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Wrapped in white and crowned with a huge green heart, Grenfell Tower stands tall; a stark symbol of a once barely imaginable tragedy, exposed by a public inquiry as an avoidable one.
To those who live physically in its shadow, the announcement it is to be dismantled to ground level has been met with raw emotion. And, just as the reactions from the bereaved and survivors has been mixed, so too were the views of the local residents the Guardian met.
Some thought it should remain as an angry reminder of systemic failure, of as yet undelivered justice and of harrowing grief. Others believed a more peaceful monument to the 72 dead and the many more severely traumatised would be beneficial.
“I am a little bit teary,” said one woman, a mother of two, of the news. “I am really quite shocked. I don’t understand why they would want it to be gone.”
One of her friends survived the horror of 14 June 2017. “He didn’t want to see it any more. Some people don’t because it’s too traumatic.”
“But I do want it still to be here. I grew up here. I want it for remembrance. It’s not an eyesore. I see it every day. It’s a symbol of what happened.”
On the night of the fire, the 31-year-old ran down to the 24-storey block after being alerted by a distressed friend whose sister lived in Grenfell and was failing to answer her phone. Thankfully, she was a survivor. “I saw her being carried out over a fireman’s shoulder,” she said.
For her, the tower as it stands today “is 100% a symbol of justice that has still not been had”. Until that day, it should remain. “Eventually it is going to be forgotten. But people are still grieving. It is way too soon.”
Tracey, who has three adult children, was one of those who thought now was the time to demolish it. “I walk to my mum’s and I see it. I walk to church and I see it,” she said.
“I know people who died there and I still have nightmares. But I think it should be a resting place now, for those whose spirits and whose souls are still trapped there. As it is, we can’t say goodbye to them because you see it, every single day. It is a reminder of what happened.”
Her nephew was due to stay at a family friend’s in the tower that night, but instead went to his grandmother’s. “It re-traumatises us. Not that we will ever forget. But to give them a final, peaceful resting place. We could have a nice garden that people could go to instead,” she suggested.
Maria, 71, agreed. “I open my window every day and I see it. Every single day I see the tower. And it reminds me of that day. We can’t move on. We relive it. It depresses me.”
Dismantling the tower, she said, “is the right thing to do.”. “Of course, we feel for all those who lost loved ones, and those who survived. But what happened has happened.”
A commission looking into a future memorial on the site has said that if the tower came down, it should be “dismantled with care and respect”. A final design for the memorial is expected by spring 2026, and construction could begin that year. A shortlist of five potential design teams was announced last month, and a winning design team is due to be selected this summer.
Moss, 37, a tech worker born and raised nearby, said: “My brother-in-law lost his aunt and his uncle. I think it really depends on what they replace it with. And that needs to be decided by the families and loved ones of those who died. Make it a people’s decision.
“I see it every day. It’s become a thing in its own right. It’s a beacon, definitely, for justice. Generally, I think there are mixed emotions about it But we have to move on.”
Elina, 41, the mother of a young baby, said the decision was a “heartbreaking” and difficult one. “This is a reminder,” she said. “Maybe it should come down a bit, not all of it, but keep some of the structure there. And I like the idea of turning it into a living garden.
“I think to wipe it off the earth completely is just too heartbreaking. It’s as if those people never existed. So, to completely wipe it off, that is too harsh.”
