Back in the late Victorian period,  railway magnate Sir Edward Watkin decided what London really needed was a massive tower to eclipse the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Watkin opened up the design to public competition, and thanks to the rather excellent Public Domain Review it’s now possible to view the kind of weird and wonderful landmarks designers had in mind for London – including some entries from south Londoners.

[Brixton’s Philip E Massey proposed a 1,400 ft tall cast iron tower featuring Roman elements, flower beds and fountains, with 400 rooms for rent. This ambitious creation would have been considerably taller than the The Shard which only tops out at 1,017 ft)]

A bit of background

Watkin –  never a man to think small – was already working on his grand vision of a trans-European railway linking Sheffield, Manchester and Leeds to the Continent via a Channel Tunnel, and he hoped the tower would help draw tourists to his rail network.

The new tower was intended to be the centrepiece of a pleasure park just 12 minutes from Baker Street station, and Watkin first invited Gustave Eiffel to come up with a design, but he declined, commenting that if he designed the tower, the French people “would not think me so good a Frenchman as I hope I am.”

[Design No 43 was dreamt up in Stoockwell Road, SW9, and envisioned a 1,200 ft tower made entirely out of concrete] 

Watkin decided hold an architectural competition in 1890, and invited entries from all around the world.

No less than 68 designs were submitted, many showing off the full reign of  imagination, ambition and, in some cases, sheer madness of the white heat of the Victorian age.

[From the leafy suburbs of East Dulwich came this 1,260 foot tall Victorian Gothic invention, hewn from iron and steel]

Some designs were just plain bonkers – one tower would have been nearly twice the height of The Shard and was to feature a steam train precariously spiralling upwards around the outside.

Several designers played it safe, basing their entries on the tried and trusted Eiffel Tower, while others drew inspiration from further afield, submitting towers influenced by ancient monuments like the Leaning Tower of Pisa and  the Great Pyramid of Giza.

[Another East Dulwich design, this time by the intriguingly named Thos. V Trew, this tower was to feature restaurants and promenades, with room around the base for bazaars and boiler sheds]

Several south Londoners also pitched in for the work too, although all of them were unsuccessful, with the design submitted by Stewart, MacLaren and Dunn eventually proving the winner.

Compared to some of the madcap schemes on offer, their tower was a relatively modest affair, standing on eight legs and set to rise to 358 metres (1,240 ft) – 43m higher than its French rival.

The winning design was to stand 1,200ft tall and cost £350k to build. Claimed to have an Oriental character, the tower would incorporate a hotel with 90 bedrooms and a large central hall.

The tower was also to include two observation decks, each containing attractions such as restaurants, theatres, dancing rooms, exhibitions, and Turkish baths.

Tasked with erecting the tower was The Metropolitan Tower Construction Company, who laid the foundations in 1892 and started construction the next year.

By 1896, the tower had not progressed further than 47 metres (154ft). Problems with the structure’s foundations meant that the number of legs was reduced to just 4 – a decision that would lead to subsidence caused by the increased pressure.

Financial problems led to the construction company going into liquidation in 1899. Work was then stopped on the project and was never started again, with Watkin’s death in 1901 putting an end to the dream.

By now known as ‘Watkins Folly,’ the constructed part of the tower was flattened by dynamite between 1904 to 1907.

Although long forgotten by most, a little bit of the tower resurfaced fairly recently, as this Wikipedia page reports:

The original Wembley Stadium was built for the 1923 British Empire Exhibition on the site of the tower, covering its foundations. When the stadium was rebuilt in 2000, the lowering of the level of the pitch resulted in the concrete foundations of the tower being rediscovered on the stadium site

You can view all the designs here, but here’s two of my favourites:

[Standing nearly twice as tall as The Shard, this wildly ambitious circular tower was intended to be a ” Monument of Hieroglyphics emblematic of British History during Queen Victoria’s Reign,”  and would feature a steam railway puffing half way up the spiral gradient. Cost for the full version was set at over £1m – a staggeringly high sum of money]

[It’s not hard to see where J Horton of Halifax may have got his inspiration for this £400k tower that was to feature a spiral promenade and a spiral road for tramcars that would ascend half way up the tower. There was also a Telescopic Lift which was only intended to be used in ‘calm weather’]

More links about the tower:
See all 68 designs in the Public Domain Review 
The Infernal Tower
Tale of Two Towers: the Fabulous Folly of Edward Watkin
Watkin’s Tower
12 Massive Towers That Might Have Been Built At Wembley
Tower location

*Thanks to the Londonist for spotting this.

Although some have mistaken this grand old building at 411-417 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton as an old theatre, it was in fact a built as a billiard hall by the temperance movement.

The movement hoped to keep the working classes away from the demon drink by providing non alcoholic alternatives to pubs.

Victorian Web describes how the temperance movement grew in the late 19th century.

The temperance movement aimed to combat alcoholism by building ‘dry’ recreational halls and hotels which rivalled the architecture of the opulent public houses of the late C19.

The buildings often used the same decorative materials that pubs used, such as tiled facades and stained glass windows, to create the congenial atmosphere of a public house without the pitfalls of available alcohol. Temperance Billiard Halls Ltd initially targeted the suburbs of south London, where many new pubs had been built in the late C19, as well as north-west England where the firm originated.

