Post War Listed Public Housing Estates
The Barbican, City of London
Grade II: listed 2001.
Chamberlin, Powell & Bon 1963-82. Harwood, 650-53.
Main claims to note:
- - ambitious scale
- integrated arts, teaching and domestic complex
- architectural boldness of towers, walkways, concrete
- internal quality of public spaces
- landscaping and incorporation of St Giles Cripplegate
- cultural importance of post-Blitz rebuilding
Lillington Gardens, Pimlico, City of Westminster
Grades II* and II: listed 1998 and 2000
Darbourne and Darke, 1964-72. Harwood, 656.
Main claims to note:
- - humane reaction against monolithic planning
- complex, intricate arrangement of units
- place-specific use of brick (big Victorian church nearby)
- successful planting and landscaping
Balfron Tower, Poplar, LB Tower Hamlets
Grade II: listed 1996
Erno Goldfinger, 1965-68. Harwood, 568.
Main claims to note:
- - significant work by major modernist architect
- realising vision of Le Corbusier
- distinctive service tower with boiler house above
- boldness of approach to high-rise units
Trellick Tower, Ladbroke Grove, RB Kensington & Chelsea
Grade II*; listed 1998
Erno Goldfinger, 1968-72. Harwood, 574.
Main claims to note:
- - as above, plus:
- ne plus ultra of high-rise block
- more elegant sculptural treatment of lift tower
Alexandra Road Estate, West Hampstead, LB Camden
Grade II*; listed in 1993
Neave Brown of Camden Architects’ Department, 1972-78. Harwood 578-81
Main claims to note:
- - the most formal and dramatic of high-density, low-rise designs
- Modern variant on a long curving terrace
- Influence of European urbanism: creating large-scale developments
Spa Green Estate, Finsbury, LB Islington
Grade II*, listed 1998
Lubetkin & Skinner, for Finsbury MB; Harwood 486-7
Main claims to note:
- - very early post-war housing
- major modernist architect
- architectural interest of elevations
- structural innovation: Ove Arup’s box frame
Churchill Gardens, Pimlico, City of Westminster
Grade II, listed in 1998
Powell and Moya, for Westminster; 1947-54; Harwood 584-85
Main claims to note:
- - 1945 competition winner: post-blitz vision of new world
- European influence in planning
- Bold scale
- Architectural interest of restrained narrow blocks with lift-shafts protruding along roof lines
- Technical interest of heating: hot waste water from Battersea pumping station
Bevin Court, Bloomsbury, LB Camden
Grade II*, 1998
Sinner, Bailey & Lubetkin 1951-54; Harwood 510-11
Main claims to note:
- - innovative Y-plan around central stair
- flexibility of structure
- major architectural practice
Alton Estate, Roehampton, LB Richmond
Grade II*; listed in 1998
LCC Architect’s Department, 1952-60; Harwood 678-82
Main claims to note:
- - embodiment of post-war thinking on new housing
- Le Corbusier influenced slab blocks appear
- combination of point blocks, low-rise and bungalows
- notable landscaping beside Richmond Park
- pioneering concrete panel construction (costs kept down)
Golden Lane Estate, Clerkenwell, City of London
Grades II* and II, listed in 1997
Chamberlin, Powell & Bon, 1953-63; Harwood 598
Main claims to note:
- - arrival of tall block of flats
- new construction method: glass panels on concrete frame
- architectural interest of new language of modernism
- planning and layout: flats around facilities
- heralds arrival of Barbican concrete idiom in later lower part
- it was a vision of integrating housing and landscape to create an entirely urban, high-density entity, again anticipating Barbican.
Usk Street, Bethnal Green, LB Tower Hamlets
Grade II, listed in 1998
Fry, Drew, Drake & Lasdun, 1955-58; Harwood 524-25
Main claims to note:
- - planning: butterfly plan around central stair, creating ‘cluster’ block
- architectural novelty
- community interest: seeking to promote neighbourliness
Keeling House, Bethnal Green, LB Tower Hamlets
Grade II*, listed 1993
Fry, Drew, Drake & Lasdun, 1957-59; Harwood, 528-29
Main claims to note:
- - see Usk St above
- taller cluster block of 16 storeys: new stage in high-rise
Park Hill, Sheffield
Grade II*; listed in 1998
Jack Lynn & Ivor Smith for Sheffield City Architects’ Dept, 1957-61; Harwood 52-55
Main claims to note:
- - major ‘streets in the air’ scheme, with long deck access passages
- scale of development: replacing large slum area with 994 flats
- architectural interest: boldness of concrete frame
- planning interest: sequence of inter-connected slab blocks
- landscaping: takes advantage of sloping site over city
Brunswick Centre, Bloomsbury, LB Camden
Grade II; listed 2000
Patrick Hodgkinson, 1967-72
Main claims to note:
- - architectural novelty of stepped terraces of flats over shops
- early ‘mega-structure’: mixed uses
- architectural boldness and use of concrete
Byker Estate, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Grade II* and II (81 sep listings); listed 2007
Ralph Erskine for Newcastle Corporation, 1978-81
Main claims to note:
- - community architecture-led mega-development
- ‘romantic pragmatism’: humanising through vernacular details and materials
- sophistication of lay-out
- dramatic lay-out exploiting topography







