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Context 181

Urban housing Reviving the tradition of council housing Saving DH Lawrence’s birthplace A pocket of prefab fabulousness Gentrification in London No 181 September 2024 Institute of Historic Building Conservation

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CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 1 www.ihbc.org.uk @IHBCtweet Registered as a charity in England and Wales number 1061593, in Scotland number SC041945, and listed in Northern Ireland Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in England number 3333780 Registered Office: Jubilee House, High Street, Tisbury, Wiltshire SP3 6HA Officers President Mike Brown, president@ihbc.org.uk Vice President Rebecca Thompson, vicepresident@ihbc.org.uk Chair David McDonald, chair@ihbc.org.uk Vice Chair Lone Le Vay, vchair@ihbc.org.uk Secretary Jo Evans, ihbcsecretary@ihbc.org.uk Treasurer Jill Kerry, treasurer@ihbc.org.uk National Office Director Seán O’Reilly, director@ihbc.org.uk Operations Director Fiona Newton, operations@ihbc.org.uk, consultations@ihbc.org.uk Administration Officer Lydia Porter, admin@ihbc.org.uk Education,Training & Application Support Officer Angharad Hart, training@ihbc.org.uk Membership Services Officer Carmen Moran, membershipservices@ihbc.org.uk Professional Services Officer Michael Netter, services@ihbc.org.uk Committee Chairs Policy Roy Lewis, policy@ihbc.org.uk Membership & Ethics Andrew Shepherd, membership@ihbc.org.uk Education Chris Wood, education@ihbc.org.uk Communications & Outreach Dave Chetwyn, communications@ihbc.org.uk Branch Contacts North north@ihbc.org.uk North West northwest@ihbc.org.uk Yorkshire yorkshire@ihbc.org.uk West Midlands westmids@ihbc.org.uk East Midlands eastmids@ihbc.org.uk South south@ihbc.org.uk South West southwest@ihbc.org.uk East Anglia eastanglia@ihbc.org.uk South East southeast@ihbc.org.uk London london@ihbc.org.uk Scotland scotland@ihbc.org.uk Wales wales@ihbc.org.uk Northern Ireland northernireland@ihbc.org.uk Republic of Ireland republicofireland@ihbc.org.uk Rest of the World overseas@ihbc.org.uk 2 Briefing 5 Periodically 9 Out of context 9 The writer’s voice 10 Law and policy update 13 Editorial 14 The revival of urban council housing Peter de Figueiredo 17 Saving DH Lawrence’s birthplace John Perry 20 Gentrification in London Colin Thom 24 The maintenance challenge of urban housing in Scotland Jocelyn Cunliffe 28 A pocket of prefab fabulousness Katriona Byrne 33 The architectural use of wood and coal tar in England Belle Neilson 38 Blue plaques for inspiring pioneers John Pendlebury and LoesVeldpaus 41 Connecting people and places with climate impacts Imogen Wood 43 Notes from the chair 44 Director’s cut 46 New member profile 47 Inter alia 48 Vox pop 49 New members 50 Book reviews 57 Products and services 60 Specialist suppliers index

Editor Rob Cowan Editorial Coordinator Michael Taylor, ihbceditorialboard@gmail.com Editorial Board Nigel Crowe Aimée Felton Peter de Figueiredo (book reviews) Rebecca Madgin Duncan McCallum Fiona Newton Jonathan Taylor Michael Taylor (chair) Cartoons by Rob Cowan Context is distributed to all members of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation. © Institute of Historic Building Conservation 2024 ISSN 0958-2746 Publisher Cathedral Communications Limited, High Street, Tisbury, Wiltshire, England SP3 6HA 01747 871717 context@cathcomm.co.uk www.buildingconservation.com Non-member subscriptions to Context Context is available to corporate bodies at an annual subscription rate, including postage, of: United Kingdom £65.00 Elsewhere £100.00 Context on-line archive Past issues of Context can be viewed on the IHBC website. The archive provides a searchable database and reference for key articles. See www.ihbc.org.uk/page55/context_archive. The views expressed in Context are not necessarily held by the IHBC or the publisher. Neither the publisher nor the IHBC shall be under any liability whatsoever in respect of contributed articles. We gratefully acknowledge the support of firms whose advertisements appear throughout this publication. While every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this issue of Context is current and correct, neither the IHBC nor the publisher can be held responsible for any errors or omissions which may occur. Context themes and copy deadlines Context is published four times a year in March, June, September and December. The next three themes and copy deadlines are: Heating and ventilation, December, issue 182 (11 October) Wellbeing, March, issue 183 (10 January) Infrastructure, June, issue 184 (11 April) Please contact Michael Taylor at ihbceditorialboard@gmail.com to discuss any editorial submissions or for information about the Context editorial board. 2 CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 Briefing Urban housing Reviving the tradition of council housing Saving DH Lawrence’s birthplace A pocket of prefab fabulousness Gentrification in London No 181 September 2024 Institute of Historic Building Conservation Cover: Image by Rob Cowan adapted from JD Simon’s 1875 book The House-Owner’s Estimator. See page 13. Iron-framed pioneer The Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings has received a Europa Nostra Award in the conservation and adaptive reuse category. The award is part of the 2024 European Heritage Awards/Europa Nostra Awards, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. The Maltings has been brought back to life as an adaptable workspace, leisure destination and social enterprise hub. The project by Historic England was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic England, the local enterprise partnership and Shropshire Council, among others. Originally built in 1797, Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings was the world’s first iron-framed building, a groundbreaking technology that paved the way for modern skyscrapers. For nearly a century, the site operated as a steam-powered flax mill, later being converted into a maltings and used as a temporary military barracks. Following the closure of the maltings in 1987, the future of the site became increasingly uncertain. Vandalism, poor maintenance and under-investment had left the building fabric in a perilous condition. In 2005, Historic England stepped in as ‘owner of last resort’ to lead a partnership to find a new use for the site. A notable innovation in the project was the development of a new method for strengthening the masonry around the existing iron frame, ensuring that the structure could act as an alternative load path in case of failure. This approach allowed the original iron frame to be retained, and, reinforced with a hidden steel grillage and new columns, it preserves the building’s historical integrity. Visitors can now explore the restored Jubilee Tower and a new exhibition space, the Mill, which highlights the site’s role in the industrial revolution and global architectural history. The upper floors provide flexible office space. Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings, the world’s first iron-framed building (Photo: Historic England Archive)

CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 3 St Peter’s Church in Forncett, Norfolk, with its Saxon tower (Photo: David Airey) The Army band at St Hilda’s Church, Hartlepool (Photo: Ian Pounder) Places of worship Vicars’ Close in Wells, historic home of one of the UK’s oldest choirs, Wells Cathedral’s Vicars’ Choral and five at-risk places of worship have been awarded a share of £7.4 million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Vicars’ Close is said to be the oldest, uniquely residential street in Europe. Connected to Wells Cathedral, the quadrangle street contains 27 Grade I-listed residencies, built in the early 15th century to house the cathedral’s adult choir (the Vicars’ Choral). The buildings continue to be home to the Vicars’ Choral and their families, along with Wells Cathedral vergers, staff and a few private tenants. The funding will help restore Vicars’ Close’s buildings, addressing a backlog of repairs that have left the buildings in poor condition. St Peter’s Church in Forncett, Norfolk, with its Saxon round tower dating back to 1000 CE, receives £579,000. This will enable urgent repairs necessitated by weather-induced damage. It will also help St Peter’s become an ‘eco church’, which includes a commitment to mitigating the negative effects of climate change and reducing the church’s impact on the environment. The Heart of the Headland project at St Hilda’s Church in Hartlepool, County Durham, has received a grant of over £587,000 to help remove the church from the at-risk register. Constructed in the 12th century on the Headland, the church holds several burial name stones uncovered during the 19th and early 20th centuries, artefacts that are unique to the north east and significant for Anglo-Saxon Northumbria. The Beckford story Beckford’s Tower and Museum has reopened following a £3.9 million refurbishment funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and other public and private funders. The project has gone beyond essential repairs to encompass reimagining the museum and creating new interpretation, installing renewable energy sources and excavating a hidden grotto. New displays showcase pieces from the varied collections of William Beckford (1760–1844). Beckford’s wealth came from his ownership of sugar plantations in Jamaica and the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved people. He Beckford’s Tower: new interpretations of the collector’s privilege and power (Photo: Casper Farrell, Beckford’s Tower, Bath Preservation Trust)

4 CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 used his immense privilege and power to collect and commission precious art and objects, and to create influential buildings and landscapes. These intertwined themes of wealth and power, exploitation and abuse are addressed in the tower’s new exhibition spaces. Built between 1826 and 1827, Beckford’s Tower originally housed his collection. It sat at the top of a mile-long designed garden he created between the tower and his home at Lansdown Crescent, Bath. Since 1972 the tower has been run as a museum by the Beckford Tower Trust/Bath Preservation Trust, a charity aiming to conserve the building and landscape, and telling the complex story of Beckford’s life, relationships and complicity in the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved people. Rochdale restoration Rochdale Town Hall has reopened to the public after four years of work, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. In addition to extensive repair and restoration work undertaken to the most historically significant areas, such as the Great Hall and the Mayor’s suite of rooms, previously unseen spaces are now accessible to the public for the first time. In the Bright Hall, unsympathetic 20th-century office provisions were stripped away to reveal a double-height ceiling and angels along the walls. The town hall’s setting has been transformed by removing surrounding roads and car parks, and creating of a new multifunctional Town Hall Square. The building, designed by William H Crossland, opened in 1871. A fire destroyed the original clock tower in 1883, and a new clock tower, designed by Alfred Waterhouse, was completed in 1887. A heritage skills studio has been set up in the town hall’s basement, where a specialist conservator has been employed to work out of a dedicated space that will host volunteer training and workshops. The council aims to increase the number of employed conservators to three, and to offer these specialist conservation services to other heritage buildings in the borough, while maintaining a resource of local knowledge as a long-term legacy of the project. Donald Insall Associates was lead consultant and conservation architect. CAMRA design awards The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has announced the winners of its Pub Design Awards, recognising the refurbishment and historic conservation of pubs, and innovative construction and conversions of new venues. The Grade II* listed Vines, Liverpool, has received the Historic England Conservation Award for conserving the Edwardian pub’s architectural features, while updating its facilities. The judges commented that the full refurbishment of the interior had undone years of poor care under the previous management. Rochdale Town Hall’s Great Hall, designed by William H Crossland (Photo: James Newton) The Vines, Liverpool: refurbishment after years of poor care under the previous management

CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 5 Periodically Continuing professional development encourages habituation with the content of a wide range of heritage-sector publications. This sometimes generates professional and technical connections to support clearer critical thinking and problemsolving, fostering a more rounded nuanced view of specific subjects. Historic Environment Policy and Practice One example of a linkage and potential knowledge transfer can be found in the most recent issue of Historic Environment Policy and Practice (Vol 15, No 2, 2024). This examines the question of adding balconies during the process of adapting historic apartment blocks. Comparing the local approaches adopted in Germany, Denmark and Poland (more commonly found in the first two than the last), the paper discusses the scope for renovations to improve the spatial qualities of these historic dwellings without compromising their heritage value. The paper considers the outcome of structured interviews with conservational officers and other stakeholders, recognising the role of balconies in contributing to conservation objectives while also enhancing usability. Practitioners in this country might care to think about this approach in the context of the public versus private benefits debate, which plagues the interpretation of relative harm to significance underpinning English heritage policy. As a counter to the jibe that heritage management tends to be experts talking to other experts, an interesting paper from Spain raises some very pertinent questions about bridging the gap between heritage professionals and citizens, by examining a consultationbased approach. Current heritage legislation requires a degree of public consultation such as that specified for conservation areas in England under Section 71 of the 1990 act. This paper is therefore an interesting development of a largely ignored approach to public engagement, notwithstanding that there is no published methodology for such exercises in Britain. If we accept that a key heritage objective should be inclusivity, ensuring that as many people as possible should enjoy the value of their heritage, then the content and accuracy of audience research is an important factor in that process. A paper meriting readers’ examination written by the members of the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) highlights the problems of inherent biases, barriers to participation and other risks of citizen exclusion, and what professional processes and actions might benefit all its citizens equally. The problems and dangers of conventional audience research are also highlighted. The Georgian The latest issue of The Georgian (No 1, 2024) is particularly worth seeking out for three insightful articles. In the first, Will Palin, CEO of Barts Heritage and a trustee of the Georgian Group, describes the restoration of Sheerness Dockyard Church, winner of the 2003 Georgian Group Architectural Award. The church was the subject of a serious fire in 2021, within a few hours reducing the Grade II*-listed landmark building of 1823 to a charred shell. After the church had been shown sold to a developer, who obtained permission for a clearly unviable scheme to convert it into 19 residential units, the building languished for nearly ten years until a campaign led by SAVE (with the help on the Georgian Group and the Spitalfield Trust), led ultimately to Swale Borough Council serving a CPO, before passing the building first to the trust and then to the newly formed Sheerness Dockyard Trust. The meticulous repairs to the exterior have been exemplary, and imaginative and sympathetic adaptation has converted the interior to a business use, offering co-working for start-ups and business mentoring of young people between 16 and 30, event and meeting room hire and a cafe. This well-illustrated article demonstrates the power of persistence, and 7.3 mm Volume 15 Number 2 2024 The Historic Environment POLICY & PRACTICE POLICY & PRACTICE The Historic Environment ISSN 1756-7505 Volume 15 Number 2 2024 ISSN 1756-7505 www.tandfonline.com/yhen The Historic Environment POLICY & PRACTICE Volume 15 Number 2 2024 CONTENTS Editorial Editorial 15.2 Michael Dawson 135 Research Articles Adding Balconies to Historical Tenements – Local Approaches to the Retention of Heritage Value in Poland, Germany, and Denmark Marta Smektała and Magdalena Baborska-Narożny 141 İżnik Town and Its Rural Landscape: Decision Making, Socio-Demographic Pro ling and Conservation Policy Development Nazl Songülen, Amine Seyhun Alkan Reis, Murat Güvenç, Yonca Erkan and Mahmut Çavur 170 Bridging Natural and Cultural Heritage Management: Recommendations for Present and Former Raised Bog Areas M. Paulissen and R. van Beek 195 Bridging Heritage and Citizens: A Methodological Consultation-Based Approach Cristina Vicente-Gilabert, Blanca Del Espino-Hidalgo and Mercedes Linares-Gómez Del Pulgar 221 Centring Audiences: What Is the Value of Audience Mapping for In uencing Public Engagement with Cultural Heritage? Sara Perry, Katrina Foxton, Katrina Gargett and Lawrence Northall 248 Book Review Conservation and the Indian City: Bridging the Gap Naushad Tahsildar 273 Taylor & Francis takes seriously its commitment to sustainability. In addition to all paper used in our journals being from certi ed responsible sources, this journal is plastic-free and no longer uses plastic cover lamination or polywrap for mailing. Our print publications are certi ed CarbonNeutral® in accordance with the CarbonNeutral Protocol, meaning the emissions from production, shipping, and end-of-life disposal have been compensated for through the purchase of high quality, third-party veri ed offsets. YHEN_COVER_15_2.indd 1 6/3/2024 7:01:04 AM