By the beginning of WWI, however, billiards halls had been built across London, by both Temperance Billiard Halls Ltd and Lucania Temperance Billiard Halls Ltd, the two principal firms in operation.

By 1939 there were over 50 temperance billiard halls in London, though few are of comparable quality to the first tranche built before WWI. After WWII, billiards declined in popularity as did, at a much speedier pace, the temperance movement. Many halls were converted to snooker or bingo halls and public houses.

The top photo [© Lambeth Landmark] shows the old billiards hall in use as a Continental Foods supermarket in 1975.

This modern view above shows the building more or less intact, although the frontage has been split up into smaller shop units, with the rest of the building in use as a hotel (of sorts). A community police station opened up to the left of the main entrance in August 2005.

An ugly large road sign now dominates the view, although the trees go some way to softening the scene. You can’t really see it behind the trees, but the dome happily still survives too.

Sept 2003 view of the old billiard hall, as seen from the roof of Connaught Mansions at the junction of Coldharbour Lane and Rushcroft Road.

Sharing a near-identical design is the now listed former Temperance Billiard Hall at 41, King’s Road and Flood Street, Chelsea, London SW3, which was designed by T. G. Somerford. c. 1912-14.

Read more about this hall here.

See more archive Brixton photos here.

*Discuss old temperance halls (and billiard rooms)  in Brixton and elsewhere in London on the urban75 forums.

Now a pale shadow of its former glory as a prestigious shopping street, some of the buildings in Electric Avenue, Brixton are in a very poor state indeed.

Built in the late 188sos, this building on the corner of Electric Avenue and Atlantic Road has been as empty for as long as I can recall – a disgraceful situation given the homelessness in the area.

With windows often remaining broken for years, there’s moss growing around the frames, and even a small tree can be seen growing out of the second floor window.

Elegant cast iron canopies once lined both sides of Electric Avenue, but the ground floor now looks in particularly ramshackle condition.

Now trading under the name of Nasseri Quality Fruit & Veg, the shop was previously used by the fabulously named Kashmir Yam Boys, and back in the 70s as a clothes shop, advertising ‘overcoats from £3.’

A poster on urban75 commentated on the building’s plight:

It’s a shocking situation.  Mainly in terms of homelessness  But also in the sheer contempt it shows from the owner toward the neighbourhood.

Perhaps there is the hope somewhere on the horizon though, as another poster added:

They’re putting in a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore the buildings to their former glory, and bring the residential parts that are currently not being used back into use:

http://www.hlf.org.uk/news/Pages/BrixtonsInForLotteryBoost.aspx#

View looking along Electric Avenue taken from the adjacent Brixton railway station.

What’s your thoughts? Join the discussion about this building on urban75 or leave a comment below.

When it opened in April 1952, Stockwell Bus Garage boasted the largest unsupported area under one roof in Europe, with its 393ft long roof providing 73,350sq ft of parking space for up to 200 buses.

Designed by Adie, Button and Partners and built from reinforced concrete, the garage was awarded grade II listed status in 1988.

Will Self has declared it to be London’s most important building, describing it as “Modernism at its best” and a “triumphant attempt to show that form and function can be beautifully integrated through what were then the most advanced civil engineering techniques.” [—]

The print forms part of a new series of nostalgic travel prints designed by UK studio Dorothy and illustrated by Stephen Millership.

The collection celebrates the unique but often forgotten beauty of some of Britain’s favourite modernist and brutalist architectural projects from the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s.

Available as a 5 colour litho print on 120gsm uncoated art paper and measuring 80cm x 60cm, the print is available is for £35 from here.

Read more:
Stockwell Bus Garage [Wikipedia]
Architecture.com feature

Yesterday, English Heritage announced that the Grade II listed Reliance Arcade in Brixton has been added to their ‘At Risk‘ register.

Built in 1923-5 by Andrews and Peascod of brick and concrete construction, the narrow covered shopping arcade connects Electric Lane to Brixton Road, and incorporates a glazed roof with small shop units located on either side of the pedestrian thoroughfare.

Reliance Arcade runs along a strip of land once occupied by the front and back gardens of a Georgian terrace at 455 Brixton Road – you can see the shell of the old house on this satellite image from Google Maps (above).

This view from the 1872 Stanford map shows how the building line for Brixton Road was once set back from the road.

At this point, Electric Lane was known as Bar Lane. Note the Prince of Wales pub, the infant school on Coldharbour Lane and the green spaces all around. In the bottom left hand corner is Brixton Oval – the Brixton Theatre opened on the site in 1894, with the Brixton Ritzy cinema opening in 1911.

[Reliance Arcade, Jan 2007]

Fronting Electric Lane is what English Heritage describes as a “buff faience facade with Art Deco Egyptian-style detailing.” We’re not sure what a ‘buff faience’ is, but we’ve always liked this eccentric piece of architecture in Electric Lane.

Their report also notes that the 90-year old arcade has been poorly repaired in the past, with the roof and windows now in particularly poor condition.

[Reliance Arcade interior, July 2003]

The units within the arcade have remained mainly occupied in recent times, and there’s currently a rich variety of small businesses operating within the tiny units- including the wonderful Jay, the cobbler.

[Jay, the cobbler, April 2014]

Lambeth is currently considering repair options and exploring possible sources of funding for this landmark arcade – perhaps via the recently announced Brixton Townscape Heritage Initiative.

