Modernist estates: what's it like to live on one?
Matthew Carter
Lives in: Golden Lane estate, City of London, built 1957-1962
Architects: Chamberlin, Powell & Bon
The second world war left huge scars across Britain. The bombing had either destroyed or made uninhabitable a million homes and there was a major housing shortage. All the political parties agreed that an ambitious reconstruction programme was needed and optimism to build a better Britain was in the air.
One of the listed terraces on the Golden Lane estate.
In 1951, the City of London held a competition to design an estate at Golden Lane on two hectares of a heavily bombed site on the southern border of Finsbury. It attracted 178 entries, including streets-in-the-sky solutions by Alison and Peter Smithson, who went on to design Robin Hood Gardens in Poplar. The winning entry by Geoffrey Powell featured nine three- and six-storey blocks around a central courtyard and a high-rise tower as a centrepiece. Powell joined forces with his Kingston Polytechnic colleagues, Peter Chamberlin and Christoph Bon, to complete the project, which is heavily influenced by Le Corbusier. It is a true urban environment, incorporating shops, a pub, a community centre, a swimming pool, a children’s playground, bowling green (now tennis courts), courtyards, a fish pond and underground parking.

Actor Matthew has been a Golden Lane estate tenant since 2001. He lives in a one-bedroom flat in Grade II*-listed Crescent House, which he rents from the City of London.
Did you know much about the estate before you moved here?
I knew it was designed by the same architects as the Barbican and the Barbican had always been one of the places I’d aspired to live in.
Detail of Matthew Carter’s Golden Lane flat.
How did you manage to get a flat there?
I was renting privately in the City in 1995 and the Corporation of London sent me a letter telling me that as a resident I was eligible to rent one of its council properties. So I filled in the form, and a year later, I was offered a flat in Bermondsey in its Avondale Square estate. I immediately took it. I then found I could go on a transfer list if I wanted to move to another City of London estate. So I applied to be transferred to Golden Lane estate. I was warned I’d have a long wait as no one leaves Golden Lane estate unless they die, but 18 months later, it offered me this flat.
Describe your flat…
Originally, it would have been a studio flat with a separate sleeping area, but the person here before me put up a wall and turned it into one bedroom, which works better for me. The bathroom is original, but the kitchen was redone at some point and I’m thinking of reinstating the original listed partition dividing the kitchen and living room that was taken away.
How is the council as a landlord?
I feel lucky to live here but it is a little shortsighted. For example, the government’s recent decent homes standard policy meant that all the flats (aside from those belonging to leaseholders) had their kitchens and bathrooms updated. Even though this place is listed, they just ripped everything out, rather than being sympathetic to the original designs, and replaced them with kitchens and bathrooms that looked like they had been in a time capsule since 1985.
What are the neighbours like?
It’s very much a mix of people with about 50% leaseholders and 50% tenants and on the whole everyone is very friendly. It’s a strong community and we hold events like summer fetes and Christmas markets. There are a few people who have been here since the estate was built.
Best thing about living here?
Obviously the architecture and the facilities are excellent – we’ve got a swimming pool, a gym and tennis courts.
And the worst?
The shortsightedness of the landlord, although it is trying to change. We have regular residents’ meetings; it’s slow progress but they are starting to take our feelings into account.
If money were no object, where would you live?
That is really tough – there are so many places I would like to live. But perhaps in Connecticut, where there are tons of modernist houses, or an Eichler house in California.
James and Jenny Longfield
Live in: Byker Estate, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, built 1967 onwards
Architect: Ralph Erskine
James and Jenny Longfield with their daughter, Beth: ‘We know most of our neighbours. We like it that people are very open and real.’
Byker, barely a mile from central Newcastle, is one of the last, large-scale social housing schemes to have been built in Britain. With low-rise housing around courtyards, greenery and open space built on a hill site, it has a villagey feel. The estate is punctuated by the Byker Wall, a one-and-a-half-mile-long block of flats to the north of the estate that stands at 12 storeys at its highest and three at its lowest, wrapping itself around the rest of the site and protecting it from the noise and pollution of the neighbouring main road.
By the 60s, old Byker had a population of 17,000 with streets of run-down “Tyneside flats”. A redevelopment plan was proposed and Swedish-based architect Ralph Erskine (1914–2005) was appointed. Keen to retain the sense of community, Erskine’s scheme was pioneering as it opened up a direct dialogue between the residents of Byker and the architects. Also unique was the retention of many existing buildings such as pubs, a church and swimming baths.
A terrace on Newcastle’s Byker estate.
The estate was officially opened in 1974, but maintenance and bad management issues began to arise early on and the Byker became an undesirable place to live. Things finally began to turn around for Byker in 2002 with a conservation plan prepared by the North of England Civic Trust. The estate was Grade II* listed in 2007 and today is managed by the Byker Community Trust.
James and Jenny have been renting a three-bedroom house on the Byker estate for three years and have recently had a daughter, Beth. James is working on a PhD focusing on the Byker redevelopment and Jenny is a musician.
