Strata SE1

Strata SE1is a 147-metre (482 ft), 43-storey, multi-award-winning, building atElephant & Castlein theLondon Borough of Southwarkwith more than 1,000 residents living in its 408 flats.
At the time of its construction, the building, designed by BFLS (formerly Hamiltons), was thetallest residential building in Londonand the first building in the worldwith its three wind turbines integral to its structure (as opposed to having them tacked on, in a retrofit).
In March 2014, anIpsos MORIpoll forNew London Architectureof 500 members of the public aged 16–64 declared Strata SE1 Londoners' fifth favourite tall building, behind30 St Mary Axe(The Gherkin),The Shard, TheLeadenhall Building(The Cheesegrater) andOne Canada Square(Canary Wharf).
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 nearbyHeygate 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 threewind 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.
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 SirSimon 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.
The planning conditions allowing the construction of the building required the inclusion of a source of sustainable energy.Rambøll, the engineering consultancy involved with theBahrain World Trade Center, which also features wind turbines, was involved in the project.
The three 18-metre (59 ft) wind turbines (each blade is 9 metres (30 ft) long) at the top of the building are rated at 19 kW each and were anticipated to produce a combined 50MWh of electricity per year,enough to power 8% of the energy needs of the building, sufficient to supply the building's communal areas.The turbines were criticised as "greenwashing" by the panel of the 2010Carbuncle Cup,and residents were reporting in 2010 that the turbines barely moved.In 2014,The Guardianreported that the turbines had "remained stationary ever since".In 2022, the chair of Southwark's planning committee said that the developers had failed to take into account how much the vibration of the turbines would pass through the building, and that the noise was louder on the higher floors. He said that the turbines had been switched off mainly due to complaints from residents, and described them as a "white elephant".
In 2010, the building exceeded by 13% the then-current UK regulations relating to sustainability, whilst overall carbon emissions were expected to be 15% lower than the Mayor of London's good practice benchmark.The developers expected that the building would achieve 2050 CO2target emissions and that (with the Multi-Utility Services Company in place in the area) it would achieve a predicted 73.5% reduction inCO2emissionswhen measured against the Building Regulations benchmark.
Featured on-site is acombined heat and power systemto provide sustainable power generation, with a provision for thecollection of rainwater for re-use.The energy costs per flat are envisaged to be up to 40% less than Britain's typical housing average.The building is clad in a "bespoke high thermal performing façade" with anair permeabilityleakage rate that is apparently 50% better than current building regulations.
The building can often be seen in incidental panoramic shots in films and TV programmes set in London.
Strata SE1 is located on the site of Castle House, an early 1960s six-storey office building, which was the first commercial premises at the newly rebuiltElephant & Castle. When completed, Castle House was warmly received. TheArchitects' Journalin August 1962 found "little to criticise and much to praise and untilNew Zealand Houseis completed it is possibly one of the best examples for anyone wanting to look at a good office block in London."
During the demolition of Castle House to clear land for Strata, a construction worker, John Walker, 33, father of two was killed when a roof collapsed on him.He was employed by 777 Demolition and Haulage Company Ltd, which was served with a Prohibition Notice by the Health & Safety Executive. An inquest was due to be held at Inner London South Coroner's Court.
In November 2015, both companies were fined several hundred thousand pounds as a result of their negligence.
In August 2010, Strata SE1 was awarded the2010Carbuncle Cup. The yearly award, organized byBuilding Designmagazine, selects one building from a shortlist of 30, nominated by readers.  It recognises "the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months".Inspired by this, the building appeared in 2012 on a list of the world's 21 ugliest buildings drawn up by theDaily Telegraph.
Considerate Constructors Scheme
On 12 November 2010, the building was the overall winner of the2010Concrete SocietyAwards, ahead of schemes fromDavid Chipperfield,Hopkins Architects,Caruso St John,McInnes Usher McKnight Architects(MUMA) andAlsop Architects. The judges commented: "This building is striking architecturally, a considerable feat of construction on this restricted site...". They particularly singled out Strata's "innovative column strategy".
British Constructional Steelwork AssociationStructural Steel Design Awards 2010
City of London Sustainable City Awards 2011
In May 2011, the building was shortlisted for theICELondon Civil Engineering Awards 2011for infrastructure and building projects.The award "celebrates outstanding engineering achievement by companies, organisations, and individuals in the capital".
The Green Apple Awards 2011
RICS Awards 2011
London District Surveyors Association 2011
ACE Engineering Excellence 2011
The Strata Inhabit website (the information site for residents of the building) won "Website of the Year" at theNews on the Block Property Management Awardson 5 December 2011.