Interresting, they have even bothered to completely remove the cement screed of the floors. You are walking on the bare structural concrete. Removing the finishing screed with a jackhammer is very back bracking work and very dusty! It seems like they also completely strip the flats, even the interiour partition walls are removed, this reveals a lot of the concete structure, it looks like the building could have been built with tunnel moulds (cast 2 walls and a floor with a sigle mould). Also it looks like they have made openings for installation shafts, as I can see the typical drill patterns around the edges of the floor openings.
I would think they would leave the screed as a smooth and ready bed for future finishes (terrazzo, tile, wood, etc.)? It is cool to see the core structure, and how the up-down-level 3-floors-per-access-hall scheme looks in "cutaway". Obviously the units on the hall level are the small ones, as the ones above and below gain that extra 4 feet in their East-side rooms. Not sure about the tunnel molds, but certainly everything is cast-in-place (CIP), no precast elements in sight. The floor slab depth is impressive, probably 200mm... (nothing like gov't money to let architects go extreme) @8:03 we get a shaky, manic look down, and up, a ventilation shaft, which would serve the kitchens (and baths?) of 60, err, make that 56 apartments each... (forgot about the maisonettes on FL 15->14 and 1->2...)
RE: Screed... turns out the original builders buried both the cast iron water pipes *and* the metal electrical conduits *inside* the screed!... chemicals naturally in the concrete attacked and corroded both... it got so bad that water would find its way into the conduit (with the live energized wires), and the water would *leak out of peoples' light fixtures* !! ua-cam.com/video/c2hVJ0_SxtI/v-deo.html Aside from the ominous, dramatic music, a fairly informative video...
Big Beno... need you and "the lads" to video in the basement level of the main building, the so-called "pram storage" and utility spaces... Poplar HARCA must've renovated all that rusted out plumbing by now. Also love to see what they've done with the "waffle slab" roofs of the underground car parks, which have to support the weight of the grassy play areas above. Friggin' Tower Hamlets borough of Greater London Council was totally off the chain back in the post-war 1960s--they gave crazy ol' Erno Goldfinger a blank check and turned him loose! You are correct that everything coming in the near future is going to be lame and timid compared to Balfron, Trellick, Thamesmead, Alton, etc... pity.
No doubt, but there will still only be 2 lifts, which past residents say means long waits. Erno learned his lesson, and that's why Trellick has 3 lifts.
I did wonder if you would do this!! After out little explore there and my climb back in december! Nice one mate!!! Haha the first bit of the video is from our trip!! I am down in march if u fancy a return for the roof top ben!!
I used to live in Balfron, the secret stairway was a fire exit which led from the second bedroom. The single bedroom flats didn't have one as they were at floor level.
Hey David, thanks for that. It also appears there was some kind of smoke-clearing ventilation duct arrangement where the staircase emptied into the "floor" level hallway. Which of the 6 "stacks" did you live in, i.e. how close or far from the lifts tower?
Also, were there actually STAIRS in that NARROW channel, or just a LADDER? Certainly only the slender folks were going to be using the "secret" escape route!
@@MajorCaliber 140 was roughly in the middle of the landing; you came in and went down to your flat. 139, to my left on entry, you went up to your flat. 138 was a single bedroom flat on the landing level.
@@davidpurcell9206 140 must've put you on a very high floor--GREAT VIEWS. But I'm still puzzled as to whether the "secret" fire corridors had actual stairs (doesn't seem there'd be enough space), or just ladders? Thanks in advance. Perhaps I can fly 'cross the pond later this summer and pretend to be a buyer... get a tour.
The security guards office is on the lift shaft on the 12th floor. And yes, the secret stairs are fire escapes for the flats below the main access corridors (if there was a fire, the smoke would rise and block the main exit). Brilliant video, well done.
A shame? You'd have to pay me to live in a shite hole high rise like that! If they can make money flogging flats to the rich and stupid, then good on them.