A detail of the Longfields’ home.
What made you choose to live in Byker?
[James] It was mainly my idea to move here. Having heard and read so much about it during my time at university I was really interested to know what it was actually like to live here, so we moved in as I was starting my PhD, though not knowing to what extent it would feature in my studies. Then it kind of took over.
Even though we are only renting, moving here was seen as a bit of a risk as Byker has a bad reputation in Newcastle. It took a good year or so for the reality – that it is actually quite a calm and sociable place to live – to override these early concerns. It also helps that it is a lot cheaper to live here than elsewhere in Newcastle. It is really close to the city centre and just a five-minute walk to the quayside on the Tyne with the Millennium bridge, Baltic arts centre and Sage concert hall.
Describe your home
Most people associate Byker with the Wall, a perimeter block of flats that runs up the hill. But in behind the wall the majority of the houses are low rise, laid out in an irregular pattern around courtyards and green spaces. We live in a three-bedroom house in a short terrace with a shared grassy area out front and a small garden at the back. It is a compact house, arranged around a central staircase, but has plenty of space for two and a small one.
Are the communal areas well maintained?
There are loads of varied green spaces with benches, planters and even quirky stone features, such as columns and carved reliefs, which were salvaged from the town hall in the city centre when they demolished it in the late 60s. Originally, there was a wide variety of planting as well as play features in these spaces, but these were ripped out in the 90s. The council do a basic job of maintaining these spaces, cutting back hedges and mowing the grass a few times a year. Now the estate is listed it is finally getting some much needed investment.
What are the neighbours like?
Friendly for the most part. We had one nightmare chap who lived next to us, but he has since moved and now there is a really lovely family next door. They gave us loads of great baby stuff just after they had moved in. We know most of our neighbours and have kept in touch with a few who have moved out since we arrived. There is a real mix of people, locals who have lived here for years, a growing African community and more young arty types as we are right next door to a growing creative quarter. We like it that people are very open and real.
Best thing about living here?
It is wonderfully warm in the winter – the house has a great southern aspect and is heated from a district heating system, which we pay a flat rate for. It is also really quiet at night as there are no cars driving past. There are lots of blossom trees which are absolutely beautiful in the spring time.
And the worst?
Our neighbour’s kitchen window looks directly into our garden. We enjoy chatting to him but there are times when we want some peace and you never know when he’s going to pop his head out to say “hi”.
If money were no object, where would you live?
We’d like to build a house one day, no idea where yet. Jenny would like to be somewhere with a bit more privacy, where she can play and record without being overheard.
Neave Brown
Lives in: Dunboyne Road Estate, Gospel Oak, London, built 1966-77
Architect: Neave Brown
Neave Brown at home on the Dunboyne Road estate: ‘Who am I to say, but it’s beautiful.’
Between 1964 and 1978 Neave Brown worked on three housing projects in north London: a group of five houses at Winscombe Street, a housing scheme at Fleet Road (Dunboyne Road estate) and, his largest scheme, Alexandra and Ainsworth estate, all of which are now listed, making him the only living architect to have all of his UK work listed.
Sydney Cook, Camden borough’s architect from 1965–73 gave Brown his first major commission in 1966, a housing project on a site in Gospel Oak. In the Fleet Road scheme, as it came to be known, Brown reinvented the traditional London terrace (it had previously been an area of run-down Victorian houses), preserving its scale and intimacy. There are a total of 71 maisonettes and flats, in two- and three-storey blocks that run in parallel rows with a central pedestrian walkway (the alley) providing access to the lower flats. A mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom dwellings are arranged cleverly to maximise light and flexibility of space. Each has a private terrace and its own front door, there are shared gardens, and car parking is integrated below.
The central ‘alley’ on Dunboyne Road estate.
Completed in 1977, Fleet Road was the UK’s first high-density low-rise scheme and established Neave Brown as one of the greatest housing architects of his age. He lives with his wife, Janet, on the estate.
Briefly describe your home
It’s a two-bedroom, four-person ordinary council house, built to council house space and budgets – but with different thinking.
How long have you lived here?
About six years. We lived at Winscombe Street previously – my first housing scheme to be built – having originally moved there with a group of our contemporaries: architects, a photographer, a painter. We loved it. We all had children, there was a communal garden which the children adored, it was a wonderful place to live. Then inevitably people changed, some people moved away and new people moved in. And my wife and I began to feel like the “special geriatrics” that had been left there. It’s a place for young people and young families.
Interior detail.
Did you have any concerns about moving from a house to a council estate?
No! Because my generation are post-war people. After the war I studied at the Architectural Association and our teachers were mainly young modernist architects. London was in ruins. There had been lots of planning, but very little rebuilding. All the young architects were taking what they had learned in the interwar years – Le Corbusier, the Bauhaus etc – and brought that new architecture to a new age, and new culture to England, but rejecting the tabula rasa of that modernism. We would help build a new and mixed society – eliminating the old class system. Unfortunately many of us feel disappointed. The triumph of capitalism has betrayed the egalitarian ideals that we had.