[Reliance Arcade, Jan 2007]

In a press release, Simon Thurley, English Heritage chief executive, spoke of the battle to preserve endangered sites:

The next few years will be crucial for At Risk sites. Although there has been a reduction in the number of sites on the register, more than a third of buildings that were on the national register when it first began in 1999 are still there now.

We can’t give up on all these incredibly important historic buildings; getting them back in use will lift the blight from historic areas, bringing back in to use really important buildings and giving people a sense of pride in where they live.

As the economy starts to improve and the demand for development increases, we need to push these buildings forward and find a future for them.

 

[Brixton Road entrance, March 2011]

[Brixton Road entrance, 2013]

[Reliance Arcade, Jan 2004]

Rebrand/gentrify

Although there’s no denying that the arcade falls short of its full potential, one thing we’d hate to see happen is for it to be forced into some sort of trendy regeneration/rebranding, and have it turned into another Sunday Supplement-pleasing outpost of Brixton Village/Market Row.

Many of the businesses in Reliance Arcade have been serving the local community  for decades – and we’d like them to be able to keep on trading there for as long as they want .

[Reliance Arcade, Jan 2004]

More about Reliance arcade:

English Heritage describe the architectural details of the arcade in some depth:

RELIANCE ARCADE is a straight, narrow arcade running east-west from Electric Lane to Brixton Road, bisecting an architecturally-unrelated block of mainly inter-war buildings. It comprises a narrow avenue of covered market accommodation running from Brixton Road to Electric Lane with entrances at either end.

The west elevation is of two storeys, the upper floor rendered with brightly-coloured modern signage. The ground floor entrance has a modern frontage with metal roller shutters. This elevation is of lesser interest. The east elevation forms the primary external interest.

The façade is in buff faience with red, green, yellow and blue Art Deco Egyptian-style detailing in the small columns to the upper-floor window and a coved, fluted cornice and above the ground floor door and windows. There is an original sign identifying ‘Reliance Arcade’ in the transom above the entrance. The ground floor has been painted, masking the original faience surrounds, and the two small flanking shop windows blocked.

The interior consists of numerous shallow shops to each side of the avenue. These are divided by wooden pilasters with black vitrolite, which is also used on the deep soffits, although this has been replaced in some places. Roof is pitched, carried on simple curved steel arches with replaced glazing, now mostly obscured by a dropped ceiling. [English Heritage]

[Reliance Arcade, Feb 2007]

English Heritage press release

Discuss this on urban75: Reliance Arcade goes on the English Heritage At Risk list

Located half way up Brixton Road towards the Oval, this stunning Victorian façade remains one of my favourite pieces of Brixton architecture.

The building dates back to 1842, with the northern gable documenting its 1879 rebuilding.

Dominated by  series of red sandstone piers and ornate wood fittings, the Victorian Gothic frontage is wonderfully detailed.

Close by is another striking Victorian building in the shape of the Eagle Printing Works, but this recently suffered the loss of its weather vane thanks to vandalism by its new owners, sometime around 2012.

The shops were built on the site of the front garden of the early C19th three storey house behind.

The Victorian style of writing on the window frame  (below) suggests that the building was perhaps originally used as an estate agents.

Such is the architectural importance of the buildings, both the shops and the house were Grade II listed by English Heritage as far back as March 1981. Below is the listing report:

This is an early C19 house (No 308 and 312A) with 2 late C19 shops (Nos 310 and 312) on forecourt. Original house of 3 storeys and basetment, 2 windows.

Stucco with incised lines and pedimented gable end to road. First floor cill band. Sash windows with glazing bars, round-arched on ground floor.

Entrance to No 312A (a left wing of No 308) has patterned fanlight. Two shop fronts are dated 1879. Gothic style with diagonal compound piers of red sandstone at angles (having gabled tops) and a narrower similar central pier.

Within, 2 shop fronts divided each into 3 bays and with doors under flattened ogee heads with fleur-de-lys finials, wrought iron stallriser and door grilles.

Above is a view from the 1960s, showing the building occupied by two shops.

Maxwell Bros appears to have its original Victorian signage intact, while Evered Supplies on the right has a modernised façade. [—].

Evered Supplies were wound up in the High Court in May 1986. [—]

The building is currently used by the Social, Hope and Recovery Project (SHARP). We listed an art exhibition on the premises in April this year.

Here’s more contemporary photos of the building:

Discuss the building here.

Running from central Brixton northwards to the Oval, Brixton Road is an ancient road that dates as far back as Roman times, when it formed part of the London to Brighton Way.

Previously known as ‘The way to Brighthelmstone”, Brixton Causeway, Bristow and the Washway, it was once possible to see the River Effra running along the east side of the road for much of its length.

[Effra Sewer – also known as the Brixton Storm Relief , Jan 2011. It was built during the 19th Century by the famous Sir Joseph Bazalgette. Pic © Lethe]

Sadly, the Effra – once host to royals visiting by boat – was to suffer the indignity of being buried underground and turned into a drainage and sewer system in the mid 1800s.

This blog describes a walking route along the Effra

Along Brixton Road, the course of the Effra is more certain, and wider. Its average size was said to have been 12 feet wide and 6 feet deep. Bridges gave access to the houses on Brixton Road, with the river flowing on the east side. A bomb fell at the corner of Angell Road and Brixton Road during the Blitz, uncovering the Effra sewer.

