High-rise apartments and Brutalist architecture were falling out of favour by the time the tower was completed, and it became a magnet for crime, vandalism, drug abuse and prostitution.

Trellick Tower is on the Cheltenham Estate in Golborne Road, Kensal Town, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC).

It is bounded to the north and east by Meanwhile Gardens and the Grand Union Canal, and to the south by the A40 Westway and the Great Western Main Line leading from London Paddington station.

[8] It has a long, thin profile, with a separate lift and service tower linked at every third storey to the access corridors in the main building, which overall has 31 floors.

Goldfinger said "the whole object of building high is to free the ground for children and grown-ups to enjoy Mother Earth and not to cover every inch with bricks and mortar".

[15] It was the last major project Goldfinger worked on; his reputation suffered as concrete tower blocks became unfashionable, and he died in 1987 before it could be restored.

Goldfinger had intended that tenants should be vetted for suitability and petitioned the GLC for the building to have proper security and a concierge, but the council declined his request.

[11] Drying rooms on the ground floor, designed by Goldfinger to stop tenants hanging laundry on the balconies, were vandalised before the tower block opened.

As a result of pressure from the occupants, several security improvements including a door entry intercom system were installed,[10] and a concierge was hired in 1987.

[20] Four low-power television relay transmitters with aerials were added to the communications equipment on top of the lift tower in December 1989, to solve reception problems for some residents of adjacent districts, including Notting Hill and Westbourne Grove.

[21] In 1991, Sand Helsel, Professor of Architecture at RMIT, made a BBC documentary praising Trellick Tower, which helped to change public opinion in its favour.

[22] The tower subsequently became more respectable owing to its location close to Notting Hill and the gentrification of the neighbouring Golborne Road.

[24] The tower itself is a local landmark and was awarded a Grade II* listing in 1998, which included the main building and the adjacent row of shops and amenities.

[25] The building's listed status meant that the concrete facade could not be covered over, which is thought to have prevented a far worse fire similar to Grenfell Tower which happened a few months later.

[27] The charity Open City described the plans as "the latest in an ongoing programme of incremental demolition of Goldfinger’s world renowned social housing estate which has already seen the neighbourhood’s Edenham Residential Care Home knocked down", adding the tower to its 'Buildings at Risk' list.

[29] In recent years, Trellick Tower has become a London icon, appearing on T-shirts, featuring in adverts, films, and songs, and attracting visitors.

[19] The whole of one side of the building's exterior was used for the credits for the BBC's children's television show Incredible Games, starring David Walliams, in the early 1990s.

[37] It was later featured on the cover for the Meanwhile EP produced by the band Gorillaz, after previously appearing in the music videos of both "Tomorrow Comes Today" and "Sleeping Powder".