Tower Blocks UK: Kensington and Chelsea London West Chelsea Extended Area redevelopment, l25-05.jpg

Abstract

Multi-storey block details: one 20-storey block containing 742 dwellings; Multi-storey block name(s): Greaves Tower/Dartrey Tower/Whistler Tower/Ashburnham Tower/Blantyre Tower/Berenger Tower/Chelsea Reach Tower; Image detail: View of Greaves Tower and Dartrey Tower Original Commissioning Authority: Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council; Image taken: 1979;Context: Tower Block UK is a project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, bringing together public engagement and an openly-licensed image archive in an attempt to emphasise the social and architectural importance of tower blocks, and to frame multi-storey social housing as a coherent and accessible nationwide heritage. The Tower Block UK image archive is a searchable database of around 4,000 images of every multi-storey social housing development built in the UK. The photographs were largely taken in the 1980s by Miles Glendinning and are made available here for public use. As many of the blocks documented and photographed have since been demolished, the archive functions in part as a repository of information on an important aspect of UK heritage that is now vanishing. The archive itself catalogues multi-storey blocks as part of the developments within which they were initially commissioned and built. It gives details of notable dates, such as when local authorities approved the developments and when construction began or finished. Alongside this, the archive provides information on the local authorities, architects, and other agents involved in the processes of commissioning, designing, and constructing mass social housing. While the most historically 'accurate' identification labels in the database are the original overall development or project names, the archive also contains details of the individual blocks built.