It’s hard to imagine now, but a 1784 painting shows St Martin’s Farm with the river passing by. The site is where Loughborough Road now branches off. As well as Queen Elizabeth, Canute is said to have sailed up the river as far as Brixton – and King James I gave permission for the river to be opened up for navigation in this area.

The stark, brutalist lines of 336, Brixton Road.

Built as a warehouse for Chadesley Investment Ltd (now part of Greycoat plc.), the building ended up being used as a computer centre for the upmarket private bank, Coutts & Co in 1971.

Read more: Brixton and the unexpected Coutts Bank connection

Now converted into posh flats, this building was once home to the Brixton Liberal Association, where Edwardian visitors could enjoy open air fetes, political meetings, Royal illusionists and a performance from the intriguing sounding “South London Ethiopian Minstrel Troupe.’

Read more: The politician, the illusionist and the ‘wonderful talking machine,’ 322 Brixton Road

Here’s how it looked in Jan 2002:

A quote by local artist and occultist Austin Osman Spare, has appeared high up on the wall.

Spare lived in poverty in his friend’s basement at 5 Wynne Road and had  to sleep on two chairs in lieu of a bed, and was regularly surrounded by stray cats, whom he fed.

I wonder what he’d think of his words being used on the side of a high-end property development?

Discuss the building here.

These two former shop units at 308 – 310 Brixton Road are among my favourite pieces of Brixton architecture.

Read more here: Listed buildings of Brixton: The stunning Gothic facade at 308-312 Brixton Road

The former Eagle Printing works, now bereft of the distinctive architectural roof detail which showed its date of construction.

I believe we have to thank Dogstar owners Antic for this particular act of vandalism.

In this Feb 2008 view, you can see the detailed stone work and weather vane that has now been removed.

Discuss the building here or see ‘Then & Now’ views from 1921 and 2003 here.

This scene almost looks like it could have been photographed in the 1960s.

The Coin Operated Launderama at 262 Brixton Road, with the Blues Bar/Club Yoka Bilengi next door.

Empty launderette.

SW9 Tyres and Wheels next door to Precious Memories second-hand furniture store.

Another lost pub of Brixton, the Tesco Express stands in what used to the The Russell Hotel and public house, which was also known as Bradys for a while.

The pub closed in 2003. Find out more here.

The striking Christ Church, an Art Nouveau and Byzantine Revival Grade II listed building built in 1902 by Arthur Beresford Pite for his brother-in-law, Rev William Mowll, and dedicated on November 3, 1907.

Postcard view looking towards the Oval, circa 1910, with the church on the right.

Note the tram heading towards Brixton – click here for a history of Brixton trams, and read more about the church here.

The enticing sounding Paradise Cove Caribean Seafood Restaurant at 226A Brixton Road.

Ten years ago it was home to the no-nonsense Martini’s Cafe.

The exciting sounding Inter Exotic next door.

Mattresses galore.

The illuminated sign of the Crown and Anchor. Said to be Britain’s first rock and roll club, the pub now thrives as an excellent real ale bar.

Located on Cowley Road, just off Vassall Road in north Brixton, is this short and architecturally striking terrace of early/mid 19th century houses.

A quick search online revealed the reassuring news that the terrace is protected with Grade II listed status, with English Heritage’s listing text highlighting its main features:

COWLEY ROAD SW9, Nos 9 to 21 (odd)

Early-mid C19 terrace with stuccoed front. Each house 2 storeys, 3 bays (but No 9 has 2 only), blank in first floor centre.

Each bay has a full height elliptical arched recess and a narrower arched recess divides the houses. Main cornice and blocking course over.

First floor long casements with transoms to ornamental wrought iron balconies. Ground floor sash windows with glazing bars and side margin lights.

Central doors of 2, 1 and 2 panels, with cornice head and low fanlight under shallow segmental arch. Restored by the local authority.

Doorway detail.

The terrace was included in English Heritage’s Survey of London: volume 26: Lambeth: Southern area (edited by F. H. W. Sheppard), publishing this record in 1956:

Nos. 9–27 (odd) Cowley Road

Formerly Nos. 1–10 (consec), Cowley Road

Nos. 11–21 are two-storey stucco-fronted houses (pic above). They form a terrace which has a front of considerable distinction, being in effect a continuous wall arcade.

Each house has three elliptical-headed arches, the middle one containing the arched doorway and that on either side a ground- and first-floor window, the latter adorned with a cast-iron guard. Each house is separated from its neighbours by a narrow roundheaded recess.

The front of No. 9, which is similar though set back and narrower, and the fronts of Nos. 11–21 are uniformly finished with a delicate cornice and blocking course which is continued above the more orthodox fronts of Nos. 23–27. August 30, 1824; James Crundall.

No.27 Cowley Road (formerly No.10 Cowley Road) forms the end of the terrace, at the junction with Cancell Road.

October 1972 view. Below is how the terrace looked before restoration work by Lambeth Council had taken place. [—]

Modern view showing the part-pedestrianised road.

Seen boarded up in 1967 before refurbishment by Lambeth Council is No.9 Cowley Road (formerly No.1 Cowley Road).

