St George's House (also known as the Nestlé Tower or Nestlé Block) is a office tower located in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an exten ...

, United Kingdom. It was occupied by the Swiss multinational food and consumer goods company

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...

as the headquarters of Nestlé UK & Ireland until September 2012.

Location

The tower is located on Park Lane above the

Croydon Underpass Croydon Underpass is an underpass located in Croydon, London. The road is part of the A212 which stretches from Catford to Forestdale. The underpass was constructed beneath the junction of George Street and Wellesley Road/Park Lane in the ...

and close to the Croydon Council offices in

Bernard Weatherill House Bernard Weatherill House is a municipal facility in Croydon, London. The building, which is located just south of Croydon Town Hall, provides accommodation for many of the offices of Croydon London Borough Council. History The building was commi ...

Croydon College Croydon College is a large further and higher education college located in Croydon, within the London Borough of Croydon. Its origins can be traced to a School of Art that was established in 1868, which subsequently merged with Croydon Polytechni ...

, and the theatre and performance space of the

Fairfield Halls Fairfield Halls is an arts, entertainment and conference centre in Croydon, London, England, which opened in 1962 and contains a theatre and gallery, and a large concert hall regularly used for BBC television, radio and orchestral recordings. F ...

and

Ashcroft Theatre The Ashcroft Theatre is a theatre located within the Fairfield Halls, Croydon, South London. The theatre was named after Croydon-born Dame Peggy Ashcroft and is a proscenium theatre with a stepped auditorium. The mural on its fire curtain is by t ...

History

The tower was designed by architects Ronald Ward and Partners, who also designed Millbank Tower, and it was completed in 1964. The eastern entrance to

St George's Walk St George's Walk is a partially covered shopping parade in the centre of Croydon, London that houses many independent stores. It was completed in 1964 by Ronald Ward and Partners, the designers of St George's House, at one end of the walk, and ...

shopping arcade is located at the base of the tower and the ground floor also housed the

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

, which, as well as fulfilling the functions of a town centre public house, became well known as a music venue. Later known as the Blue Orchid nightclub, the venue closed in 2004. Nestle_Tower

In January 2012, Nestlé announced that it intended to move the headquarters of Nestlé UK & Ireland to City Place Gatwick, with all 840 employees based at St George's House moved to Gatwick by the end of 2012. The Croydon council agreed in February 2013 to switch the use of the building from offices to housing. Architect firm

EPR Architects EPR Architects is a London-based architectural practice that originally started business under the names of its founders Elsom Pack & Roberts. It is known for commercial, residential and hotel projects. Cecil Elsom CBE (17 January 1912 – 3 Apr ...

was hired to redesign the building. However, in September 2015, no work was done to advance on the housing project, leading London property developer Minerva to buy the tower for £10 million to incorporate in a wider neighbourhood housing project. In November 2018, work began to convert the tower into three high-rise apartment blocks as well as to demolish part of St George's Walk, to create a new public square (Queen's Square) adjacent to the

old Town Hall Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

Transport links

St George's House has various transport links nearby. George Street tram stop is the closest

Tramlink London Trams, previously Tramlink and Croydon Tramlink, is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It began operation in 2000, the first tram system in the London region since 1952. It is manage ...

station to the offices. From here there are services to

Wimbledon station Wimbledon is a National Rail, London Underground, and Tramlink station located on Wimbledon Bridge, Wimbledon in London, and is the only station in London that provides an interchange between the London Underground and Tramlink. The station s ...

with connections to the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

, or to

Beckenham Junction station Beckenham Junction is the main railway and tram station in Beckenham in the London Borough of Bromley, south London. The railway stop is on the Chatham Main Line, down the line from and situated between and . The tram stop is one of the easte ...

and

Elmers End station Elmers End is a railway station and tram terminus in Elmers End, south London, England. It is in the London Borough of Bromley and on the railway it is down the line from London Charing Cross. The railway through Elmers End was opened by the ...

with train connections to

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a location * Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire * ...

and slow trains to

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

as well as

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a large part of Greater London as w ...

services. There are also tram services from East Croydon to

New Addington New Addington is a town in South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located 5 miles south east of Croydon, south of Addington Village and north of Biggin Hill. History Until the 1930s, the area now known as New Addingt ...

Elmers End Elmers End is an area of south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, Greater London and formerly part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south of Beckenham, west of Eden Park, north of Monks Orchard and east of A ...

and

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

. There is also a bus station at West Croydon with buses on the northbound corridor and the rest of the borough.

East Croydon station East Croydon is a railway station and tram stop in Croydon, Greater London, England, and is located in Travelcard Zone 5. At from , it is one of the busiest non-terminal stations in London, and in the United Kingdom as a whole. It is one of th ...

, the main railway station in the borough, is also close by. The station provides mainline services from

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

and

Thameslink Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying ...

. These train operating companies provide services to

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and the

South Coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst t ...

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, situated east of the town centre, and north of Central London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL), a company wholly owned by L ...

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after ...

and fast services to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It re ...

References

External links

Guardian article
on Millbank Tower and St George's House architects Ronald Ward and Partners.

Approval of planning permission by Croydon Council.

Redevelopment proposal by Legal & General. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nestle Tower Croydon 2020 Skyscrapers in the London Borough of Croydon Nestlé Skyscraper office buildings in London

Location

History

Transport links

See also

References

External links