6 CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 that exemplary conservationled restoration can revive even the most broken and neglected historic building if the vision, energy and willpower are there. In the second article, ‘Back to the Future’, Hugh Petter, director of ADAM Urbanism and Adam Architecture, explores how smaller-scale examples of development of the Georgian era could influence building today. This may have particular resonance for those struggling with the current obsession for planning authority-imposed pattern books, masterplanning and design codes, while looking at the practicalities of applying the current building regulations, and implications for materials and construction. Finally, the eighth instalment of the series on authentic historic details, drawn from the Charles Brookings Collection, illustrates in colour many Georgian front doors. It may prove useful for those who lack a clear understanding of what genuine Georgian patterns involve. In a column of this kind, it is sometimes difficult to do justice to substantial yearly publications. But particular attention should be drawn to the annual Journal of Historic Buildings and Places (Vol 3, 2024), which has five articles and runs to 198 pages overall. Similarly, the Georgian Group Journal (Vol 32, 2024) has 16 articles and runs to a remarkable 274 pages. Both highlight one of the significant benefits of membership to these national amenity societies. Journal of Historic Buildings and Places The content of the Journal of Historic Buildings and Places tends to reflect its wide statutory remit, covering buildings of all ages and types. This issue includes an insightful review by Colin Thom, director of the Survey of London (see page 20 of this issue of Context) on the survey’s creation; its past activities within London County Council; its survival after the demise of the GLC; its present home at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London; and its future direction and activities, including how to bring its valuable work to a wider audience. Considering its ubiquity, there should perhaps be a wide audience for the understanding of the contribution of early Victorian Tudor gothic to domestic architecture. This is the title of a tellingly illustrated article by Anthony Jennings, who discusses, over nearly 30 pages, the evolution from the medieval house to a domestic revival through to the present day. This often encountered but imperfectly understood architectural style provided long-lasting templates from the 1830s and 40s, with implications for the English house having influence elsewhere. The author also discusses the perfection of gothic and the influence of a range of pattern books that emerged between 1831 and 1836. In this issue, Patrick Newberry, an authority on the architecture of Cornwall, discusses at length and illustrates the work of James Piers St Aubyn (1815-95). St Aubyn was deemed in his time to be a successful architect with nearly 400 buildings to his credit, but he was vilified in the 20th century for adopting a heavy-handed approach to restoration and the repair of historic churches. Reflecting the wide remit of Historic Buildings and Places, the journal also contains an inquiry by Victoria Watson, co-convenor of the Design Practices Research Group at the University of Westminster, into the architectural identity of Herzog and de Meuron, with reference to Tate Modern, London, and the Museum of the Twentieth Century, Berlin, and the practice being notable for having no signature style. Georgian Group Journal Most of the articles in the Georgian Group Journal (2024) relate to research, discoveries and insights relating to specific buildings. But one in particular deserves to be highlighted, as it may lead to wider reflection on the genesis of the conservation movement. This is Tom Goodwin’s reflection on conservation as reflected in the

CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 7 architectural culture of early-18thcentury England. He reflects that the members of the newly created SPAB in 1877 were themselves in no doubt that ‘within the last 50 years a new interest almost like any other sense, had risen in the ancient monuments of art.’ Goodwin notes that the half century of radicalisation and regret which culminated in the SPAB’s foundation was not without precedent, as 150 years before St Alban’s Abbey became the SPAB’s cause celebre, the architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, already fearing that it was being ‘Martyr’d by ye Neglect of a Slouthfull generation’, was producing an engraving of the abbey to fund its restoration. Such evidence, drawn from a rich vein of conservationist action and theory in the architectural culture of the early 18th century, is largely occluded in recent histories of the subject. This valuable article is pertinent to considerations of the evolution of heritage principles and practice by examining how existing buildings were understood and valued by architects of that era. It is particularly good to see this 18-page paper in print as a condensed version of Goodwin’s much longer, justifiably winning submission for the 2024 Gus Astley Student Awards for post-graduate dissertations. Heritage Now Regular readers of this column will be aware that Historic Building and Places (and its predecessor the Ancient Monuments Society) is celebrating its centenary in 2024, having recently separated from the Friends of Friendless Churches. The director of the latter, Rachel Morley, explains in the latest issue of Heritage Now (No 9, Summer 2024) a brief history of that charity since its foundation in 1957, and its current role and activity. Elsewhere, Luke Nagle of Donald Insall Associates looks at changing attitudes towards conservation in the context of the continuing function of the Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick, and crumbling Battersea Power Station, and its controversial restoration as a London icon. Iain Borden, professor of architecture and urban culture at University College London, examines skateboard fever in the 1970s. He charts the ‘boarding boom’ and what is left of those early urban playgrounds. (It seems Historic England earned some street cred by listing one in Hornchurch in 2014.) SPAB Magazine In the Summer 2024 issue of the SPAB Magazine, the director, Matthew Slocombe, explores the rich history of the SPAB’s headquarters at Spital Square in London E1. His account should fascinate those who have never HERITAGE NOW The Magazine of Historic Buildings & Places | www.hbap.org.uk NO. 9 (SUMMER 2024) founded in 1571 and now serving as a home for service veterans. Amber Patrick reviews the society’s role in industrial casework. Matthew Saunders, the former secretary of the AMS, continues the story of the society in the second 50-year period of its centenary. He identifies eight crucial factors at play in that recent era: the diminution in the powers of local government (and the lack of conservation officers); the collapse of the car lobby, and with it the damage done by inner relief and ring roads; the discredited use of dangerous structures notices by borough surveyors to justify demolition of listed buildings unnecessarily; the gradual recognition by developers of the value of conservation; smart use of enabling development; conversion versus redevelopment, with more pressure for the former than the latter; the spinoff effect of the green revolution (lovely plastic windows anybody?); and the generally beneficial application of the ecclesiastical exemption to places of worship. C20 In the first 2024 issue of C20, the magazine of the Twentieth Century Society, Catherine Slessor, president of the society, reviews one of the 20th century’s longest-running causes celebre, the conversion of the long-redundant THE MAGAZINE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY SOCIETY ISSUE 2024/1 | £9 24 MID-CENTURY MEETS AMERICANA PARK LIFE: THE 1970s SKATE WAVE SICILY’S RADICAL NEW TOWN The hidden history of buildings 37 SPITAL SQUARE, LONDON The rich history of our headquarters THE OLD HOUSE PROJECT Archaeological discoveries and conundrums KIBWORTH HARCOURT MILL Revealing and interpreting historic graffiti THE SPAB MAGAZINE SUMMER 2024