The Regency house is set back from the attached terrace. [—]

Modern street view from similar viewpoint,.

These humble Victorian houses and shops are at the north end of the terrace.

This view of Nos.5-7 Cowley Road in 1967 show the somewhat-less-than-secure looking frontage of the Safe Engineers & Locksmiths and the shoe shop of D. Sayer.

Here’s how the shops looked in November 2014. Number 5 remains open as an off licence.

Corner of Cowley Road and Vassall Road, showing the Tumkid Launderette.

See more Brixton history in photos here and more Brixton history features here.

Discuss all matters relating to Brixton in our lively Brixton forum.

Here’s the latest instalment of Brixton scenes taken a decade ago, with a selection of photos taken in January 2005.

Back then I was briefly using a disappointing Sony DSC-F88 camera, a compact camera with a novel swivelling lens that packed a modest 5MP sensor, with a 38mm-114mm zoom at a sluggish f3.5-f4.2 zoom.

Old Register Office at 361 Brixton Road, at the end of the elegant Angell Terrace.

Developer Benedict John Angell commissioned James Barker of Peckham to build Angell Terrace in 1855, but after Mr Barker went bankrupt, the building wasn’t completed until 1868.

In the 1970s, the ground floor of 361 was made into a new registry office, complete with a rather flamboyant, purpose-built octagonal marriage suite in the grounds at the rear. This was demolished in 2013.

Bushman’s Kitchen in front of the Brixton Rec. Happily, the Caribbean kiosk is still in business.

Market Traders’ notices.

Valentia Place with the iconic Barrier Block in the distance. The hoardings on the right mark the spot of an old warehouse (and former haunt of prostitutes playing their trade).

Broken sign, Valentia Place.

Brixton Station Road arch before a program of refurbishment was introduced. See photo feature of the arches in 2001.

Hand painted doors.

Curious graffiti at the refurbished unit 359, Station Road.

Freshly painted postbox. Seven years it found local fame after someone posted a pair of eyes on it.

Handcart in Coldharbour Lane. Note the ‘lively’ colours of the Prince Albert to the left.

Take Two West Indian takeaway on Station Road.

The long vanished Tandoori Spice on Station Road

The beastly slab of concrete that was the Pope’s Road car park.

Loughborough Park art.

Semi-detached early Victorian buildings adjacent to the old East Brixton Station on Barrington Road.

Sign for Brixton Sports and Social club on Coldharbour Lane. Despite the presence of a large garden at the back, the ‘sports’ on show rarely exceeded the stately pace of a game of dominoes.

The Brixton Soup Kitchen is currently operating out of the building.

Prince of Wales pub, Coldharbour Lane.

The old fire station on Ferndale Road. See history feature here.

Police station gets refurbished. See historic then and now photos here.

See more Brixton history:
On this blog
On the boards
On the comprehensive urban75 Brixton history archives

We’re saddened to see another lovely piece of Brixton architecture disappearing under a vast corporate advert.

The building is listed in Lambeth’s Conservation Area Statement [PDF] as “making a positive contribution” to the area with the following description:

457-461 Brixton Road – Woolworths, 1937. (Woolworth’s in-house architects under B C
Donaldson). Jazzy 1930s frontage in faience sporting vertical fin detailing and partial remains
of the original shopfront.

It seems unlikely to give much of a positive contribution to anyone now seeing as it’s been covered up by a dirty big billboard for the world’s richest tech company.

Brixton’s Woolworths was the company’s seventh to open – and the first Woolies in London. [—]

Originally operating on the corner of Brixton Road and Atlantic Road  from 1890 to 1936, they moved into their striking art deco building in 1936, before closing in early 2009. The ground floor is now used H&M fashion store.

The old Woolworths building is now the second building within 50 metres to be covered in Apple’s advertising, with a similarly oversized banner being plastered over the locally listed building at the entrance to Electric Avenue in early 2014.

Discuss this on the forums or add a comment below.

Lexadon Property Group, the new owners of the former Walton Lodge laundry business on Coldharbour Lane, Brixton will be presenting proposals for the conversion of the building into 13 no-doubt pricey apartments and commercial units.

Ultra-rich local property developers, Jerry & Janet Knight, insist that their proposals will have “great appeal due to the central location as well as commercial and business opportunities for the ground floor to provide for start-up business within the local area.”

They add that they intend the development to be a sensitive one, but with a pending Grade II listing from English heritage that may be something that have no choice in (and it’s something that should happen too – Brixton has already had too much of its architectural heritage destroyed).

Lexadon will be showing off their plans at Walton Lodge 374 Coldharbour Lane London SW9 8PL, on Saturday 24th January 2015. It only last for three hours though (between 10am to 1pm) so you’ll need to be quick!

Update: perhaps in response to this post they’ve now extended the times to 10am to 2 pm Saturdays 24^th and 31^st January.

Discuss the old laundry on the urban75 forums.

We’ve set ourselves the task of documenting all the listed buildings of Brixton, and although it’s a project that will probably takes us years to complete, we hope to keep on adding new photo features every few weeks or so.

Our latest update features the Grade II listed strip of buildings on Brixton Road in north Brixton, close to the junction with Mostyn Road .

Dating from the early-mid C19, the entire strip covering numbers 213 to 225 enjoy Grade II listed protection.

