“Brutalist” London tower block refurbished
London | AFP | 30 September 2014
by Alice RITCHIE
The 27-storey Balfron Tower in Poplar is being refurbished after decades of neglect as a wave of gentrification spruces up former housing estates and casts a fresh eye on once-derided designs.
"It's not beautiful," conceded Joseph Watson, programme director of National Trust London, as he surveyed the spectacular views from the top floor across nearby Canary Wharf, with the Millennium Dome and the Shard in the distance.
The imposing grey block is a leading example of so-called Brutalist architecture, a post-war style named after the French word "brut", in reference to the raw concrete that figured boldly in its designs.
Built by architect and designer Erno Goldfinger, the tower was the first fulfilment of his dream of a new form of social housing — clean, open and modern.
James Bond creator Ian Fleming famously hated Goldfinger's designs, naming one of his villains after him in apparent disgust.
The trust acknowledges that the 47-year-old tower, with its separate lift shaft attached by eight mid-air walkways, is not everybody's idea of a heritage property.
But Watson insisted the building, which was listed as a conservation site in 1996, should be celebrated as much as Britain's country estates and churches.
To do so, the trust is holding a fortnight of tours of the top floor flat in which Goldfinger lived, refurbished in period style, as well as the surrounding estates.
"This was heroic architecture, this was architecture that was trying to stand up and be counted," Watson told AFP.
Looking up at the tower from the balcony of his flat in Carradale House, a smaller social housing estate next door that was also designed by Goldfinger, resident John Boardman said it was "marvellous" the trust was taking an interest.
"Over the years, I've thought they ought to pull it down or put a bomb under it. But it's an icon," said the unemployed 56-year-old, sipping a mug of tea.