Council Housing, Balfron Tower, Bow, Greater London
This tower block was designed in 1963 by Erno Goldfinger for the London County Council. It was built by the Greater London Council in 1965-7 in St Leonards Road. It was built from reinforced concrete with timber cladding to the balconies and an asphalt flat roof. It contained 136 one and two bedroomed flats and ten maisonettes arranged on 26 floors. The homes are linked to a detached service tower by corridors at every third floor. The tower contained lifts, rubbish chutes, laundry rooms and had a boiler and chimneys on the top. This tower block is similar to Trellick Tower in Kensington and Chelsea. They were the best designed tower blocks of many built in this period. However, by the 1970s, the whole idea of housing families in tall tower blocks was being questioned.
Location
Greater London BowPeriod
1960s (1960 - 1969)Themes
