Erno Goldfinger was a Hungarian born Architect who moved to the UK in the 1930’s. He has a selection of buildings around London. He is most famous for his social housing tower blocks. Here is a selection of highlights which I will add to over time…. Trellick Tower, Goldbourne Rd, London. This distinctive and powerful Grade II* listed, tower block with its separate circulation and services tower is both famous and infamous. Love it or hate it you cant ignore it. It’s surely one of the Worlds best Brutalist buildings in terms of design & build quality. It was called the “Tower of Terror” but its now a desirable place to live and the flats that are privatised due to social housing tenants exercising their Right to Buy are highly sought after, especially by designers & architects. It is the centrepiece of the Cheltenham Estate in Kensal Town. 31 floors high and completed in 1972. It has a sister block, Balfron Tower in Poplar that was built first. Trellick was completely clad with scaffolding and blue plastic mesh which gave the impression that it was trying to disguise itself against a blue sky. The tower was having extensive renovation works, mainly restoring and repairing its windows. I am pleased to see that after complete removal of the scaffolding (feb 2019) there are no nasty surprises and its looking fantastic (see pic 03). If it was not a listed building it might have been another story….

Trellick Tower_Top of service tower. Windows to the boiler room are now painted black which is the original colour for these particular windows.

Trellick Tower_South Elevation

Trellick Tower_Blue mesh clad scaffolding during window renovations. Now removed.

Trellick Tower_Blue mesh clad scaffolding rising during window renovations. Now removed.

Trellick Tower_Blue mesh clad scaffolding rising during window renovations. Now removed.

Trellick Tower_The redundant boiler room at the top of the service tower. Windows are now painted black which is the original colour for the boiler room windows.

Trellick Tower_The redundant boiler room at the top of the service tower. Windows are now painted black which is the original colour for the boiler room windows.

Trellick Tower_Looking up

Trellick Tower_Looking up

Trellick Tower_View of North elevation

Trellick Tower_View of North elevation

Trellick Tower_Ramp at the base

Trellick Tower_Ramp at the base, detail.

Trellick Tower_External view of the main entrance lobby modular pre-cast concrete and stained glass window.

Trellick Tower_Base of the service tower with the modernist stained glass window to the entrance lobby.

Trellick Tower_Around the base, a staircase up to pavement level.

Trellick Tower_Detail of East elevation

Trellick Tower_Detail of North elevation

Trellick Tower_Internal Corridor detail. The corridors are unexpectedly colourful. Restored a few years ago with new tiles to match the original ones. Each floor has a different colour theme. Many original front doors remain. They are the ones with the glazed section.

Trellick Tower_Internal Corridor detail. The corridors are unexpectedly colourful. Restored a few years ago with new tiles to match the original ones. Each floor has a different colour theme. Many original front doors remain. They are the ones with the glazed section.

Trellick Tower_Internal Corridor. The corridors are unexpectedly colourful. Restored a few years ago with new tiles to match the original ones. Each floor has a different colour theme. Many original front doors remain. They are the ones with the glazed section.

Trellick Tower_Service tower lift lobby. 18th floor. Internally Trellick is unexpectedly colourful. Restored a few years ago with new tiles to match the original ones. Each Lift lobby has a varied colour theme that ties in with the connecting corridor.

Trellick Tower_Service tower lift lobby. 27th Floor. Internally Trellick is unexpectedly colourful. Restored a few years ago with new tiles to match the original ones. Each Lift lobby has a varied colour theme that ties in with the connecting corridor.

Trellick Tower_Staircase in the service tower. Not sure if this is an original colour….

Trellick Tower_Around the base

Trellick Tower_Around the base

Trellick Tower_Graffiti around the base

Trellick Tower_Graffiti around the base

Trellick Tower_Graffiti around the base

Trellick Tower_Graffiti around the base. 15-50 Edenham Way to the right.

Trellick Tower_Graffiti around the base. 15-50 Edenham Way

Trellick Tower_15-50 Edenham Way. Edenham Way is in an area of two blocks of flats and terraces of 3 storey Town Houses East of the tower. Often overlooked due to the understandably attention seeking tower.

