- No.1 Croydon
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No.1 Croydon (formerly NLA Tower) 
No.1 Croydon from East Croydon stationGeneral information Town or city East Croydon, London Country England Completed 1970 Design and construction Architect R. Seifert & Partners Structural engineer Triton Coordinates: 51°22′30″N 0°05′28″W / 51.3749°N 0.0910°W
No.1 Croydon (or the 50p Building, formerly the NLA Tower, The Weddingcake or Threepenny bit building)[1] is a skyscraper at 12-16 Addiscombe Road, Croydon, London, next to East Croydon station. It was designed by R. Seifert & Partners and completed in 1970. It has 24 storeys and is 269 feet (82 m) high. 'NLA' stood for 'Noble Lowndes Annuities'.[2] The growing town of Croydon attracted many new buildings to be built in the 1970s including No.1 Croydon.[3][4] In recent years, the development of tall buildings has been encouraged in the London Plan, which will lead to the erection of new skyscrapers over the next few years as London goes through a high-rise boom.[5]
It is Britain's 88th tallest tower,[6] and an example of original 1970s architecture.
Contents
Restoration project
A refurbishment programme costing over £3.5 million was completed in early 2007. It included a six-month exterior cleaning project, new lobby, landscaping and common areas, and refurbishment of the top ten floors to provide 74,543 square feet (6,925 m2) of high spec, air-conditioned office accommodation.
A substantial amount of work had already been done to improve the façade of the tower. It was identified in a Channel 4 programme as one of the UK's top eyesores. A spokesman for building restoration firm Triton said: "Work is running to schedule and within budget." [7]
Occupiers
No.1 Croydon is occupied by a number of companies and organisations, including The Royal College of General Practitioners, HCL, IBS, Liberata, Pegasus Solutions, Directline Holidays, dotDigital Group, Zenos Academy and the Institute of Public Finance.[3]
Other names
No. 1 Croydon was originally known colloquially as the Threepenny Bit building, due to its resemblance to a number of Threepence coins stacked on top of each other. After the coins stopped being used after 14 February 1971 the building eventually gained the alternative nickname the 50p building, as it also resembles a stack of the now more familiar 50p pieces, and it is also referred to as The Wedding Cake.[8][9] For many older Croydon residents, however, it is and remains the "Threepenny Bit Building". This building was also used as an establishing shot in the opening credits of the UK sit-com Terry and June, before the more well known garden sequence.
See also
References
- ^ "Croydon, Route & What to See". London Footprints. http://www.london-footprints.co.uk/wkcroydonroute.htm. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
- ^ "Information on names of NLA Tower". Graham Johnson. http://fotopic.addiscombe.org.uk/p41321387.html. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
- ^ a b Looking Out For No1 (from Croydon Guardian)
- ^ State of the art refurbishment
- ^ "London - Full Summary of Projects". Will Fox, SkyscraperCity.com. http://www.skyscrapernews.com/buildings.php?id=46. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
- ^ "Britain's Tallest 100 Buildings by Height". Sky Scraper News. 2007. http://www.skyscrapernews.com/snuk_list.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-12.
- ^ "NLA Tower’s makeover nearly done". Croydon Guardian. http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/display.var.748665.0.nla_towers_makeover_nearly_done.php. Retrieved 2008-03-14.
- ^ "Croydon's 50p tower stolen". This is Local London. http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/topstories/display.var.1425034.0.croydons_50p_tower_stolen.php. Retrieved 2008-03-20. [
- ^ Your Croydon Pamphlet, February 2009 (Retrieved 4 January 2010)
External links
Categories:- Buildings and structures completed in 1970
- Buildings and structures in Croydon
- Croydon 2020
- Skyscrapers in Croydon
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