For sale
1 Bedroom flat
Bacton Tower
Haverstock Road
London NW5
£425,000

A one bedroom flat on the fourth floor of the 22-storey Bacton Tower. The building  underwent extensive refurbishment about three years ago, whereas Bacton Low Rise estate is currently being regenerated (read knocked down and replaced with 290 new homes comprising 176 for open market sale, 104 for affordable rent and 10 for shared ownership). The original estate and tower was part of the large Gospel Oak redevelopment programme in the 60s, designed by Armstrong and MacManus.

View the listing here.

Modernist Estates book
by Stefi Orazi (Author)
Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
ISBN: 978-0711236752
Dimensions: 20 x 2.1 x 25.5 cm
£25

Modernist Estates provides an inside look at remarkable and sometimes controversial estates in Britain and the impact they have on their communities. Featuring twenty-one modernist homes and their residents, including the Barbican, Isokon, Balfron Tower and Park Hill, it presents an overview of the building, architect, historical and political context. It explores, with fascinating interviews and contemporary photography, what it’s like to live on a modernist estate today. 

For sale
1 Bedroom Flat
Bevin Court
London WC1
£475,000

Bevin Court, near Amwell Street in Clerkenwell was designed by Tecton ust after the war. They had previously worked on Spa Green Estate just up the road. Unlike Spa Green, this scheme was budget sensitive with no money for balconies or facilities such as a nursery school or community centre, so Lubetkin chose to put the money into the elaborate stairwell — look at it!

It is Grade II* listed and the lobby has recently undergone extensive works by Islington Council with funding from Heritage Lottery Fund. (City of London, if only you would follow Islington’s lead and do something with Golden Lane Estate, are you purposely trying to run it into the ground?).

This particular flat is on the ground floor, so you have your own entrance and a patch of outdoor space too. View the listing here.

Journal
Camden Estates Walk

A couple of weeks ago I organised a walk of some of Camden’s best post-war schemes. When I first announced it on my instagram an overwhelming amount of people expressed interest and tickets sold out almost instantly. It’s super encouraging to know there’s so much new enthusiasm for post-war housing. 

A group of over forty of us met at Euston station on a slightly damp Sunday and made our way across the borough with the knowledgeable and energetic Fabian Watkinson as our guide. Along the route we stopped off at Polygon Road by Peter Tabori, Maiden Lane Estate by Benson and Forsyth, Highgate New Town, (Tabori), Winscombe Street (my personal highlight) by Neave Brown, Mansfield Road (B&F), Fleet Road (Brown) and the finale, where the sun finally came out, Alexandra Road (Brown).

Here are some photos of highlights from the day.

A MASSIVE thank you to everybody who came, and in particular the residents who kindly opened up their homes to us. All proceeds from the tickets went to the Twentieth Century Society. It’s really important we support their brilliant work, if you haven’t already, do become a member here.

Many thanks to Pierre Coinde, Sonia Uddin, Alice Brownfield, Jane MacCuish and Lauren Brewster for sharing their photographs.

For sale
3 Bedroom House 
Tibbets Close,
London SW19
£739,000

A three bedroom house in Wimbledon designed by Harley Sherlock. The group of two-story terraced houses are arranged around two greens and received a an  ‘Good Design in Housing’ award in the 1960s. 

The house is arranged over two floors, with the kitchen and living room on the ground floor (with extensive glazing at either end) and three bedrooms upsairs. 

View the listing here

Listen
Interview with architect Le Corbusier (in English)

For sale
1 Bedroom Flat
Erskine House
Churchill Gardens
London SW1V
£450,000

Churchill Garden is a pioneering estate on the banks of the Thames in Pimlico. Designed by Powell and Moya between 1946 and 1962 it comprises of 36 blocks, local shops, a school and health care facilities.

The first blocks in the scheme were awarded the RIBA London Architectural Bronze Medal in 1950. Despite the high residential density (there’s 1600 homes) the design of the blocks allows for a feeling of openness and light. The estate is now listed as a conservation area.

A particular outstanding feature of the estate is the glass faced polygonal tower, built to store hot water of the whole estate.

