Balfron Tower is one of London’s most iconic post-war buildings. Balfron Tower is a 27 storey tower block in Poplar, a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. The history of the Balfron is more than a story of one building: it’s the story of how high-rise living has changed in London since the 60s. The sixties tower block is also a building type now widely despised and perhaps the only reliable way to deepen the antipathy in which it is generally held is to garnish it with the toxic epithets “concrete” and “brutalist”. The tower was originally built as council-housing, but in 2007 ownership was transferred from Tower Hamlets Council to Poplar Housing and Regeneration Community Association (Poplar HARCA).Poplar HARCA is currently working with PRP architecture and English Heritage to restore the grade two listed building. It forms part of the Brownfield and Rowlett Estate. The view from Balfron Tower. History Characteristic of the many areas in the Borough, the land currently defined by the boundaries of the Balfron Tower Conservation Area was once occupied by a grid of tightly-knit terraced housing. The tower itself is actually part of a much larger area, known as the Brownfield Estate, which was completed 6 years prior to Balfron Tower, … Balfron Tower, an example of the abandoned Futurist path of architecture that haunts the area surrounding the cold, gaping maw of Blackwall Tunnel, offers romantically dystopian views of Poplar’s social housing ghetto, with the silhouette of the imperial seat of power, wrapped in a glass-and-concrete shell of our debts, on the horizon. Balfron Tower is a 27-storey residential building in Poplar, a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. The project team are keen to retain this ethos and are targeting an ‘Excellent’ rating under BREEAM Domestic Refurbishment, with the energy performance potentially aligned with an ‘Outstanding’ rating. In this paper, I describe my collaborative work with the tower’s current and former residents in the preceding three years during which we campaigned for Balfron to remain a … It was designed by Erno Goldfinger in 1967 and was granted as a grade-II listed residential building in 1996 (image 3). Completed by the legendary Hungarian architect Ernö Goldfinger in 1967, the building – a hunk of raw concrete overlooking the Blackwall Tunnel – often plays second fiddle to its younger sister the Trellick Tower in the west of the city. “The other thing we really wanted to do was to, where possible, conserve the history of the building. The knock-on effects are social, economic and environmental. Photograph: Joe Roberts. Balfron Tower is a 27-storey block with 136 flats and 10 maisonettes, located in Poplar, London borough of Tower Hamlets (image 2) (Balfrontower.com, 2018). Tower Hamlets council’s approval for the scheme came months after then-heritge minister Tracey Crouch approved the upgrading of Balfron Tower to grade II*. It is 84 metres (276 ft) high and contains 146 homes (136 flats and 10 maisonettes). Goldfinger himself was pleased with the design and moved in to flat 130, on the 25th floor, for two months in 1968. With our joint venture partners Londonewcastle and Poplar HARCA, Balfron Tower in Poplar took the Conversion/ Refurbishment Project of the Year prize at the Premier Guarantee Awards. If you took everything away but the concrete, you would still know it’s Balfron Tower. Balfron (Scottish Gaelic: Both Fron) is a village in the Stirling council area of Scotland.It is situated near Endrick Water on the A875 road, 18 miles (29 km) west of Stirling and 16 miles (26 km) north of Glasgow.Although a rural settlement, it lies within commuting distance of Glasgow, and serves as a dormitory settlement. And then I suppose the third consideration was that Balfron is this incredibly strong concrete tower, and it is as aesthetic as that. A complete aesthetic renovation of the Grade II* listed, 26-storey building was carried out to create a total of 146 residential apartments. Photo: Lisa IndigoBurns Wormsley For many, the Balfron Tower is a brutalist masterpiece, symbolic of an era when social housing was a vehicle for bold, visionary experiments in architecture and design. Goldfinger's Balfron Tower, Carradale House and Glenkerry House sit in a cluster on either side of St Leonard’s Road, … The infamous tower block in Poplar was designed by Erno Goldfinger and erected in 1968. Balfron Tower is a 26-storey residential building in Poplar, a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. Balfron Tower was designed by architect Ernő Goldfinger and is associated with the Brutalist style of 1960s architecture. exemplary examples of the post-war housing schemes, Balfron Tower and Carradale House were listed in 1998 for their cultural & architectural merit. History. David Roberts, Make Public: Performing public housing in Ernö Goldfinger’s Balfron Tower My research explores the history and future of Balfron Tower, a high-rise of 146 flats and maisonettes built in 1965-7, the first phase of Ernö Goldfinger’s work on the Brownfield