8 CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 visited the building, and perhaps even those who have. Rachel Stoplar emphasises the ongoing importance of windmills, following the opening of the renovated Kibworth Harcourt Post Mill in Leicestershire. She highlights how crucial a role a new generation of millwrights will have to play in their conservation, and the necessarily multi-faceted skills of engineering, surveying, carpentry, bricklaying, blacksmithing, millstone dressing, machining and steeple-jacking. Stoplar highlights that there are only 11 full-time professional millwrights in the UK (nine short of the minimum considered necessary), and that millwrighting has been on the Heritage Crafts Association’s red list of endangered crafts since 2019. In a separate, related, wellillustrated article, Tessa Wild explains the importance to the historical record of apotropaic (ritual protection) and other graffiti within windmills, using the Kibworth Harcourt Post Mill as an informative example. Construction History Several papers in Construction History: the international journal of the Construction History Society (Vol 39, No 1, 2024) may prompt some interest. They discuss the novel use of Sir Marc Isambard Brunel’s Thames Tunnel as a proving ground for Roman cement in 1824–1843; the revisiting of 19th-century principles of fire protection at the Palace of Westminster in 1835–1942; and (for those particularly interested in medieval construction, measurements and drawings, and masons’ techniques) an investigation of the unusual number of lines and full-scale architectural drawings incised into the fabric of the cathedral of Narbonne (commenced 1272). Journal of Architectural Conservation Similarly worth highlighting in the Journal of Architectural Conservation (Vol 30, No 1, March 2024) is a sociological enquiry by Lynsey Hogarth and Stephen Emmitt of the University of Bath into the museum preservation of (part of) Robin Hood Gardens by the Victoria and Albert Museum. The estate, designed by Alison and Peter Smithson in the 1960s and competed in 1972, was demolished in 2017, despite a concerted and controversial campaign to save it, and repeated refusals to list it. The notoriety was followed by two equal controversies: first, CONSTRUCTION ____ Volume 39, No. 1 2024 HISTORY____ International Journal of the Construction History Society CONSTRUCTION HISTORY Volume 39, No. 1 2024 mans i ce (5th- 1 St. Just, 21 45 79 r, 1835- 99 ncept in ndition 127 Grazia ence by , James Frames, 155 157 159 161 165 the V&A’s decision to salvage a fragment from the destruction; second, criticism in the press of the decision to display the fragment at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018 in an exhibit entitled ‘Robin Hood Gardens: a ruin in reverse’. Critics argued that the museum had no right to exhibit an ugly piece of brutalist housing that had been part of a failed social experiment, and should not be protected by public funds. Bob Kindred MBE

CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 9 ‘IT IS AS though Goldfinger, from among the Functionalist totems, had chosen as a source of inspiration the artifacts of war. The sheer concrete walls of the circulation tower are pierced only by slits; cascading down the facade like rain, they impart a delicate sense of terror.’ John Boughton on the Municipal Dreams website, noting a description of Erno Goldfinger’s brutalist Balfron Tower in Poplar, London, by the architect’s former collaborator, James Dunnett. prone to failure and come in conservation designs suitable on unlisted and some listed buildings. Vacuum windows, the latest tech, have even more robust edge seals and can approach triple-glazing performance. Thin glazing bars of 16–18 mm can be exactly duplicated, which is impossible with slimline glazing as they need a minimum of a 22 mm bar.’ Architect Chris Procter commenting on Historic England’s Advisory Note 18: Adapting Historic Buildings for Energy and Carbon Efficiency. ‘ON A WET night in 1955 [he and his first wife Wendy] invited two rain-soaked hitchhikers into their home to dry out. They were Bradford Art School students David Hockney and Norman Stevens, travelling to London for an exhibition. Both would become regular overnight guests in Tempsford, a convenient hitchhiking stopover, and made artworks for Peter and Wendy as marks of their friendship. Hockney sent them a 60th wedding anniversary card from his iPad.’ From the Guardian’s obituary of building conservationist and IHBC member Peter Richards. ‘IT’S REVOLTING and I hate it, but it’s an important piece of history if only as a warning. It absolutely should be listed!’ Jamie Green on X @GuardJamie commenting on the Twentieth Century Society’s concern that planning permission has been granted to demolish a modernist house in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, designed in 1966 by Derrick Shorten, project architect of the Grade II-listed Coventry Railway Station. From ‘The Clay Houses of Cumberland’ by RW Brunskill, Ancient Monuments Society’s Transactions (1962) Both the ballad writers and the eighteenth-century observers agree on the survival, in those parts of Cumberland in which clay building was carried on, of the practice of erecting houses in one day, by a whole village, for an individual family, but as a communal venture. Robert Anderson, living in Kirklinton parish between 1777 and 1829, transcribed under the title ‘The Clay Daubin’ an account of such an occasion. In his introduction he refers to the erection of walls consisting of layers of a clay and straw mixture, separated by thin courses of straw, and these walls, for the sake of proper consolidation, had to be erected in one day. He then relates how, on an appointed day, all the neighbours come together to execute the work with the aid of forks, shovels, and wheelbarrows, and, having completed the walls at least, salute the house with a party, eating and drinking and dancing as guests of the householder. Housman, in his notes on Orton parish… describes the erection of clay houses there: ‘These houses are generally made up in a day or two; for, when a person wants a house, barn, etc built, he acquaints his neighbours who all appear at the time appointed; some lay on clay, some tread it, while others are preparing straw to mix with it. By this means, building comes low and expeditious, and indeed it must be owned that they have brought the art of clay building to some perfection. They generally ground with stone about a yard high; and a house thus built will stand (it is said) 150 or 200 years.’ Erno Goldfinger: brutalist ‘THIS entire monstrous project, a proposal to drive a gash of concrete and tarmac through our most sacred prehistoric landscape, should never have got off the drawing board.’ A campaigner with Stonehenge Alliance quoted by The Art Newspaper following the government’s decision to cancel the highway tunnel project near Stonehenge. ‘HISTORIC England seems to not understand window technology. Their preferred, Slimline double glazing with a narrow glass spacer bar can lead to leakage and fogging. Regular double and Passivhaus-level triple glazing with wider spacing bars are less

