Because I care about housing
May 16th, 2012
Those of you who count yourselves among my regulars, and there are a few, will be aware of the subtitle that graced this page for nearly three years. It used to say “because I care about housing and hate single aspect flats”.
Last Saturday (12th May) I was invited to join a DoCoMoMo walk around South London during the course of which we visited Lambeth Towers and some maisonettes at Cotton Gardens just along from the Imperial War Museum, among many other buildings..
On entering each of the maisonettes it was not immediately apparent to me what the layout was and so I was not immediately struck by the fact that I was standing in a single aspect dwelling. With high ceilings (over eight feet), a full height stairwell, plenty of light, a generous balcony and not a hint of stuffiness, these were not reminiscent in any way of a back to back house or a dark and poky North facing single aspect flat.
I have given this a lot of thought in the days since, and have come to the conclusion that it is perhaps a little extreme to hate single aspect flats, a bit teenaged, and after all these are maisonettes not flats. While I haven’t changed my mind that through ventilation is to be preferred or that a choice of views is a great asset, I have to say that the maisonettes in the towers at Cotton Gardens are delightful.
If you think that this post makes Fabrik fantastic or Woods House wonderful then you are sadly deluded. I saw some attractive single aspect maisonettes that’s all, and if I had the chance to design a tower block myself then it would be more like the LCC scissor blocks than Lambeth Towers and Cotton Gardens. Nevertheless they are attractive dwellings.
The subtitle? Oh yes, I have decided to amend it in accordance with my observations. After all, if it’s good enough for JMK then it’s good enough for me.
UPDATE: 10/1/13 I have been meaning to add for some time that the flats are not single aspect in terms of ventilation because they have access to a fire escape corridor upstairs, from a door opposite the bathroom which has a grill in the bottom half of it thus allowing a degree of through ventilation to the dwelling.