View the listing here.

Watch

Tom Jones gardening and what not at his house in Manygate Lane in Shepperton.

I love the internet. 

For sale
1 Bedroom Flat
Mutton Place,
Harmood Street,
Chalk Farm NW1
£529,950

A one bedroom flat in one of the Camden Estates designed by Michael Brown and Partnership in 1980 (thank you Modernism in Metroland for the info). Brown is primarily recognised as an urban designer, with much of his best known work in the public realm, and in London Having worked in landscape architecture in the States, with Dan Kiley amongst others, and in the UK as an architect with Eric Lyons on Span housing, Brown set up on his own in the 1960s.

At approx 52 square meters, the flat is situated on the first floor with a double bedroom, a newly fitted kitchen a less new showroom, a good sized living room, and best of all a generous terrace, open to the sky. Big enough for a hot tub :-/

Location and outdoor space come at a price though, view the listing here.

For rent
2 Bedroom Flat
Rowley Way
Alexandra Road
London NW8
£380 per week

A two bedroom flat in Neave Brown’s Grade II* listed Alexandra Road. It says nothing as to whether it’s offered furnished or unfurnished, but if you look beyond the furniture it looks in pretty much original condition, including the infamous brown-tiled kitchen and built in wardrobes. You enter the flat on the first floor, where there are two double bedrooms and the bathroom. Upstairs there’s the kitchen and large open living room with floor to ceiling windows opening ta private terrace, open to the sky. 

(First photo taken from my Camden Estates Walk)

For sale
1 Bedroom Flat
Kendal Steps
St George’s Fields
London W2
£620,000

I’ve written about this Design 5 designed estate a few times. I was obsessed with it for a while. You can read about that here.

In need of modernisation is this one bedroom flat on the second floor floor, with it’s own private terrace. These flats have the unusual feature of a funny bendy wall between the bedroom/living room. Have a look at the floorplan. 

View the listing here.

For sale
1 Bedroom Flat
Hallfield Estate
London W2
£460,000

Following the second world war, Paddington underwent a series of rehabilitation and renewal programmes. The decision to redevelop the partially bombed site between Gloucester Terrace and Inverness Terrace was taken by the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington in 1947.

The Borough invited several architects to prepare designs for a new estate, initially called Bishops Bridge Road Housing Estate. The original design for the estate was conceived by Tecton but then executed after the firm split up by two of its members, Lyndsay Drake and Sir Denys Lasdun.

The estate was listed Grade II in 2011, and the recent £10,000,000 refurbishment of the estate (including replacing all the windows) has been scrapped after a council report claimed less than a quarter of the work was finished after 18 months. There are also claims that the contractor had failed to get listed building consent for parts of the refurbishment from English Heritage.  

I ran around (literally) the estate a couple of months ago, there were notices of meetings about window replacements on the residents’ noticeboard, I don’t know what the latest is — I go the impression that they were still looking for a contractor, but don’t take my word for it. Anyway, I thought it was a superb estate, but for me, in slightly in a funny part of town. 

This one bedroom flat is in Winchester House, no mention of which floor unfortunately. View the listing here. 

What’s on
Exhibition
Britain in the Fifties
Compton Verney
Warwickshire
Until 2 October 2016

‘Britain in the Fifties’ explores the history of post–war design through the experiences of the average British couple. The 1950s was a time when Britain, emerging from years of austerity and rationing, led the world in the quality and innovation of its decorative and applied arts, and when good design became affordable by all. Leading artists now chose to work for commercial design companies, and many became household names. In the years which followed the groundbreaking Festival of Britain of 1951, design played a crucial role in shaping and redefining the Brave New World of a modernising and increasingly prosperous Britain.

