St George's House, Croydon
St George's House, Croydon
Nestlé Tower is located in Greater London
Nestlé Tower
Location of St George's House within Greater London
Alternative namesNestlé Tower
General information
Town or cityCroydon, London
CountryUnited Kingdom
Completed1964
ClientNestlé S.A. (to 2012)
OwnerMinerva
Technical details
Floor count24
Design and construction
Architecture firmRonald Ward and Partners

St George's House (also known as the Nestlé Tower or Nestlé Block) is a 79-metre (259 ft) office tower located in Croydon, United Kingdom. It was occupied by the Swiss multinational food and consumer goods company Nestlé as the headquarters of Nestlé UK & Ireland until September 2012.[1]

Location

The tower is located on Park Lane above the Croydon Underpass and close to the Croydon Council offices in Bernard Weatherill House, Croydon College, and the theatre and performance space of the Fairfield Halls and Ashcroft Theatre.

History

The tower was designed by architects Ronald Ward and Partners, who also designed Millbank Tower, and it was completed in 1964.[2]

The eastern entrance to St George's Walk shopping arcade is located at the base of the tower and the ground floor also housed the Greyhound, which, as well as fulfilling the functions of a town centre public house, became well known as a music venue. Later known as the Blue Orchid nightclub, the venue closed in 2004.[3]

The building's Nestlé branding

In January 2012, Nestlé announced that it intended to move the headquarters of Nestlé UK & Ireland to City Place Gatwick, with all 840 employees based at St George's House moved to Gatwick by the end of 2012.[4][5]

The Croydon council agreed in February 2013 to switch the use of the building from offices to housing.[6] Architect firm EPR Architects was hired to redesign the building.[7] However, in September 2015, no work was done to advance on the housing project, leading London property developer Minerva to buy the tower for £10 million to incorporate in a wider neighbourhood housing project.[8]

In November 2018, work began to convert the tower into three high-rise apartment blocks as well as to demolish part of St George's Walk, to create a new public square (Queen's Square) adjacent to the old Town Hall.[9]

St George's House has various transport links nearby. George Street tram stop is the closest Tramlink station to the offices. From here there are services to Wimbledon station with connections to the London Underground, or to Beckenham Junction station and Elmers End station with train connections to Sutton and slow trains to Central London as well as London Overground services. There are also tram services from East Croydon to New Addington, Elmers End and Beckenham. There is also a bus station at West Croydon with buses on the northbound corridor and the rest of the borough. East Croydon station, the main railway station in the borough, is also close by. The station provides mainline services from Southern and Thameslink. These train operating companies provide services to Brighton and the South Coast, Bedford, Luton, Luton Airport, Gatwick Airport and fast services to Victoria and London Bridge.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Location of Nestlé offices in the UK and EIRE". Nestlé. 2008. Archived from the original on 21 February 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2008.
  2. ↑ "St George's House, London - 125146 - EMPORIS". www.emporis.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  3. ↑ Mokbel, Sami (15 December 2004). "Blue Orchid nightclub shuts its doors for the final time". croydonguardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  4. ↑ "Nestlé moves to Gatwick Archived 23 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Nestlé. 5 January 2012. Retrieved on 4 March 2012.
  5. ↑ "Nestlé to move headquarters from Croydon to Gatwick". BBC News. 5 January 2012. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
  6. ↑ Tom Lickley (4 March 2013). "Nestlé building to become housing: a sweet deal for Croydon?". Thecroyoncitizen.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  7. ↑ "Former Nestle HQ Set For Radical Makeover". Skyscrapernews.com. 9 June 2015. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  8. ↑ "Minerva set to buy Nestle Tower". Developcroydon.com. 1 September 2015. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  9. ↑ O'Connor, Tara (6 November 2018). "St George's Walk businesses fear for future as demolition begins for £500million redevelopment". The Croydon Advertiser. Local World. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  • Guardian article on Millbank Tower and St George's House architects Ronald Ward and Partners.
  • Approval of planning permission by Croydon Council.
  • Redevelopment proposal by Legal & General.

51°22′23″N 0°05′50″W / 51.3731°N 0.0971°W / 51.3731; -0.0971

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