10 CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 Law and policy update ‘It is imperative that the description is unambiguous’ Alexandra Fairclough writes: The King’s Speech included 40 bills. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill, among other things, endeavours to streamline the delivery of infrastructure projects, improve national policy statements, reform compulsory purchase, modernise the planning committee system to improve planning decision-making and increase the capacity of local planning authorities to improve performance in decision-making. The deputy prime minister and housing secretary, Angela Rayner, launched the consultation on the proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) on 31 July, with a deadline for responses by 24 September. The objectives include the delivery of more houses, specifically affordable housing, and speeding up the planning process. The government is putting growth at the heart of its agenda by investing in planning and its reform (especially for infrastructure such as energy planning). The consultation also seeks views on proposed reforms, including: • The nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIP) regime, which applies to onshore wind, solar, data centres, laboratories, gigafactories and water projects. • The updating/removal of the local plan intervention policy criteria to allow the government to intervene to ensure housing delivery. • The proposed increase to some planning fees, including for householder applications, so that local planning authorities are properly resourced to support a sustained increase in development and improve performance. The two elements of the consultation specifically relevant to heritage and design are, first, removing the additional references to ‘beauty’ and ‘beautiful’ that were added in the 2023 revision of the NPPF (Chapter 6, paragraphs 17–20, Question 59). The second relevant element is the suggestion to introduce fees for listed building consent, consent to undertake relevant demolition in a conservation area and works to protected trees (Chapter 11, paragraph 14, Question 93). New advice note Historic England’s latest publication is Adapting Historic Buildings for Energy and Carbon Efficiency. The objectives of this Historic England advice note (HEAN) are to help decision makers to be consistent in their approach to improve efficiency and reduce carbon emissions in relation to heritage assets, and to ensure that the heritage significance is maintained. It provides detailed advice on permissions and consents and examples of common climate-change adaptations. Case law updates End of the road at Stonehenge: The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has scrapped the proposed tunnel under the Stonehenge world heritage site on the grounds that it is not affordable. Planning appeals Micro-glazing (Ref: 3324165): The replacement of 12 singleglazed timber sliding sash windows in a 19th-century listed building with micro-double-glazed window units was allowed by an inspector. The building is in a conservation area and in a seafront position which takes the brunt of the weather. The inspector allowed their replacement with similar Slimlite double-glazed units on the basis that the condition of the original windows was very poor, that timber windows did not last forever and at some stage would have to be replaced to the point where nothing original would be left. The inspector also stated that modern double-glazed windows would not be mistaken for originals. However, although the inspector acknowledged that there would be harm in the loss of original fabric, the NPPF test (paragraphs 205–208) was not applied. ‘The significance of the listed building is in its confident and distinctive architectural style, which makes a strong contribution to the historic character of the area,’ the inspector said. This character would be maintained and the significance would not be compromised by the minor modifications to the windows. The appeal was allowed. Servicing details are required (Ref 3319203, linked): This appeal relates to a deconsecrated 19th-century listed church in a conservation area, currently used as offices, where there was a refusal for a change in the use of parts of the building from office (Class E) to three, twobed residential homes (Class C3), and remodelling the retained office floorspace. An interesting element relates to new services and the lack of submitted details. The inspector states (paragraph 20): ‘I acknowledge that there are extensive existing

CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 11 service runs in a rather haphazard arrangement. However, the proposed change of use of part of the building to residential would involve extensive servicing, eg plumbing for the bathrooms, and likely in locations where there is either none or very little as existing, eg at second-floor level where the bathroom is proposed. It is therefore not clear what the effect of the revised services on the historic fabric and appearance of the building would be. Because of this uncertainty, and with no guarantee that the revised services could be achieved without causing unacceptable harm to the significance of the building, this information cannot be reserved for the detail to come forward by condition.’ The inspector concludes that this is a determining factor in the decision and that the proposal fails to comply with the requirements of s16 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (as amended). The appeal was dismissed. Accurate description of proposed works (Refs 3324278 and 3324318, linked): A listed building appeal related to a Grade II*-listed building, adjacent to another Grade II*-listed building within a London Borough of Lambeth conservation area. This has been comprehensively reported, but my main reason for referring to it relates to the inadequate description of the proposed works. The inspector states (paragraph 6 and 7): ‘It is imperative that the description of works is accurate and unambiguous to avoid doubt about what is proposed. The uncertainty generates serious reservations as to whether this element of the proposal could even be implemented. These matters are highly undesirable in general terms, but even more so given the building’s Grade II* listed status, a designated heritage asset of the highest significance. Taking the above into account, I am unable to properly assess whether this element of the proposal would preserve the Grade II* listed building… or any features of special architectural or historic interest which it possesses. Consequently, I cannot reasonably determine whether this element of the proposal would meet the requirements of section 16(2) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.’ It is important to ensure that the description accurately reflects the proposed works. This case was complex in that there had been several schemes and refusals, but not all had been appealed, such that the planning and listed building appeal proposals were not the same. The inspector reported that the appeal process was not a mechanism to evolve a scheme and applied the case of Holborn Studios Ltd v LB of Hackney [2017] WLR(D) 752 [2017] EWHC 2823. This case refers to Bernard Wheatcroft Ltd v SSE and Another on whether plans submitted during the appeal process should be accepted. The inspector went on to apply the substantive and procedural tests identified in the Holborn Studios case. The appeal was dismissed. Contextual design and enabling development failures (Ref 3297866): This appeal from Mole Valley District Council was a nondetermination case relating to a fortified medieval castle ruin. The owner wished to erect a dwelling, garden walls, potting shed and associated works. The castle is a listed building and part of a scheduled ancient monument, located within the green belt and in an area of special landscape value. The owner’s aim was to build a home with an increased value in land following the grant of planning permission, creating an endowment for the maintenance of the castle, which has been on the heritage-atrisk register for 25 years. The inspector considered that through its modern design, mass and relationship to the historic site, the proposed dwelling would create ‘fundamental harm’ by ‘carving up the site and introducing a use and development… entirely at odds with the castle and its setting.’ The appeal was dismissed. Solar farm within the setting of heritage assets (Ref 3337226): The installation of a groundmounted solar farm, battery storage and associated development within the setting of several scheduled ancient monuments and listed buildings was allowed, despite harm being identified. Historic England stated that it would be ‘harmful as a result of the marked change from a rural landscape to a large industrial development with fields of photovoltaic panels and associated infrastructure.’ However, the less than substantial harm was outweighed by the significant benefits of providing energy that would contribute to national targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide power to the grid. The appeal was allowed. Alexandra Fairclough is a member of the IHBC law panel and a barrister. She teaches heritage law at Manchester School of Architecture, and works as a design and conservation officer.

CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 13 URBAN HOUSING Opposite: Edgewood Mews in the London Borough of Barnet is a new urban block by Peter Barber Architects, arranged around a pedestrianised mews street. Its fortresslike facade faces a six-lane highway. (Photo: Peter de Figueiredo) See page 14. Editorial Urban housing: a history of innovation Urban housing has at times been the subject of brilliant invention. In many of the best Georgian terraced streets, for example, the roadway is raised from ground level; a void beneath the pavement stores coal, with direct access through the coal hole; an ‘area’ (originally called an ‘airey’, as it ventilated the basement) provided separate access for the servants; and, for those who needed it, a mews accommodated horses, carriages and grooms. Who invented that extraordinarily clever configuration? And, seeing that most major Georgian streets were built in stages over several years, how did a partly built street work over the months or years when some parts of the raised, vaulted pavement had been built and other parts remained unbuilt, with circulation at original ground level? No one seems to know. Streets of Victorian and Edwardian urban housing, by contrast, were often simpler, tending to do without the area, the raised road and raised pavement, and enthusiastically embracing bay windows. London cottage flats and Tyneside flats, little noticed but very common, were an innovation: terraced or semi-detached housing was divided when built horizontally, so that, in the case of a two-storey building, the ground floor and first floor are separate flats, each with its own front and back doors. Elsewhere, in certain parts of northern England, back-to-back housing (where only the front elevation has a door and windows) flourished. The contrast between the tenement tradition of working-class housing in Scotland (where most Victorian and Edwardian terraced housing was built for middle-class families) and the lack of such a tradition in England and Wales is striking, although in view of how common tenements are outside the UK, it is the relative lack of them in England that needs explanation. Later suburban housing in the UK favoured detached and semi-detached forms to create personal space without taking up a great deal of land. Arts and crafts detailing on a vast number of the houses added a semblance of neo-vernacular spirit. Post-war necessity prompted the invention of prefabs (see page 28). Later in the 20th century, car parking dominated the urban housing scene without prompting any innovation that might tame it. Modernist design produced campus layouts (which worked less well for council housing than for universities) and streets in the sky. Scissor blocks were another innovation of the 1950s and 60s, where in a block of maisonettes each corridor serves the maisonette above and below (or sometimes more), saving on the space allocated to corridors compared to the more normal arrangement of corridors serving apartments on the same level. The interlocking layout of a scissor block was always highly complicated: each maisonette comprised four separate levels, all of them connected to each other in continuous series of half-storey-height staircases. Brilliant but confusing, and hopeless for people with mobility problems. Then came the private housing estate, tending to condemn residents to car dependence, and often offering design details that ensure that every house looks bafflingly different; and the single-aspect apartment block, achieving relatively high densities and little else positive. So it is wonderful to discover that while we are doing our best to conserve the popular streets that we already have, some architects, such as Peter Barber (see page 14), are finding innovative ways to create successful, resource-efficient housing in the most difficult settings.