@@jentheblue2334 It's going to be totally posh when they're done, with private security to kneecap any hooligan who even thinks about graffiti or other anti-social activities. ;')
Anyone know why the lift cars are so *narrow* ?? They had to put the button-panel on the SIDE wall, because there was no room in the usual place next to--and in the same plane as--the door... WTF?
only 2 lifts for 26 floors, and 140+ apts... won't the posh yuppies who forced out the council townies be wearing sad faces while milling about the lobby, waiting *forevah* on the lift to come down... lulz
It must cost ten trillion pounds to convert this lump of shit building into anything reasonably livable... how on earth are they going to make this atrocity into a nice modern building?
@@lobstertexas As the hit song from Maren Morris says "When the Bones are good, the rest don't matter..." this tower block has GREAT "bones" (not to mention GREAT Fire Safety)... the rest is just plaster and tile and wood veneer, all coordinated by a fey interior designer. Think about it: all the NOISY stuff is in a separate tower--THAT is luxury! It will sell out. The only 2 socio-economic questions are: 1)How many buyers are FOREIGN?... and 2) How many buyers will actually live there 6 or more months out of the year, vs just hold it as an investment?
While security is coming up wait until the lift is between two floors, open the shaft doors and break safety, then put a small piece of wood so the door won't close. Thats one way of dealing with security XD
"put a small piece of wood so the door won't close" That is very dangerous to leave an unlocked shaft door. If you don't want the lift to move then put it on inspection.
Pretty under development this building... Might be get this building gone demolished or not??? Last minute... You see that security guard to caught you, is going be caught you busted it is!
@6:40 the lift buttons show ..15, 18, 21, 22, 24 .. what on earth kind of configuration is going on here? :p Edit: nm, the bridges bit explains it at @8:44 - but good god, that just makes my brain hurt, why on earth did they design it that way? This has to be the weirdest floor configuration of all your videos, no?
The elevator only stops at 3-6-9-12-15-18-21-24, because those are the only floors with "sky bridges" over to where the actual living spaces are. So a person with a flat on floor 7 would get off at 6, and inside their front door would be a private stairway up to 7. Likewise a person on 11 would get off at 12, and their front door would open to a stairway that descends one floor into their flat. Floors 10 and 22 were added because that's where the laundry rooms were, there in the service tower. Workmen, plumbers, lift technicians, etc. would have to use the service tower stairs to get to floors in between lift openings.
To further confuse things, the storeys in the lift/service tower are 1.5 times higher than the storeys in the occupied tower, i.e. there's only 2 floors in the lifts tower for every 3 floors of apartments. (Notice how much higher the ceilings are in the laundry room, vs. over in the flats.) That's why in the lifts tower, there's only 1 floor between 6 and 9, and it's neither 7 nor 8, but "7A"... those crazy Hungarian architects, they slay me. But, duh bastard made sure it had great foundations and solid construction. Too bad better decisions weren't made about how to run the water and electric.
@@MajorCaliber That is seriously the strangest thing I've ever seen. I mean... I suppose it's a bit clever as far as a time-saving measure, but because the lifts are so tiny to begin with, it seems like there'd still be a lot of waiting. Very interesting, though!
@@lobstertexas This every-3rd-floor scheme was supposedly invented by Le Corbusier, and was used in MANY housing blocks in the UK and France, incl. Robin Hood Gardens, Park Hill in Sheffield, and of course Balfron's big brother, Trellick Tower. Many reports from Balfron residents indicate that during "rush hours" the stairs ended up getting a lot of use, lol. But yeah, besides the time savings of 2/3 fewer stops, there's the cost-savings of 2/3 fewer automated door openings. Remember, this was public housing, so there had to be several such cost saving measures, one of the biggest being the use of _beton brut_ or "raw concrete" as the exterior finish--i.e. ZERO paint/painting... just pressure-wash the mildew away every 6 years, and carry on.
@@benolifts You are correct, it was referred to as 'Tower Hamlets' in many official documents from Poplar HARCA, and GLC and LCC before that. Apparently tall buildings, coupled with oxymoronic titles such as 'Tower Hamlet', put wimminz in the mood for a shag, eh wot!? ;')
This is one of the coolest videos you have done so far, please try explore abandoned buildings (where you can try switch on the lifts if they have already been switched off) or buildings with buildings with abandoned floors and spooky basements.