The listing entry describes their importance in some detail:

Early-mid C19 symmetrical composition: 2 outer pairs and inner group of 3. Each house 3 storeys and basement, 2 windows (except central house, 3 windows wide and having mansard with dormers). In outer pairs the outer, narrower entrance bay slightly set back.

Similar outer bays to inner block; central house projects. Stucco with incised lines and first floor string. Stone-coped parapet. Sash windows, mostly with glazing bars, those on ground and first floor of all but central house tripartite, in moulded architraves. Console bracketed cornices on ground floor.

Five steps, with side walls, to 6-panel doors with cornice head and rectangular fanlight under heavy bracketed cornice. Ionic pilasters flank doorway of No 219, but entablature lost. Graded partly for important position in street.

How does a building get listed? 

English Heritage explains the process by which a building can be listed on their website.

Here’s their overview:

How Are Buildings Chosen?

Buildings and structures are assessed to define their significance with the greatest care.  Many old buildings and indeed recent buildings are interesting, but listing identifies only those which are of national ‘special interest’.  The main criteria used are:

• Age and rarity: most buildings built before 1700 which survive in anything like their original condition are listed, as are most of those built between 1700 and 1840
• The criteria become tighter with time, so that buildings built within the last 30 years have to be exceptionally important to be listed, and under threat too.  A building has to be over 10 years old to be eligible for listing
• Architectural interest: buildings which are nationally important for the interest of their architectural design, decoration and craftsmanship; also important examples of particular building types and techniques
• Historic interest: this includes buildings which illustrate important aspects of the nation’s social, economic, cultural or military history
• Close historical association with nationally important people or events
• Group value, especially where buildings are part of an important architectural or historic group or are a fine example of planning (such as squares, terraces and model villages

See more Brixton history:
On this blog
On the boards
On the comprehensive urban75 Brixton history archives

The first of two public consultations concerning the future plans for Walton Lodge on Coldharbour Lane, Brixton took place last Saturday (24th January).

The proposals were presented by the Lexadon Property Group, who bought up the former Walton Lodge laundry business late last year.

Local resident Gramsci took these photos, and urban75 poster CH1 has shared his thoughts about the development.

CH1:

I went too (in the morning). Most people drifting through seemed to be from the Barratts development next door (understandably).

Time will tell, but the impression I got was that this actually was a case of consulting the neighbours – as opposed to presenting a finished scheme ready to wham into planning as the Higgs Triangle developer did.

Seems at this stage that Lexadon are offering a fair bit of employment generating space in the form of office space, along with some retail similar to Brixton Village, with varying amounts of residential (which, being Lexadon, would be rental at a full price).

They seemed open-minded about making a access through the laundry building (and retail units they propose) through the railway arch behind into whatever Brixton Central are cooking up between Lambeth and Network Rail. However it was illuminating to find that there had been no contact on this issue as of now between Lexadon, Lambeth Regeneration or Network Rail.

CH1:

More photos:

Lexadon will be showing off their plans at Walton Lodge 374 Coldharbour Lane London SW9 8PL, on Saturday 31st January 2015, from 10am to 2 pm .

Discuss the old laundry and these proposals on  on the urban75 forums.

Surely not long for this world is this unhappy looking garage seen in Raeburn Street,  SW2, just off Acre Lane.

With its roof featuring a perilous slump and splintering wood, a total collapse can only be a matter of time.

In full bloom: Google Street View from Sept 2014.

Close up of the collapsing roof and associated foliage.

Find direction to visit the remarkable collapsing roof of Brixton here.

We’re really not sure where this fits in with the original vision of the Grow:Brixton project, but the now renamed Pop Brixton is set to host the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) London Summer Show on the 4th-28th June 2015.

Located on the former multi story car park on Pope’s Road, the site is being transformed into a Shoreditch-style container park billed as a “new community campus for start-ups, small businesses, local entrepreneurs and community organisations in the heart of the town centre.”

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) London team is inviting all RIBA members to submit their work for a “special summer show of inspiring architecture and design” at POP Brixton.

The Architecture Open will showcase concept drawings, models, paintings, sketches and artworks in response to this year’s London Festival of Architecture’s theme, Work in Progress.

In response to POP Brixton’s container units, all  submissions must be able to fit into their own containers, about the size of a large shoebox.

RIBA London Interim Director Owen Wainhouse said:“Our summer show ‘Architecture Open’ at POP Brixton will be a major component of RIBA London’s cultural calendar and our presence within the London Festival of Architecture.  The show will attract substantial attention from both the industry and design conscious public and place our exhibitors in the impressive context of POP Brixton, along with a program of wrap around events that will be taking place over the month of June. This will be summer’s most exiting showcase of inspiring and ground-breaking design.”

With only RIBA members invited to take part in their London’s Architecture Open, the exhibition seems to offer little to Brixton’s community, and seems to stray even further from the original concept involving “award winning architects, guerrilla gardeners, cooks and food producers.”