51-80 Edenham Way

Edenham Way

Balfron Tower, Poplar, East London. Balfron is the most prominent feature of the Brownfield Estate, Poplar East London.. The local council sold it off a few years ago and It has recently been developed into so called "luxury" private flats. By coincidence it was scaffolded at exactly the same time as Trellick Tower. Built in 1965-67 before it's bigger sister Trellick. Goldfinger lived in one of the upper storey flats for a few months with his wife and held cocktail parties for the residents in order to get their opinions on living in the block. These photos were taken when the block was empty and before the scaffolding started to go up. Sadly in complete contrast to the successful works at Trellick tower, Balfron has faired less well with the full removal of the existing white painted metal window frames and replacement with brown ones! Quite a surprise as its a listed building! Its now fully unwrapped and complete but still seems to be empty…

Balfron Tower_Pre renovation

Balfron Tower_Pre renovation

Balfron Tower_Pre renovation

Balfron Tower_Pre renovation. The metal chimneys are actually replacements made some time ago when the original concrete ones were removed due to decay.

Balfron Tower_Post renovations with mixed results. GOOD: cleaned concrete, chimneys to match original which had been removed. LESS GOOD:: Brown window frames, replaced parapet in wrong colour/material. The original one was in concrete that match the rest of the building.

Balfron Tower_Post renovations with mixed results. The cleaned concrete does look excellent.

Entrance area, post renovation

Post renovation

East elevation, post renovation

The brutalist playground, post renovation. Great job done here, slide reinstated & even another one added. Concrete cleaned and rubber floor surfaces added to bring it up to current health & safety standards.

52-74 St Leonard’s Rd, The Brownfield estate, Poplar, East London An easily overlooked two storey block of pensioners/sheltered housing, just below Balfron Tower to the South. . Tough no nonsense minimal design in a lovely yellow brick and in-situ cast concrete with Goldfinger’s usual detailing. Original entrance areas and doors remain. A Nice subtle softening detail being the curved bricks to corner junctions. Recently had some decent hard landscaping and planting installed. Forms part of the Brownfield Estate by Erno Goldfinger, built at the same time as the tower..65-7, Phase 1

52-74 St Leonard’s Rd

52-74 St Leonard’s Rd. Balustrade detail.

Carradale House, Poplar, built 1967-70 is a smaller modified version of Balfron on the Brownfield estate. Like Balfron it has a separate services tower however this tower serves two 11 storey blocks to each side. I just love the expressed concrete “railway carriage” corridors which serve the flats every three floors. The block underwent a 3 year renovation under the supervision of English Heritage with PRP Architects. It's looking flawless and in its original condition / design as a result. The Southern elevations with balconies look fantastic with their chunky white timber frames and what looks like Cedar wood timber cladding. I want one! The elevations are also a very similar to the ones used on the later Trellick Tower.

Carradale House

Carradale House

Carradale House

Carradale House

Carradale House.

Carradale House.

Carradale House_A brutal face! Top of the service tower.

Carradale House.

Carradale House

Glenkerry House in Poplar East London. By the studio of Erno Goldfinger. Completed late 1970s Last main block built on the Brownfield Estate after Balfron And Carradale. 14 storeys high, Four bed maisonettes at ground level and 1,2 & 3 bed flats on floors over. Powerful looking circulation / services tower with boiler room at the top. Expressed from the main block but not separately articulated as on Balfron and Carradale. The block is run as a Community Leasehold Housing Co-Operative. In great, what looks like unaltered original condition.

Glenkerry House.

Glenkerry House.

Glenkerry House.

45-46 Albermarle St, Mayfair, London. Grade II listed, Dating from 1955-7, A little office building with retail at ground level by Erno Goldfinger. The modelling of the facade with its recessed clerestory lighting and projecting bays anticipates his later buildings in particular Alexander Fleming House, 1959-66 (now Metro Central Heights) which on a much bigger scale has very similar facade modelling but in an exposed concrete frame (now sadly painted cream!!) and his trademark floating parapet detail which sadly was removed from Trellick & Balfron towers although recently clumsily replaced at Balfron during its conversion to “luxury” flats.

45-46 Albermarle St, Mayfair, London