It's arguably Croydon's most famous landmark, and soon you can live in it.
The One Croydon tower has made a distinctive mark on the local skyline for half a century. It was designed in the 1960s by the firm of Richard Seifert, also noted for Centre Point and Tower 42. Its unique polygonal shape has earned it the nickname 'the Thrupenny Bit' or the '50p Building'.
The 24-storey tower has always been used for office space. (And you may have clocked it as the HQ of Tuckersoft in the Black Mirror special Bandersnatch.) Now, the structure will be converted into 250 apartments, with up to 12 per floor.
Plans to turn the tower residential were first mooted a year ago, but news has been slim since then. Now, we hear that Irish firm BHA Construction has acquired the site, and they're bullish about getting started on the £85m scheme. The work is almost entirely internal and will not affect the elevations of the building.
While there has been some support for the scheme, which will breathe new life into a much-loved building, several concerns have also been raised. Inside Croydon ran a detailed piece in August 2024, highlighting a few of the issues, including the tower's very high density, Croydon's history of poor conversions and the site's residentially unappetising location on a busy roundabout.
As a 'change of use' rather than a new build, the conversion comes under 'permitted development' rules, and therefore requires less planning scrutiny than most developments. This change was already approved by Croydon Council in November 2024.
Despite the building's striking profile, it has twice been turned down for listed status by Historic England. The heritage snub is the developer's gain, as the lack of formal protection will reduce the number of administrative hoops the project will need to jump through.
