Post War Listed Public Housing Estates

References are given to Elain Harwood, England. A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings (2003).

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