Grenfell Tower is slowly coming down

The tower has been covered in protective white shrouds since the autumn of 2017, following the disastrous fire that began shortly before 1am on 14 June 2017 and wasn’t brought under control until seven hours later. It took two more days before the fire was fully extinguished. The disaster, mainly caused by the inappropriate use of flammable cladding, took 72 lives and left a further 70 injured. 223 residents escaped or were rescued, the last had to wait seven hours before being rescued. 106 surviving families were made homeless.

For several years, authorities and the survivors discussed what should happen with the blackened skeleton of the high-rise, while the Grenfell Tower Inquiry looked into what happened and why. A special Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission was set up in 2018. Of the some 20 members of the commission, more than half consist of survivors, bereaved families and immediate neighbours. The rest are representatives from the RBKC, the government, the NHS and a few experts.

The government has set aside an area of just under 3,000m² for the memorial, covering the ground on which the tower block stands, plus adjacent land on either side.

Some members of the Grenfell community have proposed rebuilding the tower, others have supported an idea to retain it as a “vertical garden” with a high level platform and hanging plants on its walls, and many have wanted parts of the tower to remain and be included in the planned memorial.

However, in February 2025, the then deputy prime minister Angela Rayner announced that the tower would be taken down to ground level, as engineers have declared it structurally unsafe. But in its June update, the government announced that parts of the tower may be included as features in the planned memorial.

The demolition is being carried out by Deconstruct UK, which has been working on the site since 2017. In late September, the big green heart displays at the top were lowered to the middle of the tower, before Deconstruct began dismantling the roof and the top floor behind the white shrouds. They will then slowly move downwards, floor by floor, and lower the shroud after each floor has been dismantled and transported away. The process is expected to take two years. While material that may be included in the memorial will be stored by the tower, the rest will be taken to a another site where it will be “respectfully laid to rest”. The idea is to make that site “an appropriate, accessible, sacred place that families will be able to visit, in line with the recommendation made by the independent Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission. We are speaking to faith leaders to advise us on considerations for the preparation of the land, laying the materials to rest and long-term care”, the government’s June announcement said.

As for the memorial itself, five architectural teams had their design ideas shortlisted by the memorial commission in January this year, out of 28 entrants. The winning team was expected to be revealed this summer., but in July the memorial commission announced that the winner probably won’t be announced until late November, and that team will then work out the details together with the Grenfell community.