The exhibition looks at all aspects of 1950s design, both inside and outside the home: from Lucienne Day’s furnishing fabrics, Horrockses’ dresses and Robert Welch’s cutlery to Ken Wood’s Kenwood Chef, Enid Seeney’s ‘Homemaker’ ceramics and Alec Issigonis’ Mini. Visitors to this engaging retrospective will see a vision of the country sixty years ago as it draws together over 150 objects as diverse as a Vespa scooter, the original watercolour illustrations for the celebrated 1958 Ladybird book Shopping with Mother and posters by Enid Marx and Edward Bawden.

www.comptonverney.org.uk

What’s on
ESSEX Architecture Weekend
Saturday 10 September – Sunday 11 September

ESSEX Architecture Weekend is a programme of tours and events celebrating the county’s pioneering role in twentieth century architecture. The weekend centres around the county’s three key modernist estates, Silver End, Bata East Tilbury and Frinton-on-Sea.Throughout Saturday and Sunday, Silver End Village will act as a base, hosting a programme of talks, music and events, alongside three new artistic and architectural commissions.

radicalessex.uk

What’s on
London Open House 
17 and 18 September 2016
Here’s my annual round up of what to see this year, borough by borough. I’ll be busy opening my own door to you lot. Gulp.

CAMDEN
Whittington Estates (Highgate New Town)
Dartmouth Park, N19
Peter Tabori, Camden Architect’s Department under Sydney Cook, 1972-79. Sat/Sun tours only at 2pm, 3pm, 4pm. Max 25 per tour with Fabian Watkinson.
Built during the golden era of Camden public housing by an architect who studied with Erno Goldfinger and worked with Denys Lasdun.
More info

Alexandra Road
Rowley Way, NW8
Neave Brown, 1968-79
Sat 10am-5pm. Half-hourly tours, duration 1.5hours. Max 8 per tour.
Rare opportunity to see inside several different flat types within the renowned Grade II* listed Modernist housing estate. Original Tenants Hall also open.
More info

Dunboyne Road Estate (Fleet Road)
Neave Brown for Camden Architects Dept, 1969–75
Sun 2pm
Tour by architect/resident Takeshi Hayatsu (6a Architects), pre-book ONLY. Max 20 per tour.
Grade II listed low rise/high density housing scheme for LB Camden>
More info

Isokon
Lawn Road, NW3
Coates, Wells / Avanti Architects, 1934/2004
Sat/Sun 11am-4pm
A Grade I listed residential block of flats in Hampstead, designed by the Canadian modernist architect Wells Coates for Jack and Molly Pritchard.
More info

Mansfield Road
NW3
Benson & Forsyth, 1974-80
Sat 1–5pm
Benson and Forsyth for Camden Architecture Department
Last scheme to be built as part of the Gospel Oak redevelopment area. Part of Camden’s ‘Golden Era’ of housing - low rise high density schemes under borough architect Sydney Cook.
More info

Swiss Cottage Library
Spence, Basil Sir/McAslan, John + Partners, 1963/2003
88 Avenue Road NW3 3HA
Sat 10am-5pm. Regular tours focusing on the library’s original architect Sir Basil Spence
Grade II listed building by renowned Modernist, which has been refurbished and remodelled whilst protecting the building’s landmark status.
More info

CITY OF LONDON
Bayer House
Golden Lane Estate, EC1
Chamberlin, Powell & Bon, 1957
Sun 11am-5pm. Half-hourly tours. Closed between 1pm and 2pm. Last tour 4.30pm. Max 10 per tour.
First public housing to be listed. A maisonette with much of the original detailing and finishes.
More info

CROYDON
St Bernard’s Houses
Atelier 5, 1969-70
Sat 2–5pm. Half-hourly tours. 
Last tour 4.30pm. Max 30 per tour.
Twenty-one houses, in three hillside terraces, built by Swiss architects Atelier 5 for Wates. The living areas on the upper floor are approached through a garden court. Bedrooms downstairs open on to a lower garden. Pevsner wrote, ‘a group with few equals in Britain’.

