Robin Hood Gardens Statement

1 July 2008

STATEMENT FROM LORD BRUCE-LOCKHART, CHAIRMAN OF ENGLISH HERITAGE

 “The Department for Culture Media and Sport has agreed with English Heritage’s advice and confirmed that the Robin Hood Gardens estate does not meet all the criteria necessary for listed status.

“Our advice not to list was made with the utmost careful consideration. The reasons were:

Firstly, in our opinion, as a piece of community architecture, it fails as a place for human beings to live – and did so from the start.  Its bleak entrance lobbies, prison-like boundary wall, the too few, narrow, twisting stairwells and the inadequate access to the long decks and people’s front doors do not make for a pleasing and comfortable environment.

Secondly, it was neither innovative nor influential.  By the time the estate was built, in 1972, it was already out of date and at the tail-end of a movement, rather than the beginning.  Park Hill in Sheffield was built a decade earlier, on a much more confident scale and its “streets in the sky” were therefore more innovative as well as being wider and more accessible. 

Lastly, the building, in itself, does not compare successfully with other 20th century estates listed at grade ll, such as the Barbican and the Brunswick Centre.  There are 13 listed post-war estates in London alone. 

“We certainly agree that the Smithsons had a strong reputation as major architectural theorists and EH has previously listed three of their finest schemes.  The Robin Hood Gardens estate, however, attracted little admiration from critics at the time or in the immediate later years.  It is only very recently that it seems to have found favour in some vocal quarters.

“Listing decisions must be robust, objective and free from campaign pressure – however passionate and sincere.  In our view, love it or loathe it, this one does not make the grade.”