Chalcots Estate is a council housing estate on Adelaide Road and

Fellows Road Fellows Road is a two-lane road in the London Borough of Camden, just north of Central London. It is on the Eton College estate, a series of roads and houses built to replace the area destroyed in World War II, on land owned by Eton College. The ...

Swiss Cottage Swiss Cottage is an area of Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden, England. It is centred on the junction of Avenue Road and Finchley Road and includes Swiss Cottage tube station. Swiss Cottage lies north-northwest of Charing Cross. Th ...

in the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and ...

. It was designed by Dennis Lennon and Partners. The Chalcots Estate was built on land owned by

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

, which is reflected in the names of the individual buildings. The Estate comprises five high-rise tower blocks with a total of 711 or 717 flats, in four identical 23-storey towers (Taplow, Burnham, Bray, and Dorney), and one smaller 19-storey block (Blashford). The blocks were built in two stages, with approvals being given in 1965 and 1966, and construction in 1967 and 1968. In 2012, there was a fire in the estate's Taplow Block, where the fire-resistant rock-wool insulation and fire-resistant sealant between floors meant that the fire was contained.

Notable residents

Drum and bass artist

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in t ...

lived for ten years at the Dorney Tower flat of film maker and photographer Gus Coral.

Grenfell Tower fire aftermath

On 22 June 2017, following the Grenfell Tower fire, Camden Council said that it would remove similar outer cladding panels that were added to the five blocks in a 2006 refurbishment by the same firms who renovated

Grenfell Tower Grenfell Tower is a derelict 24-storey residential tower block in North Kensington in London, England. The tower was completed in 1974 as part of the first phase of the Lancaster West Estate. The tower was named after Grenfell Road, which ran to ...

, Rydon. However, Camden Council stated that the insulation used "significantly differs" from that on Grenfell Tower, as it included "fire-resistant Rockwool insulation designed to prevent the spread of fire and fire-resistant sealant between floors, designed to stop a high-intensity flat fire from spreading to neighbouring flats". On 23 June, Camden Council stated that 800 homes in the five tower blocks were being evacuated in order to undertake "urgent fire safety works". On 24 June, 83 people were refusing to leave, and council leader

Georgia Gould Georgia Gould (born January 5, 1980) is an American professional mountain bike, cyclocross competitor, and Olympian (2008, 2012). She has earned five career national championships – four in cross-country mountain bike in 2006, 2010, 2011 and ...

said this would "become a matter for the fire services". By 31 July, the decision had been reversed and residents were ordered to vacate the temporary accommodation and move back into the flats. An issue with fire doors had been found and rectified. No information had been given on the safety of the cladding. A resident, Letitia Esposito, challenged the decision in the high court. On the 31 July 2020, the high court case was rejected in the Royal Courts of Justice by Judge Juliet May.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chalcots Estate Housing estates in the London Borough of Camden Swiss Cottage