I *must* know more about the FIRE ESCAPE provisions of Balfron Tower (aka "secret staircases"), esp. in the wake of GRENFELL TOWER atrocity! I know that in the southern-most "stack" of units (farthest from the lifts tower), the only ones with the south-facing balconies, the floor-above and floor-below units have their own bedroom closet fire exits into that South Stairwell (you can see those doors in a different Beno vid...)
@@bobbycosford9859 Yeah I noticed that di-pole. I thought Rush and Kool broadcast from the old Nightingale blocks. I remember being at a festival there when the blocks were empty before demolition and there were a couple of aerials pointing out of the top windows on scaffolding. Sure Rush finished by mid - late 90s before the blocks came down.
Kind of reminds one of a rocket, attached by its many umbilical cords to a support tower... lulz. Call it weird, call it "distinctive", that stuff sells. (Esp. when you're the ONLY highrise in the area, no blocked views...) Bit of a traffic noise issue, and there's some London City Airport noise, but hey, life in the big city!
Love that 70s thermostat!
LOVE that 60s videophone!
Interresting, they have even bothered to completely remove the cement screed of the floors. You are walking on the bare structural concrete. Removing the finishing screed with a jackhammer is very back bracking work and very dusty! It seems like they also completely strip the flats, even the interiour partition walls are removed, this reveals a lot of the concete structure, it looks like the building could have been built with tunnel moulds (cast 2 walls and a floor with a sigle mould). Also it looks like they have made openings for installation shafts, as I can see the typical drill patterns around the edges of the floor openings.
I would think they would leave the screed as a smooth and ready bed for future finishes (terrazzo, tile, wood, etc.)? It is cool to see the core structure, and how the up-down-level 3-floors-per-access-hall scheme looks in "cutaway". Obviously the units on the hall level are the small ones, as the ones above and below gain that extra 4 feet in their East-side rooms.
Not sure about the tunnel molds, but certainly everything is cast-in-place (CIP), no precast elements in sight. The floor slab depth is impressive, probably 200mm... (nothing like gov't money to let architects go extreme) @8:03 we get a shaky, manic look down, and up, a ventilation shaft, which would serve the kitchens (and baths?) of 60, err, make that 56 apartments each... (forgot about the maisonettes on FL 15->14 and 1->2...)
RE: Screed... turns out the original builders buried both the cast iron water pipes *and* the metal electrical conduits *inside* the screed!... chemicals naturally in the concrete attacked and corroded both... it got so bad that water would find its way into the conduit (with the live energized wires), and the water would *leak out of peoples' light fixtures* !!
ua-cam.com/video/c2hVJ0_SxtI/v-deo.html
Aside from the ominous, dramatic music, a fairly informative video...
Super-close to getting caught there!
Big Beno... need you and "the lads" to video in the basement level of the main building, the so-called "pram storage" and utility spaces... Poplar HARCA must've renovated all that rusted out plumbing by now. Also love to see what they've done with the "waffle slab" roofs of the underground car parks, which have to support the weight of the grassy play areas above.
Friggin' Tower Hamlets borough of Greater London Council was totally off the chain back in the post-war 1960s--they gave crazy ol' Erno Goldfinger a blank check and turned him loose! You are correct that everything coming in the near future is going to be lame and timid compared to Balfron, Trellick, Thamesmead, Alton, etc... pity.
So if the flats are being refurbished, I'm assuming that the lifts will therefore be either replaced or modernised as well.
No doubt, but there will still only be 2 lifts, which past residents say means long waits. Erno learned his lesson, and that's why Trellick has 3 lifts.
I did wonder if you would do this!! After out little explore there and my climb back in december! Nice one mate!!! Haha the first bit of the video is from our trip!! I am down in march if u fancy a return for the roof top ben!!
I used to live in Balfron, the secret stairway was a fire exit which led from the second bedroom. The single bedroom flats didn't have one as they were at floor level.
Hey David, thanks for that. It also appears there was some kind of smoke-clearing ventilation duct arrangement where the staircase emptied into the "floor" level hallway. Which of the 6 "stacks" did you live in, i.e. how close or far from the lifts tower?
Also, were there actually STAIRS in that NARROW channel, or just a LADDER? Certainly only the slender folks were going to be using the "secret" escape route!
@@MajorCaliber 140 was roughly in the middle of the landing; you came in and went down to your flat. 139, to my left on entry, you went up to your flat. 138 was a single bedroom flat on the landing level.
