Alexandra Road estate
Encyclopedia
The Alexandra Road estate, properly known as the Alexandra and Ainsworth estate, but more commonly, and erroneously, referred to as simply Rowley Way, is a housing estate
in the London Borough of Camden, North West London
, England
. It was designed in 1968 by Neave Brown of Camden Council's Architects Department. Construction work commenced in 1972 and was completed in 1978. It is constructed from site-cast, board-marked white, unpainted reinforced concrete. Along with 520 apartments, the site also includes a school, community centre, youth club, heating complex, and parkland.
The estate consists of three parallel east-west blocks, and occupies a crescent-shaped site bounded on the south by Boundary Road, Loudoun Road on the east, Abbey Road on the west, and by the West Coast Main Line
to the north. The desire to control the sound and vibration from passing trains was a major consideration in the layout of the estate. Two rows of terraced apartments are aligned along the tracks. The higher, 8-story block directly adjacent to the railway line is organised in the form a ziggurat
, and acts as a noise barrier
that blocks the noise of the trains from reaching the interior portion of the site, and its foundations rest on rubber pads that eliminate vibration. A lower, 4-story block runs along the other side of a continuous pedestrian walkway, known as Rowley Way, serving both terraced rows of buildings. The third row of buildings, along the southern edge of the site, parallels another public walkway, Langtry Walk, between this row and the existing earlier buildings of the Ainsworth Estate and defines a public park with play areas between the second and third row of dwellings.
The lower 4-storey building along Rowley Way contains maisonettes with shared access, terraces, and gardens over-looking the park at the rear. Maisonettes also occupy the top two levels of the larger 8-storey building opposite, with entrance from a walkway on the 7th floor that runs the entire length of the structure. Dwellings in the lower floor in this block are entered from open stairs serving two dwellings per floor. The flat roofs of the stepped elevation provides private outdoor areas for every home. Garage parking is located beneath the building, and underneath the building at the rear alongside the railway tracks.
The estate may be seen as the culminating effort by Neave Brown to apply the principles of the London terrace house to the design of high-density public housing on an enormous scale. The five houses on Winscombe Street, built in 1967, were his first experiment with the terrace type. The Fleet Road project, begun about the same time and consisting of 71 houses, a shop, and a studio, arranged in parallel terraced rows, was a further application of the idea. The estate received much criticism during and after its construction because of its enormous cost, caused by the complicated nature of its construction, unforeseen foundation problems, and general inflation. Scenes of the estate under construction can be seen in a 1976 episode of the TV series The Sweeney
.
The estate has also gained a slightly iconic status due to its use as a location in various projects including the cover of Richard Thompson's "Sunnyvista" album, as a filming location for The Comic Strip presents... Slags, Primeval etc.
The estate was granted Grade II* listed status on 18 August 1993.
Housing estate
A housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...
in the London Borough of Camden, North West London
North West London
North West London may refer to:*NW postcode area*Western part of North London...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It was designed in 1968 by Neave Brown of Camden Council's Architects Department. Construction work commenced in 1972 and was completed in 1978. It is constructed from site-cast, board-marked white, unpainted reinforced concrete. Along with 520 apartments, the site also includes a school, community centre, youth club, heating complex, and parkland.
The estate consists of three parallel east-west blocks, and occupies a crescent-shaped site bounded on the south by Boundary Road, Loudoun Road on the east, Abbey Road on the west, and by the West Coast Main Line
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
to the north. The desire to control the sound and vibration from passing trains was a major consideration in the layout of the estate. Two rows of terraced apartments are aligned along the tracks. The higher, 8-story block directly adjacent to the railway line is organised in the form a ziggurat
Ziggurat
Ziggurats were massive structures built in the ancient Mesopotamian valley and western Iranian plateau, having the form of a terraced step pyramid of successively receding stories or levels.Notable ziggurats include the Great Ziggurat of Ur near Nasiriyah, Iraq; the Ziggurat of Aqar Quf near...
, and acts as a noise barrier
Noise barrier
A noise barrier is an exterior structure designed to protect sensitive land uses from noise pollution...
that blocks the noise of the trains from reaching the interior portion of the site, and its foundations rest on rubber pads that eliminate vibration. A lower, 4-story block runs along the other side of a continuous pedestrian walkway, known as Rowley Way, serving both terraced rows of buildings. The third row of buildings, along the southern edge of the site, parallels another public walkway, Langtry Walk, between this row and the existing earlier buildings of the Ainsworth Estate and defines a public park with play areas between the second and third row of dwellings.
The lower 4-storey building along Rowley Way contains maisonettes with shared access, terraces, and gardens over-looking the park at the rear. Maisonettes also occupy the top two levels of the larger 8-storey building opposite, with entrance from a walkway on the 7th floor that runs the entire length of the structure. Dwellings in the lower floor in this block are entered from open stairs serving two dwellings per floor. The flat roofs of the stepped elevation provides private outdoor areas for every home. Garage parking is located beneath the building, and underneath the building at the rear alongside the railway tracks.
The estate may be seen as the culminating effort by Neave Brown to apply the principles of the London terrace house to the design of high-density public housing on an enormous scale. The five houses on Winscombe Street, built in 1967, were his first experiment with the terrace type. The Fleet Road project, begun about the same time and consisting of 71 houses, a shop, and a studio, arranged in parallel terraced rows, was a further application of the idea. The estate received much criticism during and after its construction because of its enormous cost, caused by the complicated nature of its construction, unforeseen foundation problems, and general inflation. Scenes of the estate under construction can be seen in a 1976 episode of the TV series The Sweeney
The Sweeney
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
.
The estate has also gained a slightly iconic status due to its use as a location in various projects including the cover of Richard Thompson's "Sunnyvista" album, as a filming location for The Comic Strip presents... Slags, Primeval etc.
The estate was granted Grade II* listed status on 18 August 1993.
See also
- The Zwolsestraat Development, Scheveningen, The Hague, The Netherlands.
- Smalle Haven, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
- Brunswick CentreBrunswick CentreThe Brunswick Centre is a grade II listed residential and shopping centre in Bloomsbury, Camden, London, England, located between Brunswick Square and Russell Square....
, London. - Balfron TowerBalfron TowerBalfron Tower is a 27-storey housing block in Poplar, a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, UK. It forms part of the Brownfield Estate, an area of social housing between Chrisp Street Market and the A12 northern approach to the Blackwall Tunnel...
, London - St George's Fields (Bayswater, London)St George's Fields (Bayswater, London)St George's Fields are a former burial ground of St George's, Hanover Square, lying between Connaught Street and Bayswater Road de-consecrated and sold off by the Church Commissioners in the 1970s to be built upon by a housing trust....
. - Alton EstateAlton EstateThe Alton Estate is a large council estate situated in Roehampton, southwest London. Alton Estate, one of the largest council estates in the UK, occupies an extensive swathe of land west of Roehampton village and runs between the Roehampton Lane through-road and Richmond Park golf courses, as can...
, London.