View allAll Photos Tagged trellicktower
Gang of Five Walk, April 15, 2014:
Paddington to Willesden along the Paddington Branch of the Grand Union Canal.
(10/43)
Westway flyover swerves over a long bend on the Paddington Branch of the Grand Union Canal.
For a section of the canal which is essentially modern in setting, industrial-looking and un-prettified, the two contrary curves here make a surprisingly pleasing scene. Westway was opened in 1970 and its curving cantilever here looks impressive from the towpath. This view looks westwards towards the Trellick Tower, in the distance behind the trees, with its reflection.
Most of this view is in Paddington in the City of Westminster (actually one of the Boroughs of London). Beyond the blue bridge, the Trellick Tower is in North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. This stretch of the canal lies between Bayswater (to the L and S) and Westbourne Green (to the R and N).
The nearest figures on the towpath are two of the Gang of Five: Richard (L) and Peter.
----------
TRELLICK TOWER
"Trellick Tower is a 31-storey block of flats in North Kensington, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. It was designed in the Brutalist style by architect Ernő Goldfinger, after a commission from the Greater London Council in 1966, and completed in 1972. It is a Grade II* listed building and is 98 metres (322 ft) tall (120 metres (394 ft) including the communications mast)." Historically it has passed from being an out-of-favour high-rise council estate block to 'desirable' apartments in private ownership.
--- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trellick_Tower
-----------
BRITISH CANALS
For those unfamiliar with British canals, the narrow-boats (in the distance here) are the traditional kind of craft, either originals or made in similar style. The canals are mostly very narrow - often narrower than this one here - so the boats are shaped accordingly. Towpaths are so called because in the early history of the canals, the boats (generally smaller than modern ones, before the advent of onboard engines) were towed by horses or sometimes the crew, walking along these canalside paths. Some had sails. Britain's canal system preceded railways and road transport and the earlier boats carried goods. Most canal boats are now recreational or are used as houseboats.
----------
GANG OF FIVE PRESENT ON THIS WALK: Dick, Peter, Richard, Brian R. (Brian G was unable to be with us).
----------
Photo
Brian Roy Rosen
Uploaded to Flickr April 23, 2014
© Darkroom Daze Creative Commons.
If you would like to use or refer to this image, please link or attribute.
ID: DSC_0015 - Version 2
The brutalist block of flats, designed by Ernő Goldfinger. The building was commissioned in 1966 by the Greater London Council, and construction was carried out between 1968-72.
The building stands 98m (322 ft) tall, and holds 217 flats.
Bush-hammered in-situ reinforced concrete with some pre-cast pebble-finished panels, and timber cladding to balconies. L-shaped block linked by 35 storey service tower semi-freestanding at corner, the main range of 31 storeys and the lower of seven linked to core every third floor. The service core incorporates lifts, stairs and refuse shutes, with a projecting boiler house on the 32nd and 33rd floors. Each third, corridor, floor contains six one-bedroom flats in each wing, with a storey of two-bedroom flats above and below reached off the same level. The 23rd and 24th floors contain five two-storey maisonettes and two flats. The service tower is a slim and very sculptural composition with narrow, slit windows except to the fully glazed boiler house, its form a contrast to the highly glazed, trabeated grid of the main blocks. All windows are timber-framed casements. All the living rooms, and the kitchens to the two-bedroom flats, have balconies forming a distinctive pattern across the main facades that is interupted by the maisonette floor. Varnished timber sidings to these balconies. The corridors on the north face are distinguished by pre-cast panels. Bay windows to youth and women's centres in main block overlooking broad raised terrace; in the lower wing a doctor's surgery retains its original facade and lettering designed by Goldfinger. Interior finished with pre-cast pebble panels and brightly coloured tiles to corridors and lift walls. The interiors of the flats are interesting in plan, and the light switches are incorporated in the door surrounds. Three-bedroom flats have sliding screens. Some original balustrade to internal stairs within flats. The basement community centre, built as a nursery, retains some sliding doors, their frames incorporating light switches, and cupboards. Cork flooring running into curved skirting. Doctor's Surgery (no. 13) with original shop front, projecting sign and door. Interior retains original plan of waiting room, consulting room and nurse's area. Many fitted cupboards survive, together with doors and frames with switches. Separate sliding door to nursing area at the rear. A fine surviving example of an original Goldfinger interior. Included as the ultimate expression of Goldfinger's philosophy of high-rise planning. It also embodies the best ideas of the time on high rise housing.
[James Dunnett and Gavin Stamp, Erno Goldfinger, 1983]