More info

HACKNEY
Haggerston School
Goldfinger, Erno & Hubert Bennett/Avanti Architects
1963-65/2011
Sat 1pm-5pm. Tours at 1.30pm, 2.30pm, 3.30pm led by parents who are architects. Presentation running in the hall and visuals of the school from past and present. Last entry 4.30pm. Max 10 per tour.
Grade II listed comprehensive secondary school, retaining many original features. Distinctive for the large amount of timber used in the construction and contains some of Goldfinger’s boldest and most handsome public interiors, including bush hammered concrete and coffered ceilings in the entrance and assembly hall block. Major refurbishment recently completed as part of BSF programme.
More info

ISLINGTON
Bevin Court
Cruickshank Street, WC1
Skinner, Bailey and Lubetkin, 1954
Sat tours 10am, 11am, 12noon, 1pm. Max 15 per tour.
Built on the bomb damaged site of Holford Square, Bevin Court is one of London’s hidden Modernist gems. Lubetkin’s motto 'Nothing is too good for ordinary people’ resonates through this revolutionary building. Restored to its former glory with the help of the HLF, Peter Yates’ mural and the reinstated 3D-printed bust of Ernest Bevin will be on show.

More info 

KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA
Peter Jones
Sloane Square,  SW1
Crabtree, Slater& Moberley/McAslan, John + Partners
1936-8/2004
Sat 11am–5pm/Sun 12noon“5pm. Hourly tours. Duration 45 mins. Last tour 4pm. Max 20 per tour.
Grade II* listed building, with recently completed 5-year renovation programme involving complex mix of new build and restoration. Britain’s first ever curtain walling and various features listed between 1969-71 such as spiral staircase. Sloane Room has one of best views over Chelsea and beyond. RIBA Award Winner 2005.
More info

Trellick Tower
Goldfinger, Erno, 1972
5 Golborne Road, W10
Sun 10am-4pm. Half-hourly tours, pre-book only
Goldfinger’s 31-storey 'Unite d'Habitation’ [Open House’s description, not mine!] built as social housing and now one of London’s most desirable addresses. Monumental in style, with its free-standing service tower and surreal boiler house, it retains beautiful detailing and a rich use of materials.
More info

LAMBETH
Central Hill Estate
Rosemary Stjernstedt (Borough architect: Ted Hollamby), 1970s
Central Hill, SE19
Sat 10am–5pm. Hourly guided tours.
Tree-lined housing estate on the ridge of Central Hill, incorporating open spaces, views over London, gardens and sense of community. [Currently under threat of demolition and so called regeneration. Scandalous. Go and see it!].
More info

Cressingham Gardens
Tulse Hill, SW2
Ted Hollamby, 1967–78
Sat/Sun 10am-5pm. Regular tours. Exhibition in Rotunda.
Low-rise leafy estate located next to beautiful Brockwell Park noted for its innovative design, incorporating pioneering architectural elements and echoing the natural topography.
More info

Pullman Court
Streatham Hill, SW2
Gibberd, Frederick 1936
Sat/Sun 11am-5pm. 'Concrete’ art exhibition, tours and other events to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Pullman Court.
Grade II* listed building with balcony walkways and period internal features.
More info

National Theatre
South Bank, SE1
Lasdun, Denys and Partners/Haworth Tompkins (refurb)
1969-76/2012–15
Sat 10am–4pm/Sun 10.30am-5pm. Short tours to showcase elements of award-winning Haworth Tompkins refurbishment. Sun 11am talk by Barnabas Calder. Last tour 4.45pm. Max 10 per tour.
As this key work in British Modernism (Grade II* listed) turns 40 this year, visitors will have a chance to see theatre-making spaces and public areas since the completion of NT Future work. Lasdun’s NT includes theatres and associated spaces. RIBA Award Winner.
More info

LEWISHAM
Segal Close (Sunday 10am–1pm) and Walters Way  (Sun 1pm-6pm. Regular tours)
Honor Oak SE23
Walter Segal
'Segal Method’ houses. This modular timber frame self-build system, advocated by the architect, is reminiscent of 19 century American and traditional Japanese architecture.
More info

MERTON
Rogers House
22 Parkside SW19
Richard and Su Rogers, 1968–70
Sat 10am–5pm Tours led by Philip Gumuchdijan. Pre book only via studio@gumuchdijan, Max 30 at one time
Built as a private house and separate studio for Rogers’ parents. This house represents a technical revolution in modern architecture and is currently being refurbished by Gumuchdijan Architects.
SOUTHWARK
Dawson’s Heights
Overhill Road, SE22
Kate Macintosh for Southwark Council Architects Dept, 1966-72
Sat 10am-5pm. Half-hourly tours, pre-book ONLY. Last tour 4.30pm. Max 10 per tour.
Split between 2 blocks consisting of nearly 300 flats, all with private balconies, Dawson’s Heights is a fantastic example of beautifully designed social housing with uninterrupted views of the London skyline.
More info

