Iconic Trellick Tower ‘Dezz Rezz’ Opens for Buzzziness

A replica of the iconic Trellick Tower block that is designed to provide a home for endangered solitary bees will be unveiled next to its much larger design classic as part of the launch of this year's CSV Action Earth campaign supported by Morrisons. 

UK volunteering charity CSV has invited Mark Harrison, Morrisons Store Operations Director, to declare the ‘dezz rezz’ officially open, ready for prospective tenants to choose their ‘flats’ on Monday 8th March. Each ‘apartment’ offers long narrow dark corridors to suit the endangered pollinators’ demands for privacy, and is south facing to provide maximum direct sunlight for the bees and their young.

The Trellick Tower has been created by sculptor, Martha Macdonald, along with volunteers at the urban biodiversity centre Roots and Shoots based in Lambeth.  It stands 1.6 metres tall compared to its 98 metre bigger brother, but comprises 31 storeys of buzzing space.  Mason, Wool Carder and Carpenter bees, among other endangered species of bees, are all expected to swarm to the tower to make it a ‘hive of activity’.  The plight of colony bees such as the honey bee and bumble bee has been widely reported, however it is a lesser known fact that solitary bees are also in decline.  Bees are crucial to the ecosystem; without them to spread seeds many plants would die out. Nearly a third (30%) of human food supplies rely on bees for pollination and the extinction of bees would result in severe food shortages and devastate economies worldwide.  

Gardeners’ World’s Alys Fowler who is supporting CSV Action Earth says:

“Bees are an important part of every garden, but sadly they are dying out.  We have all heard the plight of the honey bees but Solitary bees, which make up 90% of the bee population, are struggling as gardens become increasingly bee unfriendly and nesting spots are destroyed. So, there’s no time to waste! Whether you chose to build your own Solitary bee home, register your own project, or join another, do your bit and even grab a £50 grant to help with buying supplies, tools and seeds.” 

Trellick Tower was the final high rise development designed by leading architect Ernő Goldfinger. Constructed between 1966 and 1972, it is a dominating feature of the West London landscape.  It is grade II listed, and the giant concrete edifice has featured in TV series such as Grange Hill spin-off Tucker’s Luck and music videos for Blur, Hard-Fi and Depeche Mode.  A two bedroom flat in the Brutalist style, former council owned block can currently sell for over £420,000.

Mark Harrison, Morrisons Store Operations Director,  will be cutting a mini ribbon on the tower block with a large pair of scissors. Mark says: 

“I’m delighted to be opening the new Solitary Bee Trellick Tower.  We hope that it houses many residents and helps protect some of the different varieties of endangered bee.  Morrisons is proud to support CSV Action Earth and the thousands of volunteers who act to make an impact on the environment. Over the years, we’ve seen that when people contribute to change together it can deliver real benefits to the communities we share.”

The erection of the Solitary Bee Trellick Tower marks the start of a five-month campaign called CSV Action Earth supported by Morrisons supermarkets. The campaign is organised by CSV, the UK’s leading volunteering and training charity. Each year hundreds of voluntary organisations, businesses and community groups undertake projects that are of immediate and lasting benefit to the environment. 

Project Manager for CSV Action Earth, Naseem Akhtar, said: “The interrelationship between bees and humans is very marked. The construction of a block of apartments for solitary bees reflects their preference for individual living and has parallels for how many humans choose to live within towns and cities. We want to show how it’s possible for everyone to encourage greater biodiversity by creating habitats suitable for many creatures, including bees."

The campaign will be showing how simple habitats for solitary bees can be created by anyone by drilling holes in pieces of untreated wood that are ideal for this type of bee.

The United Nations has declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. As part of the year long celebration CSV Action Earth is committed to raising the awareness of the importance of protecting our natural resources and supporting biodiversity. By joining the CSV Action Earth campaign volunteers can make a real difference.

If you would like to register your own project or if you’d like to join another, call the CSV Action Earth hotline: 0121 328 7455. Further information is available at www.csv.org.uk/actionearth

For further press information: 

CSV Press Office: Melissa Goss 020 7812 0037 / mgoss@csv.org.uk / 07725 808 052 or Jason Tanner 020 7812 0038 / jtanner@csv.org.uk

Notes for Editors

1. CSV (Community Service Volunteers) creates opportunities for people to take an active part in the life of their communities through volunteering, training and community action. Last year 167,064 people gave their time as volunteers through CSV. The charity trained 12,196 people of all ages. CSV Action Earth is organised by CSV Environment, St Peter’s College, College Rd, Saltley, Birmingham, B8 3TE.  0121 328 7455.

2. Action Earth in England, Scotland & Wales is supported by Morrisons Supermarkets.

About Morrisons: Freshness, Service and Value. We are the UK’s fourth largest food retailer with 425 stores.  Our business is mainly food and grocery – the weekly shop. Uniquely we source and process most of the fresh food that we sell though our own manufacturing facilities, giving us close control over provenance and quality; and we have more people preparing more food in store than any other retailer.

Every week over ten million customers pass through our doors and 130,000 colleagues across the business work hard each day to deliver great service to them. With competitive prices and hundreds of special offers, we are proud to save our customers money every day.

3.   The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. It is a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives. The world is invited to take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth. CSV Action Earth joined the IYB-UK partnership and is committed to raising awareness of the importance of protecting our natural resources. To find out more visit:   http://www.biodiversityislife.net/?q=home 

4. For a list of current projects UK wide visit our website: www.csv.org.uk/actionearth

Image source - Wikipedia