Tower Buildings

Wapping Tower Buildings is a tenement block built in 1864 by the Improved Industrial Dwellings Company. It features a more intricate plan than typical for its time. The building stands five storeys tall, with a rusticated stucco ground floor and splayed corners on the returns. The north elevation is flanked by single bay blocks of stock brick, with a two-bay block at the center. The stuccoed elevations consist of seven narrow arcaded stucco bays, which are set back and screened by superimposed balcony-galleries that retain Regency pattern ironwork with a diagonal geometric design, supported by cast iron girders and slender iron shafts on a roof terrace.

Stairs to the center of each gallery are located in shallow semi-circular wells behind a central blind archway of the arcade, through which a full-height dust shoot rises. There are passage entries to the flats on the south side at each end of the gallery arcade. The windows on the projecting blocks have stucco architraves with cornices on consoles and block pediments, and ornate cast iron flower guards from the 1860s adorn the first floor. The windows are casement style.

The south elevation displays a complex rhythm of single and paired bays that project from five-sided well recesses, topped with a moulded brick cornice. This building is of special interest as an extremely rare example of early metropolitan working-class housing. It is likely designed by W. Allen and promoted by Alderman Sydney Waterlow, who founded the Improved Industrial Dwelling Company in 1863, just a year before this block was constructed. The company aimed to provide housing for laborers throughout the rest of the century. The design deviates from the popular courtyard type of early dwelling blocks from the 1840s, opting instead for a layout that allows for better ventilation. This is reflected in the placement of lavatories at the back of the flats rather than next to the entrance, as was common previously. The building holds historical significance as an early example of its kind.