JACOB CARTER

The History of the Ferrier Estate

The Ferrier Estate, Kidbrooke was built in 1972 by the Greater London Council to offer 2000 new homes. The site, consisting of 76 acres at 100 persons per acre (247 persons per hectare), was one of the last of its kind to be constructed

Built on a Brownfield site (a disused military store), situated desirably close to Central London, its construction was part of the London County Council's response to the urgent need for housing:

After World War Two, London was desperately short of residential housing. The production of housing had been halted during the war, and many homes were lost to the bombing raids of the German Air Force. Great social changes were also beginning to appear, people were now marrying younger and the population was rapidly increasing. Short-term housing solutions known as Emergency Factory Made Houses (EFM's) were constructed on vacant sites, but more permanent solutions were swiftly needed.

The major priority for Post-War Britain was to build as many dwellings as quickly as possible, so that the ever increasing need for housing could be quelled. With the adoption of industrial building methods, housing parts could be constructed at great speed using concrete poured into moulds and then assembled on site. This method proved to be an almost ideal solution; not only did it allow for fast construction but it also alleviated the strain on the weakened workforce.

Vacant sites across London were sought and acquired. Lack of building space and the ever increasing desire to live near cities represented a clear problem. It became popular therefore for urban planners to build houses to a high-density, with large subsidies given to those councils willing to build high rise towers.

The end of the War had brought new hope to Britain, and offered architects and planners the chance to rebuild London with great vision. Architects such as Le Corbusier had been of great influence to the planners of the time: ‘Form follows function' and Corbusier's most famous saying, ‘A house is a machine for living in', capture the fin de siecle of the era. The functionalist housing design was adopted by the Greater London Council (GLC) as the style to build for social housing.

Slum-housing of the past was cleared to make way for the new Social Housing schemes that were intended to benefit the poor. The vision was that no longer would one have to live in cramped and polluted conditions, as the promise of good quality housing for the populace would soon emerge. The new estates being constructed in every major city in Europe utilised the great density that each tower block was capable of to enable cities in the sky, surrounded by green spaces.

 

The production of large estates and tower blocks peaked during the 1960s and 1970s but soon problems with the sites had become uncomfortably clear.

During the month of August 1968, a gas explosion inside an apartment in a Ronan Point tower block, Newham, London, caused the corner of the building to collapse. In a domino effect the entire side of the building gave way. Two people died, because of the incident and subsequently a lack of confidence in the use of prefabricated building methods emerged. The disaster symbolises the pivotal turning point when the enthusiasm of the tower blocks and social housing schemes turned to resentment.

However, this is not to say there were no problems before the event at Ronan Point. The trouble with such buildings had already become apparent. Tower blocks had become increasingly unpopular with residents over the years for the reasons of their inhuman scale, their unsuitability for families, the problems with lifts and rubbish chutes. The majority of estates reported higher crime rates than the surrounding area, with antisocial behaviour gradually being associated with the design. A sense of isolation and lack of community arose in the estates.

As a result of the perceived failure, the construction of prefabricated housing estates and tower-blocks declined steeply towards the end of the 1970s and early 1980s, with low rise alternatives sought instead. Many of the remaining estates continue to prove problematic and to be a great task for any government dealing with them.

 

The Ferrier Estate was completed in 1972 when tower blocks were becoming increasingly unpopular and proving problematic for councils to maintain. The Estate was built using pre fabricated, industrial building methods, and combines a series of tower-blocks and enclosed squares of maisonette style flats. Since its construction the Estate has gained notoriety for crime, neglect and vandalism, remaining disliked and feared with residents seeking alternative living space as soon as they are moved in.

The estate is soon to be demolished and replaced as part of a major regeneration and investment scheme in the area. Currently there are 6000 residents living on the estate, 80% of which have voted in favour of the new redevelopment proposals.