What are the neighbours like?
There are still people here that moved in when it was first built, and the children of those first residents too. We say good morning to everyone. The person next door is a very good friend. That’s the way it should be. Of course, this scheme – like every other scheme – has been betrayed by Margaret Thatcher’s right to buy policy. But then again it’s a mixed society, which was always our intention with professionals and, to use that terrible term, working-class people. You get an additional pleasure out of the mix and that’s nice.
Best thing about living here?
Who am I to say, but it’s beautiful. It’s spacious, we get lovely light, we have the marvellous terrace where Janet and I sit and have breakfast and supper, the front doors connect straight on to the street so that you feel you belong to the city and are not separate from it. The plans are such that you get an incredible amount of flexibility with the space.
And the worst?
The worst thing is what has been imposed by the government. They have betrayed the idea of housing that was set up after the second world war, and the social intentions that went with it. Affordable housing should mean it is affordable for a good lifestyle for people on minimum or low income – which is what was done when we did it. Housing was affordable for people on working-class incomes, and if they couldn’t afford it there were subsidies that were available in government programmes so that people on very low incomes could live decently.
If money were no object, where would you live?
Here!
Maria Lisgorskaya
Lives in: Balfron Tower, Brownfield Estate, Poplar, east London, built 1965-67
Architect: Erno Goldfinger
Maria Lisogorskaya in her Balfron tower flat: ‘I’ve always wanted to live high up.’
The Balfron Tower in Poplar, east London, forms a striking and forceful silhouette on the London skyline. The 27-storey brutalist tower block was designed by the architect Ernö Goldfinger (1902–1987), a Hungarian émigré with a reputation for being strong-willed and having a bold and experimental approach to design. At 276ft, the Balfron Tower’s height was seen as a positive by Goldfinger – building high would create more open space on the ground and give residents fantastic views from their homes over the city. Noisy services were separated away from the flats by a separate lift tower, joined to the main residential block with bridge-like walkways constructed of reinforced concrete. The flats themselves were spacious and light-filled with quality fittings, and designed with great attention to detail. A lack of proper maintenance over the years took its toll on the building, and although the tower was Grade II-listed in 1996, Tower Hamlets found it increasingly difficult to manage. Its ownership was transferred to the housing association Poplar Harca, which began rehousing residents in 2010. The flats are currently being let on a short-term basis to artists and property guardians who provide the building with some security.
Balfron Tower and the Brownfield estate in POplar, east London. Photograph: Alamy
Maria Lisgorskaya is a co-founder of Assemble, a collaborative practice of artists, designers and architects. She has been living on the 24th floor of the Balfron Tower for the past two years.
Describe your home…
I live in a one-bedroom, single-storey flat. The living room is generous, as is the balcony, which is accessible from my bedroom as well as the living room. The flat is west facing and the balcony’s built-in planter box is much better than those ugly, glass balustrades.
How did you come to live here?
The opportunity came about because of the planned development of this previously social accommodation into private apartments. Poplar Harca, the housing association who own Balfron, have been “decanting” the building for the past few years. I’m renting the flat on a short-term basis through Bow Arts – one of the organisations that provides low-cost, live-work spaces.
Interior detail of Maria Lisgorskaya’s flat.
Did you know much about the building before you moved in?
I knew about Goldfinger and the Balfron and Trellick duo. I’ve always wanted to live high up, and I am a fan of brutalism and the generosity and intelligence of residential layouts designed at the time. When referring to social housing in London, the high-rise has often been demonised; meanwhile thousands of new, luxury residential towers seduce the councils and are marketed privately.
Who else lives in the building?
Bow Arts tenants, like myself, other short-term tenant organisations such as Dot Dot Dot, and some remaining Poplar Harca residents, although most of them have been decanted by now.
What are the communal areas like?
The community cabin downstairs is great – they run dance classes, community gardening and there’s a “pub” upstairs. The huge lifts are also good places to bump into people; the journey is just long enough to have a quick conversation.
What’s the area like?
The Brownfield estate, which Balfron tower is part of, is in a residential area between the towering Canary Wharf, the industrial low-rise of the Lea Valley and the Blackwall tunnel. Chrisp Street market is nearby and great for vegetables. There was a lovely flower shop, which used to have a parrot greeting you, but it closed recently due to the council’s changing of rent conditions. You can’t get a flat white here (yet).
Best thing about living here?
The layout, the view and my neighbours. Plus it’s affordable, although not for much longer!
And the worst?
The worst thing is having to leave, and all the people who have had to leave because of the glamorisation of brutalism. The poor level of housing provision in this area and the exclusive developments that have little architectural merit make for an unbalanced regeneration. Also, my being perceived as a tool of gentrification in this regeneration process, when in reality there are very few housing opportunities someone like me can afford. Affordable homes, in the real sense of the term, just don’t seem to exist in gentrified areas.
If money were no object, where would you live?
I would build an interpretation of a Case Study House [postwar American experimental residential housing] on top of a skyscraper overlooking the Thames. Or on top of the Shard.