Broadwater Farm and City Country Suburb? – audio
December 9th, 2016
FEAR OF NON-STREET HOUSING
October 23, 2014, 19:00 20:15
The edited version free of uumms, aahhs, and extended pauses.
Zeilenbau orientation
December 8th, 2016
Churchill Gardens Pimlico – Powell and Moya
On reading Lewisham, the Notopian future of London by Owen Hatherley the other day, I was struck by this sentence.
“This particular part of the development is darkened by the canyon-like effect of tall blocks looming over a narrow service road, something avoided by postwar council estates, what with their green space and carefully arranged orientation to the sun.”
[…]
“Third, the new vernacular, so long as it coexists with a developer-driven urbanism which sees spaciousness as so much wasted, unrentable space, means little more than politesse curtain-walled over plutocracy.” [Owen !!!]
Moving on, the estate that comes most quickly to mind and probably to any member of the C20th Society or DocomomoUK is Churchill Gardens by Powell and Moya.
Urban Splash – Saxton : 4 into 2 won’t go
December 4th, 2016
UPDATE Read the report on overheated flats from 2017
“…the space has been divided to ensure that each apartment is substantial in size.” [boggle] -> Award
Google Leeds tower blocks The Parade – images
A few years ago Urban Splash bought two derelict council housing blocks which were due for demolition, at Richmond Hill in Leeds. During the “deep retrofit” (partial demolition) the project stalled and Kickstart funding was required to restart it.
Urban Splash stripped the blocks back to the concrete skeleton retaining the lift and staircase cores, then doubled the density by refitting the blocks with over 400 single aspect flats disregarding the original layout of over 200 dual aspect flats.
Why not build directly if you own the land?
November 30th, 2016
Click for full image
There was a time when the [London] borough or shire would employ their own architects, quantity surveyors, civil engineers, clerk of works and direct labour force and just get on with it. In London of course it would have been the LCC and later [from 1965] the GLC. Those days may have gone in most cases but we need them back.
One Regent Place Manchester – Fulcrum
November 27th, 2016
The benighted dwellings 910 and 1008 will receive their only sunlight for a few minutes a day to the bedroom – providing the sky is not overcast
The other day I received an email. Here’s a paragraph from it.
“Thank you for your enquiry with regards to a new development in Manchester called One Regent provided by Fulcrum. It would be good to have a chat at some point to understand your requirements for investment as there is a lot of stock we can provide direct from the developer with no fees attached.”
Dublin downgrades its housing standards
November 25th, 2016
I’ve recently been alerted to the fact that the Dublin government has downgraded its housing standards in the revised Dublin City Development plan 2016-2022
and also in the Design standards for new apartments 2015
I was looking through the blog statistics and found a search from Australia for apartments with dual aspects which prompted me to click the search term which led me to this newspaper article Proposal to relax minimum apartment standards about the Dublin Governments revised city centre apartment standards.
Paul Watt at the RA – September 26th 2016
November 24th, 2016
He was one of four speakers and a chair, and his talk was such a good summary of what has happened to council housing under New Labour and since that I have transcribed it, with the help of YouTube (upload, wait, download captions), below:-
Okay I’m going to start somewhat differently I’m not really going to talk about the architecture I’m not going to talk about the estates, in a way the concept of a council estate is epiphenomenal to really the fundamental key aspect of what we’re dealing with. The key aspect for council housing for me is that it’s a part of the welfare state.
Public Works Loan Board – notes
November 23rd, 2016
Start here -> The_UK_Public_Works_Loans_Board.pdf
As Phillip Hammond outlines his Autumn statement in the HofC with some news on housing I continue to worry about how we (England) can dig ourselves out of the housing mess we’re in with a lack of housing for rent most people can afford. Some years ago I read about the PWLB which seemed to be a wonderful thing and I have thought ever since that this may be the answer if councils ever go back to building housing for rent on a large scale.
Blackburn terraces – now you see them . . .
November 22nd, 2016
“Slum clearances without the Socialism” – Owen Hatherley
I was reading the Guardian online today. This to be specific. Building affordable homes for rent is more vital than new roads then in the comments I found this . . .
. . . and opened Google Earth. I found nothing in Burnley but then in Blackburn, this.
Southwark – Peter John – the full ABC interview
November 17th, 2016
UPDATE: Read Heygate profits north of a hundred million by 35%.org
HT @adjournist retweet
This interview has triggered thoughts I’d tried to bury about the entitlement of leaseholders to be treated as fairly as secure tenants on a council estate, complicated by the fact I detest right to buy but count two leaseholders (second generation) among my friends. I will attempt to unravel the interwoven threads of the conflict with reference to the comments of Peter John in the interview linked above.