14 CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 PETER DE FIGUEIREDO The revival of urban council housing Peter Barber’s work shows that it is possible to deliver publicly funded housing of real quality at an affordable cost by reviving forgotten building types and urban customs. The Victorian street lined with terraced houses, each with its own front entrance and private open space at the rear, is a powerful symbol of urban domesticity. Social bonding and community engagement have thrived in these densely populated developments and, despite large-scale clearance and replacement in the post-war period, many such dwellings have survived. In part this was due to enlightened local authorities that bought up and improved the privately rented houses, giving their residents secure tenancies and thus conserving the identity of settlements across Britain. The economic and social benefits of municipal housing, however, were undermined by the policies of the Thatcher government, which introduced the right for occupants to buy council houses at subsidised prices and curtailed local governments’ power to build new dwellings. Housebuilding was thus placed in the hands of the private sector and housing associations, which favoured the suburban model. In 1999, following the election of the Labour government, the architect Richard Rogers was invited to set up an urban task force to establish a vision for towns and cities, based on the principles of design excellence, social wellbeing and environmental sustainability. Towards an Urban Renaissance, the task force’s report, foresaw an urban environment of mixed communities, car-free and densely developed. A former member of Rogers’ office was Peter Barber, who had set up his own practice in 1989 specialising in social housing, and whose work most convincingly brings to life the intentions of the Rogers report.1 Several Peter Barber Architects’ (PBA) schemes have now been built across London, the typical site being leftover backland, redundant car parks or former garages, sites that most contemporary house builders would reject. But instead of the usual slab blocks of apartments with single-aspect flats served by central corridors favoured by commercial developers, PBA’s approach draws on the urban grain and vernacular forms of previous centuries that give character to historic places. These include backto-back units, once commonplace in northern England and the midlands before they were condemned as insanitary, walk-up tenements as found in Glasgow, shared courtyards, narrow streets, balconies and open terraces. Donnybrook Quarter One of Barber’s earliest projects was the Donnybrook Quarter in Bow, completed in 2006 Each home in Donnybrook Quarter has its own front door opening on to a pedestrian-only street and a small square, and either an outdoor private yard or a roof terrace. (All photos by Peter de Figueiredo) 1 Architectural Review, July/ August 2019

CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 15 URBAN HOUSING for Circle 33 Housing Association. It consists of 42 homes arranged in a series of tightly packed two- and three-storey terraces. Each home has its own front door opening on to a pedestrian-only street and a small square, and either an outdoor private yard or roof terrace, a significant achievement in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, where 70 per cent of social housing has no outside space. Oriel windows and balconies give character to the smooth white rendered facades. McGrath Road and North Street Concerned that white render might not be adequately maintained in the future, PBA’s later schemes have all been faced in brick. A prime example is McGrath Road, Stratford, built for the London Borough of Newham. This is a perimeter block around a courtyard, reminiscent of the much larger Karl-Marx-Hof in Vienna of 1927–30. It contains 26 units, 19 with two bedrooms and the others with three bedrooms. Those on the entrance front and south side are back-to-back units, treated as tower houses, with a single room on each floor and at third-floor level a living room with a roof terrace. Each also has a balcony that stretches the full width of the facade. The density – 620 habitable rooms per hectare – is remarkably high for a building that does not exceed four storeys and provides such a generous amount of open space. McGrath Road, with its unorthodox layout, has proved successful with young people from the vicinity seeking starter homes, and can be bought through a shared-equity scheme, with payments split between conventional mortgages and a council loan. Back-to-back dwellings are also used at North Street, Barking, where 14 council houses form a fortress-like island in an otherwise chaotic urban setting. Each house is entered through a private open space shielded by brick boundary walls. Burbridge Close PBA’s project at Burbridge Close, Becontree, is designed for older people, particularly those seeking to downsize and thus freeing up larger council houses for families. The client, Barking and Dagenham Council’s regeneration company BeFirst London, approached Barber to advise on developing a redundant backland garage site on the vast Becontree Estate. His solution was to build four units on each side of a shared pathway. Six of the houses are single-storey cottages, while the end pair at the junction with Fitzstephen Road are two-storey. There are no rear gardens, but each has a sitting-out area by the front door that encourages neighbourliness. The idea for the layout was derived from Choumert Square in Peckham, a Victorian alleyway with cottages to each side and no back gardens. But with its wavy roofline and arched brick lintels, Burbridge Close has its own lively character reminiscent of historic village alms houses. Kiln Place Barking and Dagenham Council is not alone in identifying garage areas and leftover spaces with potential for new social housing and environmental improvement. A similar exercise carried out by the London Borough of Camden resulted in PBA making interventions at Kiln Place, a 1960s housing estate consisting of five-storey slab blocks built around green areas. In 1999– 2000, Kiln Place underwent alterations involving single-storey extensions that were intended to The density at McGrath Road is remarkably high for a building that does not exceed four storeys and provides so generous an amount of open space.

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