TOWER HAMLETS
Robin Hood Gardens
Alison & Peter Smithson, 1972
Sat/Sun 10am–5pm. Exhibition andourly tours 11am-4.30pm. First come basis, but may also be pre-booked via www.robinhoodgardens.london. Last entry 4.30pm. Max 8 per tour.
Celebrated post-war council estate comprising two concrete blocks of seven.
More info

Trevelyan House
Morpeth Street, E2 
Sir Denys Lasdun / Bradley Van der Straeten Architects (refurb)
c1950/2015.
Sat 10am-5pm. Guided tours. Max 7 per tour
A modern re-design of a maisonette located in a classic 1950s Grade II listed Brutalist building.
More info

For rent
Studio flat
Crescent House
Golden Lane Estate
London EC1
£345 per week

This flat is being marketed through Foxtons, but weirdly it seems reasonably priced — no? Although I have been working late and I’m tired, so I might have lost all sense of reality. So — a studio flat (which does have a door to the ‘bed area’ so it’s almost nearly a one bedroom) is located on the top floor of Crescent House, the Grade II* listed block in Golden Lane Estate — designed by Chamberlin Powell and Bon in 1957. Being on the top floor you a get a barrel vault ceiling — this is good. The flat faces into the estate, as opposed to being on the Goswell Road side. This is also good.

View the listing here.

For sale
1 Bedroom flat
Russell Nurseries Estate
Belsize Park
London NW3
£515,000

I don’t know why anybody would choose put their home up for sale right in the middle of the summer. Everyone is away, and by the time they get back the property listing would have fallen so far down the list, you’d assume there must be something wrong with the property. I was glad the person who sold my flat to me did though. It was hanging around Zoopla like a bad smell, and so far off the radar, it seemed I was the only person who spotted it. I was able to negotiate a decent price, as by that point, he was desperate to sell it — and here I am two years later. So there you go, two tips in one for homebuyers and sellers, you’re welcome. 

This particular flat has been on the market since June. The flat is Russell Nurseries, Camden’s Architecture Department’s very last estate and completed in 1990 and designed by Bill Forrest and Oscar Palacio. The price seems a bit ambitious perhaps (it’s £50k more than the Lubetkin flat in Bevin Court I listed a few weeks ago), but I guess you are paying for the area? And what a great area it is — it’s nestled between Belsize Park tube station and Belsize Wood Nature Reserve.

View the listing here.

Listen
Eileen Gray: The Missing Heart of Design
First broadcast in February 2014 on BBC3, Fiona Shaw explores the life and work of the Irish-born designer and architect.
Listen here

For more information visit the Friends of E1027 website www.e1027.org

Image: E.1027 © Manuel Bougot

Shop
Guide To Modern Buildings In London (1965–1975)
by Charles McKean and Tom Jestico
Second Edition, 1976 
Published by Academy Editions, 112pp
£45
SOLD

An enthusiastic pocket book of Modern Buildings in London built between 1965 and 75. Includes lots of black and white photos with short descriptions, complete with maps and routes. Features many of the London Boroughs’ housing scheme — this is one of my favourite little books!
Condition: Excellent.

Shop
The County of London Plan
E J Carter and Ernö Goldfinger
Published by Penguin, London (1945)
First edition
£30
NOW SOLD

This small publication, published by Penguin in 1945, is a pocket version of the 1941 County of London Plan. The original plan was commissioned by the London County Council (LCC) from Mr J. H. Forshaw (LCC Architect) & Patrick Abercrombie (Professor of Planning at University College London) on the instructions of the then Minster of Works and Planning, Lord Reith.

Condition: Acceptable, covers slightly rubbed, crease to bottom right hand corner. Internally fine, fold-out map fine.