Strata SE1 is a , 43-storey, multi-award-winning, building at Elephant & Castle in the London Borough of Southwark with more than 1,000 residents living in its 408 flats.
At the time of its construction, the building, designed by BFLS (formerly Hamiltons), was the tallest residential building in London and the first building in the world with its three wind turbines integral to its structure (as opposed to having them tacked on, in a retrofit).
In March 2014, an Ipsos MORI poll for New London Architecture of 500 members of the public aged 16–64 declared Strata SE1 Londoners' fifth favourite tall building, behind 30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin), The Shard, The Leadenhall Building (The Cheesegrater) and One Canada Square (Canary Wharf).
The building
At the time of construction there was an attempt by journalists to nickname the building "The Razor", and "The Electric Razor". Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London, called it "The Lipstick", while describing it as a building "with a bit of oomph about it". None of these nicknames seriously caught on with local residents, however.
Twenty-five per cent of the building's flats were sold by Family Mosaic Housing Association (later incorporated into the Peabody Trust, which is now the landlord for the flats still under the shared-ownership regime) for shared-ownership sale. These consist of the "Esprit Apartments" — located on floors 2–10 of the tower — and a further nine flats in the adjacent "Pavilion", a three-storey structure located to the west of the tower and earmarked for former residents of the nearby Heygate Estate.
Each floor of the affordable area comprises 10 flats (equally divided between one and two-bedroom flats), while each floor above the 10th floor contains 11 flats in a mixture of studios, one-bedroom flats, two-bedroom flats, and three-bedroom flats to a total of 310 units.
Only the open-market flats have access to car-parking (in the basement of the building). The 39th floor features a "Sky Lobby" (a small corridor with a view over central London), while the living area is topped by a £2.5m three-bedroom duplex penthouse. The ground floor comprises two commercial units. A third one is located in the Pavilion, along with a "kiosk".
A prominent feature at the top of the building is three wind turbines, although they have rarely been used, in part due to resident complaints over noise and vibration. The one-level basement of the building contains a secure car park and 437 bicycle storage places.
The building is served by four lifts in total. Two go from the basement to the 39th floor, one from the basement to the 10th floor (the 'poor lift'), and the last one serves floors 40 and 41.
Construction
Although planning permission had been granted in 2003 for a different project, the current tower was first proposed in 2005, with Southwark Council granting planning permission for the building in March 2006. In its response to the statutory consultation (para. 45), the council's Elephant and Castle Development Team indicated that “the incorporation of the wind turbines to create a dramatic and highly recognisable building form that achieves one of the Council’s plan objectives which is to create landmark buildings as signifiers of the Elephant and Castle on the London skyline. The turbines are of course not merely decorative but have a function which is directly related to the Elephant’s status as an energy action area and to the achievement of the zero carbon growth which is a key objective of the framework.”
Construction began in 2007 and was completed in June 2010. The cost is estimated at £113.5 million.
The building was 'topped out' in June 2009. Attending the topping-out ceremony were over 70 senior members of London's business community including Sir Simon Milton, Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning, Cllr Nick Stanton, Leader of Southwark Council and MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey, Simon Hughes.
The turbines were installed in May 2010, but were only operational sporadically in the first few months after the opening of the building. They have now been mothballed.
Sustainability claims
The planning conditions allowing the construction of the building required the inclusion of a source of sustainable energy. Rambøll, the engineering consultancy involved with the Bahrain World Trade Center, which also features wind turbines, was involved in the project.