Archinect - News2024-11-27T00:07:37-05:00https://archinect.com/news/article/150320141/trellick-tower-residents-are-bracing-for-a-fight-against-encroaching-development-schemes
Trellick Tower residents are bracing for a fight against encroaching development schemes Josh Niland2022-08-11T11:45:00-04:00>2022-08-11T11:45:52-04:00
<img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/70/7037899439c9c16967b36eb8333a29ce.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>“Given the dire shortage of affordable housing in London and the valuable real estate occupied by the Trellick, it is almost certain that someone will build on the site in the future. But residents would like their say. [...] Many fear the build would only attract more developers to the surrounding neighborhood, spoiling the character of the site.”</p></em><br /><br /><p>This fall, residents were able to halt a <a href="https://archinect.com/firms/cover/4735/haworth-tompkins" target="_blank">Haworth Tompkins</a> scheme for a new <a href="https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/council-pulls-haworth-tompkins-plans-for-new-trellick-tower-neighbourhood" target="_blank">16-story tower block</a> in the place of its demolished nursing home that would have obstructed sightlines, a graffiti wall, and exterior views of the Grade II* listed structure. Some units have already been <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f4e7a2c6-5aa1-11e9-939a-341f5ada9d40" target="_blank">converted</a> into luxury accommodations. Many fear the same privatized fate that befell leaseholders in <a href="https://archinect.com/news/tag/329729/ern-goldfinger" target="_blank">Ernö Goldfinger</a>’s earlier <a href="https://archinect.com/news/article/150318129/balfron-tower-apartments-go-up-for-sale-enter-oliver-wainwright" target="_blank">Balfron Tower</a> is all but inevitable, given London developers’ <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/jun/25/london-developers-viability-planning-affordable-social-housing-regeneration-oliver-wainwright" target="_blank">penchant for leveraging</a> the city’s social rent needs in order to obtain taxpayer-funded contracts.</p>
<p>"All we’ve ever done is stop them for a couple of years," original tenant Keith Benton told the <em>Times</em>. "There’s no guarantee they won’t try again."</p>