@@davidpurcell9206 140 must've put you on a very high floor--GREAT VIEWS. But I'm still puzzled as to whether the "secret" fire corridors had actual stairs (doesn't seem there'd be enough space), or just ladders? Thanks in advance. Perhaps I can fly 'cross the pond later this summer and pretend to be a buyer... get a tour.
very informative urbex.
The title should be Ernő Goldfinger's Brownfield estate URBEX (part 5)
The security guards office is on the lift shaft on the 12th floor. And yes, the secret stairs are fire escapes for the flats below the main access corridors (if there was a fire, the smoke would rise and block the main exit). Brilliant video, well done.
How'd you know its 12th floor?
Any idea what the 3 "snaggletooth" external stairways are for on nearby Carradale House?
@@MajorCaliber The ones opposite of the lift shaft? They go to the lower flats from the access corridors.
Balfron has been made much harder to get up on to since 92.3 and 99.1 FM stopped using it.
Long Live Pirate Radio!
1:57 Someone left the security door open
Is this building being demolished or is it having a completely renovated?
wclifton968 it is being refurbished and the flats will be sold privately to rich people instead of social housing
well what a shame.
A shame? You'd have to pay me to live in a shite hole high rise like that! If they can make money flogging flats to the rich and stupid, then good on them.
@@jentheblue2334 fucking amazing views from the balconys though
@@jentheblue2334 It's going to be totally posh when they're done, with private security to kneecap any hooligan who even thinks about graffiti or other anti-social activities. ;')
Anyone know why the lift cars are so *narrow* ?? They had to put the button-panel on the SIDE wall, because there was no room in the usual place next to--and in the same plane as--the door... WTF?
This shape of lift is normal for these buildings. It is to fit furniture in the lift, such as a door for a flat.
@@benolifts Makes sense, or a sofa, etc... or a hospital stretcher! =:O
Will they modernize the lifts to crap generics?
Probably
When this building is completed re explore pls wonder how many blocked up floors ther will be on next visit
first i forgot to comment. i got notified
1:58 There's another security door!!
Where do you get them asbestos suites from
lol nice one
only 2 lifts for 26 floors, and 140+ apts... won't the posh yuppies who forced out the council townies be wearing sad faces while milling about the lobby, waiting *forevah* on the lift to come down... lulz
To be fair, this scheme where the lifts stop at only every 3rd floor helps quite a bit with the congestion issue...
And won't they shyt their drawers when Beno drops into the "car" through the ceiling hatch! :D
It must cost ten trillion pounds to convert this lump of shit building into anything reasonably livable... how on earth are they going to make this atrocity into a nice modern building?
@@lobstertexas As the hit song from Maren Morris says "When the Bones are good, the rest don't matter..." this tower block has GREAT "bones" (not to mention GREAT Fire Safety)... the rest is just plaster and tile and wood veneer, all coordinated by a fey interior designer. Think about it: all the NOISY stuff is in a separate tower--THAT is luxury! It will sell out. The only 2 socio-economic questions are: 1)How many buyers are FOREIGN?... and 2) How many buyers will actually live there 6 or more months out of the year, vs just hold it as an investment?
While security is coming up wait until the lift is between two floors, open the shaft doors and break safety, then put a small piece of wood so the door won't close. Thats one way of dealing with security XD
"put a small piece of wood so the door won't close" That is very dangerous to leave an unlocked shaft door. If you don't want the lift to move then put it on inspection.
@@benolifts Yes, ETHICAL hacking, always. No burnt bridges. ;')
I should called Tower Hamlets Tower place
Staircase, staircase, staircase...
Nice
Heart
Pretty under development this building... Might be get this building gone demolished or not??? Last minute... You see that security guard to caught you, is going be caught you busted it is!
7th............
@6:40 the lift buttons show ..15, 18, 21, 22, 24 .. what on earth kind of configuration is going on here? :p Edit: nm, the bridges bit explains it at @8:44 - but good god, that just makes my brain hurt, why on earth did they design it that way? This has to be the weirdest floor configuration of all your videos, no?