If you are a RIBA member, details on how to enter can be found here [PDF]

Discuss this development on our forums

[Photo from original Grow Brixton proposal]

About RIBA London: The RIBA’s London Region represents some 12,000 members and over 1,000 chartered practices in the capital and aims to promote excellence in the profession and the value of good design through a range of projects that celebrate achievements, campaign for quality, develop skills, offer training, further education and create opportunities for those in the capital.

www.architecture.com/ribalondon,  @RIBA_London

About POP Brixton 
This innovative incubator project is designed by Carl Turner Architects, delivered in partnership with Lambeth Council and The Collective. Created from low-cost, low-energy shipping containers, the refreshing design has a focus on sustainability and efficiency. The converted units will create a mini-city, providing flexible studio, retail, office and workshop space in one of London’s most vibrant communities. There will be room for live/work units, pop-up food facilities, bars as well as an event space hosting live acts, community and private events including film screenings and performance art.

Mega-minted property developers Lexadon – run by property tycoons Jerry and Janet Knight – have applied to flatten the rear of the locally listed Walton Lodge laundry building on 372 Coldharbour Lane and build new private housing.

Their proposal comprises of the, “demolition of the rear part of the former Walton Lodge Laundry building, erection of a 3-storey plus basement rear wing and change of use of the retained listed frontage building to provide 1296sqm of new gross floor area for business space (B1 Use Class), 13 self-contained dwellings and a new cafe/restaurant unit (A3 Use Class) within the retained façade building, together with associated hard landscaping, cycle and waste storage.”

As ever, there is no suggestion of any social housing being included in this development, which will leave the façade intact but no longer bearing any real relation to the new building behind it.

The original proposal was for the redevelopment to provide 130 rooms for student accommodation, something many might feel would benefit the community more than the addition of even more unaffordable, luxury flats.

A poster on the urban75 forums has offered some interesting opinions on the proposal:

My own opinion about the original factory building is that it would have made an excellent extension to Brixton Village as retail units. Presumably Jerry Knight thinks he can get more income out of making an office complex at basement and ground level with residential above.

I don’t feel quite as strongly as you do about this. What I find worrying is that Jerry Knight/Lexadon’s only proven track record is in converting and managing luxury private rented flats.

He has not managed to let the industrial/retail space under “The Viaduct” in nearly 10 years.
The Angel is still vacant after about 5 years and the Paulet Arms after longer (in both cases flats above are occupied).

To be quite honest any sane political party wanting to house everybody fairly would legislate so that companies like Lexadon have to provide 50% social housing as part of their community obligation.
Likewise they should have deadlines to let employment generating space – or forfeit it.

Discuss this development here and view the planning application here – and click here to view the design statement (with 3D renders).

This cracking Edwardian Parish Hall can be found on Herne Hill Road, a little further down the hill from the equally splendid Carnegie Library.

The building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.

The foundation stone was laid by Mrs Richardson of Langford, Somerset on July 19th, 1913, and the architect, Beresford Pite, gets name-checked too.

Wikipedia reports that during that month, The Irish Home Rule Bill was once again carried in the House of Commons, and that on the 26th, 50,000 women took part in a pilgrimage at Hyde Park, organised by the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies.

Historic England adds more detail about the building:

Early C20 building by Beresford Pite with 2-storey front and back ranges and a 7-bay, one-storey section at right-angles between.

Front elevation of stock brick with dressings of red brick and a little Portland stone. Slated roof of moderate pitch raised in centre to ogee lead bell cupola.

Tall brick chimneys at sides. Pilaster bay divisions (those in centre with quasi-Ionic capitals) support modified brick entablatures. Blank side bays.

Paired first floor windows, in slightly recessed centre, over 3 elliptical arches with stone keys and impost band.

Central keystone supports stone plaque inscribed: ST SAVIOUR’S PARISH HALL. Open entrance loggia behind the arcade has mosaic-lined walls with key-pattern borders.

View from Herne Hill Road.

Along the Finsen Road side there are vegetable plots.

Lichen covered iron post.

Easter cross.  We documented this in full bloom back in 2007 (scroll to bottom of the article).

The hugely impressive St Saviour’s Church was a short way down from the Parish Hall (in front of the school) and was demolished in the 1970s and replaced with a smaller church.

[Detail from 1947-64 map showing the Church and the Parish Hall]

More info

St Saviours’s Parish Hall
Herne Hill Road
London SE24 0AY
View on map
Church website

With Brixton’s new 89-room Premier Inn preparing to officially open its doors on the 18th June 2016, the building has now acquired a garish purple glow at night, with neon strip lighting reinforcing the awfulness of the building.

With the hotel being built in the centre of Brixton, there were hopes that the construction would be sympathetic to the building it sits on and blend in with the surrounding architecture.

After all, the hotel sits in the Brixton Conservation Area and the words contained in their official statement seemed reassuring:

The Brixton Conservation Area covers most of Brixton’s Victorian town centre; it was first designated in November 1980 and has been extended three times since.

The aim of the designation is to protect the special character and appearance of: – “Brixton Town Centre which, apart from its 19th Century commercial development centres on Electric Avenue and Atlantic Road, contains the purpose-built early 20th Century Market Row arcade, the Market Row and the street market mainly on Brixton Station Road, which are long-established uses strongly connected with the economic and social life of the local and wider community’ Town Planning Committee Report, 3 September 1979.

As the building rose on top of the former Joy fashion store, it was assumed that the out-of-character strips of grey paneling were merely part of the construction process and that the hotel would soon receive an exterior that blended in with its surroundings.

Sadly, that wasn’t the case, and Brixton is now stuck with this multi-striped monstrosity providing a jarring visual counterpoint to the architecture around it.