Estate in Poplar. The Balfron Tower. I bought my Balfron Tower flat in 2001; I love tower blocks, the solid build of old council flats, the Goldfinger ethos and architecture, the history and the area and I wanted an investment property to rent out. The History of the Balfron. Balfron Tower is an icon of brutalist architecture, a 27-storey block of Sixties flats which stands like a sentinel beside the entrance to the Blackwall Tunnel in Poplar, east London. It explores the history and future of two east London housing estates undergoing regeneration; the Haggerston Estate, a 1930s London County Council neo-Georgian perimeter block demolished in 2014; and Balfron Tower, a 1960s Brutalist high-rise designed by Ernö Goldfinger facing refurbishment and privatisation in 2016. Balfron Tower stands like a sentinel over its forgotten patch of East London. A tour to discover the history of Goldfinger's Balfron Tower in East London, accompanied by artist Simon Terrill, whose exhibition inspired by the building is on show at 2 Willow Road. The Balfron Tower Conservation Area was designated in October 1998 around the two residential blocks designed by Ernö Goldfinger for the London County Council in the 1960s. Specifically, Balfron Tower, its history and its architect render it materially necessary. viii) Evidence-based analysis of Balfron Tower through individual oral history interviews and performative group events I have conducted with 30 current and former Balfron residents comprising a wide range of tenure types; social rented, leaseholders, shorthold tenancies, property guardians, Balfron Tower was designed by Goldfinger to promote a sense of community living and as such provided a level of ‘sustainable living’ for its occupants. #*#*Show Fullscreen*#*# Designers Wayne and Tilly Hemingway recreated Goldfinger’s flat, including the main bedroom (pictured), in … It forms part of the Brownfield Estate, an area of social housing between Chrisp Street Market and the A12 northern approach to the Blackwall Tunnel. The Grade II Listed Balfron Tower is one of three residential buildings designed by Erno Goldfinger in Poplar, East London, part of the Brownfield Estate. Balfron Tower prior to refurbishment But upgrading the tower and rethinking the way it connects with its surroundings isn’t just about embodied energy and running costs. High life: The Balfron Tower. In 1967, the notable Balfron Tower in London was named after the village. The word iconic is over-used, but history has already judged Balfron Tower an icon, for good or ill, of a moment in time marked by utopian visions and their dystopian outcomes. Whether you love it or loathe it, Balfron Tower is firmly part of the nation’s heritage and was given a Grade II listings in 1996 from English Heritage. Heroically, Balfron House ticks all said boxes. Unlike other social housing sites in and around the UK, Balfron Tower must stand; demolition and the erasure of its bricks, mortar, and social history cannot be achieved. After more than a decade of controversy over its future, tomorrow marks the start of a new era as the first apartments in the refurbished Grade II*-listed building go on sale. The Conservation Area boundary protects the listed Balfron Tower and Carradale House, and other buildings in the ‘Brownfield Estate’, including Glenkerry House, a community centre, shops and associated… Last month’s announcement that the Grade II-listed Balfron Tower in Poplar will no longer contain any social housing but will instead be sold as luxury flats put an end to speculation about its future that has been going on since 2010. Facilities. The village also contains a fire station, garage, ambulance depot, police station, primary school, bowling green and an 18 hole golf course. BALFRON TOWER DEVELOPMENTS LLP - Free company information from Companies House including registered office address, filing history, accounts, annual return, officers, charges, business activity Balfron has shops, a health centre, a village hall and a secondary school (Balfron High School). In December 2015, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets approved plans to refurbish and privatise Balfron Tower. pic: @BalfronSocial. History: Balfron Tower in Poplar, East London, was completed in 1967, and designed by architect Ernö Goldfinger. Designed by modernist architect Ernő Goldfinger in 1967, it forms a bold presence in London’s East End. The Balfron Tower Conservation Area was designated in October 1998 around the two residential blocks designed by Ernö Goldfinger for the London County Council in the 1960s. Earlier this week the upper layers of scaffolding on Balfron Tower were removed, revealing the true impact of the gutting and wholesale window replacement that the Society vehemently fought in 2015. BALFRON TOWER Balfron Tower is the earliest component of the two large blocks of flats and maisonettes that were arguably the most important commissions of his career and has a distinctive profile that sets it apart from other tall blocks. 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