In the late 1960s, Addiscombe Road was widened at the expense of its southern side to accommodate a traffic roundabout.  The NLA Tower was built on the roundabout in 1968-9.  NLA stands for Noble Lowndes Annuities, a pension company that later became part of TSB.

The NLA Tower was designed by Richard Seifert who also designed Centrepoint & Tower 42 in Central London and Corinthian House in Lansdowne Road, Croydon. Details of its construction can be found in The Arup Journal, December 1969 (from which the photographs are taken).

23 storeys high, each floor is basically a square with the corners trimmed off. The octagonal shape is created by canted bays projecting in alternating positions around the tower.  The outside walls are covered with shiny white micro-mosaic, with rough aggregate at their base, curving round into the underground car park. It was refurbished in 2008 and renamed One Croydon.

An iconic building, it has been declined for listing, hence the addition of the new supermarket at its base. Until the 21st century, it was the tallest building in Croydon.

Sources

• Henry, T. and Ryalls, P. 1969. The island site, Addiscombe Road, Croydon, Surrey. The Arup Journal 4: 2 – 11.
• Navickas, K. 2020 A walking tour of space age design featuring the architecture of Richard Seifert, Atelier 5 and Ronald Ward. London: Open City.
• Wandle Park Heritage Project. 2015. Modernist Croydon Architecture Walk. Croydon.