid of the main blocks. Windows are timber-framed casements. Balconies extend from living rooms and kitchens in the two-bedroom flats, creating a distinctive pattern across the facades, with varnished timber sidings. The corridors on the north face are accentuated by pre-cast panels. Bay windows are incorporated into the youth and women’s centres in the main block, overlooking a raised terrace, while a doctor's surgery in the lower wing retains its original facade and lettering designed by Goldfinger. Interior finishes include pre-cast pebble panels and brightly coloured tiles to corridors and lift walls. The flats themselves are notable for their interesting plans, and light switches are integrated into the door surrounds; some three-bedroom flats feature sliding screens, and some original balustrades remain on internal stairs within the flats.

The basement community centre, originally built as a nursery, retains sliding doors with integrated light switches and cupboards, along with cork flooring and curved skirting. Doctor’s Surgery number 13 retains its original shop front, projecting sign, and door. The interior maintains the original plan consisting of a waiting room, consulting room, and nurse’s area, along with numerous fitted cupboards, doors, frames, and switches. A separate sliding door provides access to the nursing area at the rear, representing a well-preserved example of an original Goldfinger interior.

Trellick Tower is considered the ultimate expression of Goldfinger’s approach to high-rise planning, and a representation of the best ideas in high-rise housing design at the time.