The elevator only stops at 3-6-9-12-15-18-21-24, because those are the only floors with "sky bridges" over to where the actual living spaces are. So a person with a flat on floor 7 would get off at 6, and inside their front door would be a private stairway up to 7. Likewise a person on 11 would get off at 12, and their front door would open to a stairway that descends one floor into their flat.
Floors 10 and 22 were added because that's where the laundry rooms were, there in the service tower. Workmen, plumbers, lift technicians, etc. would have to use the service tower stairs to get to floors in between lift openings.
To further confuse things, the storeys in the lift/service tower are 1.5 times higher than the storeys in the occupied tower, i.e. there's only 2 floors in the lifts tower for every 3 floors of apartments. (Notice how much higher the ceilings are in the laundry room, vs. over in the flats.)
That's why in the lifts tower, there's only 1 floor between 6 and 9, and it's neither 7 nor 8, but "7A"... those crazy Hungarian architects, they slay me. But, duh bastard made sure it had great foundations and solid construction. Too bad better decisions weren't made about how to run the water and electric.
@@MajorCaliber That is seriously the strangest thing I've ever seen. I mean... I suppose it's a bit clever as far as a time-saving measure, but because the lifts are so tiny to begin with, it seems like there'd still be a lot of waiting. Very interesting, though!
@@lobstertexas This every-3rd-floor scheme was supposedly invented by Le Corbusier, and was used in MANY housing blocks in the UK and France, incl. Robin Hood Gardens, Park Hill in Sheffield, and of course Balfron's big brother, Trellick Tower.
Many reports from Balfron residents indicate that during "rush hours" the stairs ended up getting a lot of use, lol. But yeah, besides the time savings of 2/3 fewer stops, there's the cost-savings of 2/3 fewer automated door openings. Remember, this was public housing, so there had to be several such cost saving measures, one of the biggest being the use of _beton brut_ or "raw concrete" as the exterior finish--i.e. ZERO paint/painting... just pressure-wash the mildew away every 6 years, and carry on.
1:57 There's another security door!
'Tower Hamlets... Full of Towers' - comedy gold
For a long time I actually thought it was called Tower Hamlets as it was the area tower blocks were built.
@@benolifts You are correct, it was referred to as 'Tower Hamlets' in many official documents from Poplar HARCA, and GLC and LCC before that. Apparently tall buildings, coupled with oxymoronic titles such as 'Tower Hamlet', put wimminz in the mood for a shag, eh wot!? ;')
the lifts have now been replaced with arm mbed lifts (like the one from your wierd cheap lifts video)
Love the comments in here from those interested in architecture and history :)
This is one of the coolest videos you have done so far, please try explore abandoned buildings (where you can try switch on the lifts if they have already been switched off) or buildings with buildings with abandoned floors and spooky basements.
I *must* know more about the FIRE ESCAPE provisions of Balfron Tower (aka "secret staircases"), esp. in the wake of GRENFELL TOWER atrocity! I know that in the southern-most "stack" of units (farthest from the lifts tower), the only ones with the south-facing balconies, the floor-above and floor-below units have their own bedroom closet fire exits into that South Stairwell (you can see those doors in a different Beno vid...)
Kool and rush fm used to transmit from balfron
Are these pirate radio stations?
Beno Lifts yes I’m sure you must have been on other rooftops that other pirates use
@4.24 still looks to be a dipole up there.
Bobby Cosford Jesus you have to be so quick to see that
@@bobbycosford9859 Yeah I noticed that di-pole. I thought Rush and Kool broadcast from the old Nightingale blocks. I remember being at a festival there when the blocks were empty before demolition and there were a couple of aerials pointing out of the top windows on scaffolding. Sure Rush finished by mid - late 90s before the blocks came down.
1:57 Carrying up to find... another security door!
It's amazing to see a video showing all of the areas which you couldn't get to when this tower was still grotty flats.
Hi i think u have seen some of my channel
Balfron tower looks weird
Kind of reminds one of a rocket, attached by its many umbilical cords to a support tower... lulz. Call it weird, call it "distinctive", that stuff sells. (Esp. when you're the ONLY highrise in the area, no blocked views...) Bit of a traffic noise issue, and there's some London City Airport noise, but hey, life in the big city!
Think of all the tasty British Lads you can buff in the stairwell !