Glenkerry House, Grade II listed Brutalist residential tower in Poplar, England
Glenkerry House is a 14-story residential tower with a textured concrete exterior that creates distinctive shadow patterns across its surface. The building contains 79 apartments arranged to accommodate households of varying sizes from one to four bedrooms.
The building was completed in 1971 as part of a broader housing development program in the Poplar area, designed by architect Ernő Goldfinger. Its creation reflects a period when Britain was exploring new approaches to residential design to address housing shortages.
Residents actively shape this place as a shared home through their cooperative management, keeping rents affordable for families and individuals alike. The generous windows and open layouts create a sense of spaciousness that feels uncommon in urban housing.
Visit the site by exploring the surrounding area and viewing the architecture from outside, as this is a residential building occupied by residents. The pathways around the base and communal gardens offer good vantage points to appreciate the concrete structure and how the building sits in its landscape.
The tower was designed with a clever system where corridors appear only every three floors, allowing more of the building's interior to become actual living space. This space-saving approach was an innovative solution to housing shortages of the 1970s.
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