As if the inappropriate architecture wasn’t bad enough, Premier Inn have compounded their eyesore by lighting it up in garish purple at night. It looks awful and totally at odds with the area around it.

Locals posting on the urban75 Brixton forum were quick to condemn the look of the new hotel, posting comments like.

“It looks even worse during the day I think – the black/white/grey facings don’t fit in at all.”

“It looks awful, like some kind of posh/trendy wrapping paper. Soulless & in-congruent to its surroundings.”

“I was convinced for ages it wasn’t finished – it has zero relationship with its context. And its in a conservation area. It sucks basically.”

“…a cheap looking generic construct that has zero relationship to its surroundings.”

There are other concerns that the hotel’s extremely close proximity to both the Prince of Wales and Market House bar/nightclubs may prove problematic, with visitors complaining about the noise from Brixton’s booming night economy. We hope these prove to be unfounded.

Join in with the discussion about Brixton’s new Premier In on the forums.

Here’s an interesting document of a piece of long-lost Brixton, with this archive photograph showing a striking cast-iron street urinal outside the now-vanished entrance to Brixton railway station in Pope’s Road, 1924.

The view is completely unrecognisable today, as the both the street urinal and station entrance have completely vanished, although modern male and female public toilets now stand in a similar location.

A recent view from a similar location shows how much the scene has changed. In the foreground can be seen part of the modern replacement toilet block.

This view shows the 1960s three storey building that replaced the station – it has disgracefully remained empty for decades.

Cast iron street urinals and public conveniences were common fixtures on Victorian and Edwardian streets, with a few still in use today. The delicate ironwork included holes to provide ventilation.

See an example of a surviving cast iron urinal in Star Yard, WC2 here.

The old station building

A post war map (above) shows the site of the station building being marked as a ‘ruin,’ suggesting that it may have been hit during the Second World War, although there is nothing recorded in the WW2 bomb census.

Compare with an earlier map from 1893-5 (below):

In Victorian times, Brixton station (or Brixton & South Stockwell Station as it was then known) also had a handy platform on Station Road providing a direct rail link to Peckham, although the service was closed by the London & South Western Railway as early as 1916.

This modern photo (taken from the railway bridge) shows how Pope’s Road has retained its original oval shape. The original station building would have been to the left, and the public toilets occupy the site of the cast iron street urinal.

Overhead electrics

Note the overhead electric wires on the railway line, which had recently passed in to Southern Railway ownership from the London, Brighton & South Coast (the SR decided to standardise on the London & South Western’s third rail system and the LBSCR suburban lines were later converted).

Passengers exiting the station would have come across a busy scene most times of the day, with a set of coal staithes directly in front of them. These were used to deliver large quantities of coal by rail into the heart of Brixton for local distribution by horse and cart.

Rail wagons would be shunted into the overhead sidings, and the coal dropped directly into storage areas below and then bagged up for local distribution.

Note the market stalls in front of the coal merchants – this market still survives today.

Pickle in Brixton

There’s some interesting details to be seen in the background of the photograph, with a poster to the left advertising Branston Pickle.

First made in 1920 in the village of Branston near Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire by Crosse & Blackwell, the savoury pickle remains a big seller.

Part of the frontage of a small shop called Byers & Sellers can also be seen, with the window piled high with crockery.

Above is an example of their business card, advertising ‘Furniture, China & Glass, Carpets, Hardware, Prams & Toys and Wicker.’

Holidays in Switzerland

Between the station doors can be seen a poster advertising the glamorous Swiss holiday resort of Arosa.

Skiing in Switzerland received a big boost in late Victorian times after Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes series, wrote of his pioneering Davos/Arosa ski adventure in a British magazine, The Strand, in 1894. [—]

Above the poster can be a seen a hanging enamel sign advertising the presence of a public telephone.

State ciggies

Below the poster can be seen another enamel sign, this one advertising State Express cigarettes, which were originally manufactured in the UK by the Ardath Tobacco Company.

The rights to the brand were acquired by British American Tobacco (B.A.T.) in 1925 and under the name of State Express 555 they remain very popular in Asia, especially in the Greater China area (including mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan), the Philippines, Vietnam, and Cambodia. [—]

A similar original enamel sign (above) is currently advertised on eBay for £375.

See more Brixton history:
On this blog
On the boards
On the comprehensive urban75 Brixton history archives

[Photo from Historic England, thanks to Puddy_Tat for the heads up]

Back in September 2014, we reported on growing concerns about the unsympathetic redevelopment of the distinctive Loughborough House building at 202 Coldharbour Lane, SW9.

Work dragged on for years, with some locals expressing concerns about several aspects of the development, which saw all architectural details of the façade removed, along with the distinctive early Victorian gabled roof and its overhanging wooden eaves, the building name, and the chimneys.

Before and after views.

While there’s no dispute that the building needed work – it was pretty tatty before – we feel that the removal of all historic architectural detail is a real loss to the area. At the very least, the stonework displaying the name of the building cold have been preserved, in our opinion.

The ground floor looks particular clumsy and there’s now little to connect the building with its past.

What do you think?

Are we talking tosh? Join in with the forum chat: The redevelopment of Loughborough House, Loughborough Junction [forum chat] or add your comments below.