Croydon Vocational Tower

Croydon Vocational Tower (or the Croydon College Vocational Tower) is a proposed mixed-use skyscraper to be built in Croydon. The high-rise building which will be built on the former low rise Fairfield Building which was built in the 1950s as part of Croydon College. Planning permission was approved by Croydon Council in February 2007, but building work has since been slow to come forward. It will be used for both educational purposes on the lower 10 floors by the college and private use as a residential tower on the rest of the 29 floors. There will also be a floor of leisure use which will be used by students of the college and residents of the tower.

If the building is built before the proposed Croydon Gateway Landmark Tower it will officially become Croydon's tallest tower and one of London's tallest 20 skyscrapers. This will take over the reign from No.1 Croydon which as of Spring 2008 is Croydon's tallest tower and Britain's 88th tallest skyscraper.^[1]

The development is intended to regenerate a brownfield site just one minute's walk from East Croydon station. The building, once finished, will have 29 floors of apartments, and a structural height of 134 m (439 ft). The tower measures 119.8m in height to the top of the lift motor room, with an architectural spire protruding above this to a height of 133.8m.^[2] The architecture and design of the building has comparisons with the Trump International Hotel and Tower currently under construction in Chicago.

In November 2013 a revised scheme was announced by the college and the developers.^[3] As of August 2015, however, construction had not yet begun.

In recent years, the development of tall buildings has been encouraged in the London Plan, which will lead to the erection of new skyscrapers over the next few years as London goes through a high-rise boom.^[4] Unlike other building projects currently being built in the town, including 100 George Street, the Vocational Tower is not part of the Croydon Vision 2020 regeneration plan of the borough.

The tower is close to Croydon town centre and has various transport links nearby. East Croydon station, the main railway station in the borough, is the closest transport interchange. The station provides mainline services from Southern, Southeastern, First Capital Connect and CrossCountry, formerly Virgin Trains. These train operating companies provide services to the South Coast, Bedford, Manchester, Luton and Luton Airport, Gatwick Airport, and fast services to London Victoria and London Bridge. There are also tram services from East Croydon eastbound to New Addington, Elmers End and Beckenham. It is also the closest Tramlink stop for westbound services. From here there are trams to Wimbledon station on route 3 for connections to the London Underground, and on route 1 and 2 services terminate at West Croydon station for trains to Sutton and stopping trains to Central London as well as London Overground services from 2010. There is also a bus station at West Croydon with buses on the northbound corridor and the rest of the borough.

See also

• Croydon Gateway
• No.1 Croydon

References

External links

• Croydon College
• Nightingale Architects
• Plans from the Croydon Guardian
• Skyscraper News - Croydon College Vocational Tower