Central Hill Property: Tuesday 2nd February 2016 was a shiny winter day in London and i made a decision to go and have a look – and naturally to {photograph} – the Central Hill Property on the sting of Lambeth, which I had heard and skim a lot about as Lambeth Coucil weree planning to demolish it.

You possibly can learn a superb account of the constructing of the property by architect Kate Macintosh on the Twentieth Century Society web site, which information the care taken by lead architect Rosemary Stjernstedt (1912-1998) and her workforce, who had previuosly been head-hunted by Lambeth’s Chief Architect and Planner Ted Hollamby.

In addition to planning to profit from the steeply descending website with its intensive views throughout London the plans presevered as many as doable of the prevailing mature bushes and included a Physician’s group apply, a youth membership, an outdated individuals’ day centre and outlets, open house, play areas, group buildings and a district heating system.

The Twentieth Century Society additionally supported the 2 functions for the itemizing of this website, turned down in 2016 and once more in 2021, though the explanations for the refusal appear more and more spurious and I feel based mostly on political stress moderately than architectural proof.

I wrote about it at some size after my go to in February 2016 on My London Dairy and have visited it once more on a number of events since, not lease to see the exhibition of different plans to fulfill Lambeth Council’s said aims for the demolition and rebuildling by cautious and far decrease value growth on the prevailing property which might retain its important wonderful design.

Right here I’ll quote part of what I wrote then, starting with my introduction.
“There is just one actual drawback with the Central Hill Property in Higher Norwood. Which is that the property, owned by Lambeth Council, was inbuilt an age when architects and planners have been proud to design the very best they may and councils eager to accommodate their tenants to the very best requirements, however it has lasted into an age the place authorities coverage goals to do away with all social housing and councils are out to affix builders in benefiting from redeveloping with decrease requirements and better densities for personal sale.”

“The entire is on a way more human scale than different giant developments of the period, with a design that has proved profitable in encouraging group. Individuals like residing on the property and all I talked to when strolling round taking footage have been very constructive – aside from the one council worker who got here out from the higher Norwood Neighborhood Useful resource Centre to ask me what I used to be doing. “

“A survey answered by 150 residents just lately discovered solely two in favour of it being demolished. It has been a protected place to reside, with under common crime ranges – maybe having the police station at its south-east nook has helped.”

“Like all social housing, the property has suffered from neglect and poor upkeep, and the properties want refurbishment and bringing as much as trendy power requirements. Contemplating the age of the property the associated fee per dwelling assessed by Lambeth Council is comparatively average and solely a fraction of that of recent constructing.”

You possibly can learn the different proposals by Architects for Social Housing – Simon Elmer and Geraldine Dening – ready for the residents of Central Hill property between Could 2015 and March 2017 in response to the specter of demolition of 456 properties on the property by Lambeth Labour Council.

Within the introduction to the ASH report they write “Nevertheless, there may be nothing, both in present authorities laws or within the housing insurance policies of the Conservative, Labour or Liberal Democrat events, that may cease councils from following the identical practices Lambeth council employed to push via their plans to demolish Central Hill property in opposition to each the desires of residents and the demonstrable social, monetary and environmental advantages of the design alternate options.” Lambeth Council refused to significantly contemplate their different options.

Little has modified since then though we at the moment are way more conscious of the environmental impacts of demolition and rebuilding, and a few higher lip-service was been paid the the “needs of residents“, however the modifications in planning just lately introduced by Labour had they been in place again in 2016 would nearly definitely have meant that Central Hill wouldn’t now nonetheless be standing.
The battle to save lots of Central Hill continues, with the Fb Group ‘Save Central Hill Property‘.
You possibly can learn extra and see many extra footage – it was an property I discovered exhausting to cease photographing – at Central Hill Property.
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London’s Industrial Heritage – London Pictures
All images on this web page are copyright © Peter Marshall.
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Tags: Architects for Social Housing, AXH, Central Hill Property, Gipsy Hill, Labour COuncil, Lambeth, Lambeth Council, itemizing refused, London, London Pictures, peter Marshall, Rosemary Stjernstedt, Ted Hollamby, Twentieth Century Society
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