Brixton's Barrier Block (Southwyck House) - history, news and chat
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Shippou-Sensei
4:1:2.5
alef said:
actully it looked quite nice pink
certainly better pink that the new red colour i think grey might even be better than red
At the Elephant
You reckon? Dirty rainwashed concrete (= "grey") us better than red?
I disagree I think ....
Shippou-Chan said:
You reckon? Dirty rainwashed concrete (= "grey") us better than red?
I disagree I think ....
lang rabbie
Je ne regrette les gazebos
William of Walworth said:
IIRC, the underlying 1960 Shopping Centre building (as visible from the railway side) is a mixture of concrete (not in too bad condition) and pale grey engineering brick.
The cladding installed in the late 70s -when the top floor of the shopping centre became conference facilities for the DHSS [now the Bingo
] - consists of GRC (fibreglass reinforced cement?) panels, in the "avocado" colour that was visible until the late 1980s when the "pink Elephant" makeover took place, and then painted red about ten years ago. Water is now working through the joints of the GRC cladding, causing streaking and staining of the painted surface. In the short term (assuming that the redevelopment is eventually going to take place), stripping off the GRP panels back to the brickwork, and introducing energy-efficient coloured downlighting might be a better bet
.
editor
hiraethified
Interesting piece about the ill fated plans to drive an elevated motorway through the heart of Brixton here:
*edit - there's an error in there about the amount of skyscrapers that were going to be built in Brixton - it wasn't 50, but fourteen 50-storey skyscrapers. I've emailed the author.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/architecture/london-roads-to-nowhere-2207351.html
*edit - there's an error in there about the amount of skyscrapers that were going to be built in Brixton - it wasn't 50, but fourteen 50-storey skyscrapers. I've emailed the author.
Garek
Living n ADDled chaos
Thing is a lot of damage was done. We didn't escape unscathed.
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
Ed, didn't you do a thread about this very subject based on a piece you wrote for the non-board bit of U75 a few years ago?
editor
hiraethified
Fascinating stuff. I'd never wondered why Hackney and Shepherds Bush had bits of motorway in them. But I think the disastrous effect of the proposed roads is hugely exaggerated. Notting Hill hasn't exactly been ruined by the Westway. Neither has Brixton by its many railway lines. There's no reason why the land under an elevated road should be blighted.
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
The thing I don't get in that article is this line:
Well, if these roads had been built, London would have developed in different ways, and different 'vibrant communities' (bleurgh) would have formed.
It's a weird kind of reverse-anti-nostalgia for something that never happened.
Well, if these roads had been built, London would have developed in different ways, and different 'vibrant communities' (bleurgh) would have formed.
It's a weird kind of reverse-anti-nostalgia for something that never happened.
editor
hiraethified
Motorways are about six times as wide as rail lines, and have constant traffic providing an endless backdrop of noise and air pollution. The motorway would have had a catastrophic impact on Brixton life.
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
What do you mean by 'catastophic' tho? Would it have meant the end of Brixton? Turned it into an m-way 'ghetto' in the shadow of the overpass pillars? Or would it have developed, but in a different way to that which has happened?
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
Well there is that, but it's the automatic assumption that it would have been bad. No one can know.
Um, Notting Hill anyone??? The noise problem seems to me to be no worse there than the noise we get at street level in Brixton. And plenty of useful community amenities have appeared under the Westway which would otherwise have been unaffordable because of land prices. Brixton wouldn't be so terrible with a motorway over it. I'm not saying the scheme is a good idea though. More roads create more traffic. I much prefer the current scenario of a car being next to useless in London. The way that cars and car culture have been allowed to influence this country is one of its biggest failings.
Not at all. Brixton would evolve with a mway, as Notting Hill has done. But it would be a mistake. Simple!
e2a: I'm assuming it would be Notting Hill stylee, i.e. high up, without a local interchange. Obv if it's at ground level (as in North Kensington) or there's a junction (as at Paddington) then it's about as good as a nuclear bomb.
e2a: I'm assuming it would be Notting Hill stylee, i.e. high up, without a local interchange. Obv if it's at ground level (as in North Kensington) or there's a junction (as at Paddington) then it's about as good as a nuclear bomb.
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hiraethified
What do you think might happen when you have a predominately poor population forced to live in an unspeakably ugly and bleak urban area?
editor
hiraethified
TruXta
tired
Can anyone say Cross-Bronx Expressway?
ETA that picture above ed, that's looking west to east right? So is that Acre Lane that would've been swallowed by the motorway?
Isn't that pretty much what we have now? Every big estate (apart from the Moorlands) is hideous.
Garek
Living n ADDled chaos
I think you only got to look at Hammersmith to see how negatively an area can be affected. And the Rochester Relief Road, that's another good example.
I do see what you are saying though.
editor
hiraethified
They may be 'hideous' to your eyes, but there's still a fairly rich mix of old and new housing, with the odd architectural gem scattered about.
Brixton has seen definite environmental improvements in recent years and I think it would have been a different story for residents stuck under a grim concrete motorway scheme.
Or, to put it another way, how would you fancy living right next to a busy elevated motorway? It would have run right outside my house and believe me, it would have been a hideous sight.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
ed, your diagram was mislabelled when you created it, it was mislabelled a couple of years ago when you last did this thread, and it's mislabelled now. That's not St. Matthews Church, it's the town hall. HTH 
Also, note the dark grey line to the left of the motorway - that's the railway, so the motorway would have left the edge of coldharbour lane around granville market and crossed the highstreet by the railway bridges. What you've labelled Moorlands estate is actually the rushcroft, saltoun, kellet, mervan roads area.
Also, note the dark grey line to the left of the motorway - that's the railway, so the motorway would have left the edge of coldharbour lane around granville market and crossed the highstreet by the railway bridges. What you've labelled Moorlands estate is actually the rushcroft, saltoun, kellet, mervan roads area.
