Tower blocks in Great Britain
Tower blocks are
Initially, tower blocks were welcomed, and their excellent views made them popular living places. Later, as the buildings themselves deteriorated, they grew a reputation for being undesirable low-cost housing, and many tower blocks had rising crime levels, increasing their unpopularity. One response to this was the great increase in the number of housing estates built, which, in turn, brings its own problems. In the UK, tower blocks particularly lost popularity after the partial collapse of Ronan Point in east London in 1968. They are still present in many British cities.[1]
Design
Postwar Britain was the stage for a tower block "building boom"; from the 1950s to the late 1970s, as a dramatic increase took place in tower-block construction. During this time, local authorities desired to impress their voters by building futuristic and imposing tower blocks, which would signify postwar progress.
As well as inspiring residents, local authority planners believed that the way tower blocks were constructed would save money.[6] Generally, the tower blocks were built on cheap greenfield land skirting established cities.[7] Although the property prices for these periphery sites were markedly cheaper than their inner-city counterparts, they often had little access to public amenities, such as public transport.[4] The implementation of industrialised building techniques was thought to lower costs, too, as similar tower blocks could be replicated over many sites.[7] Uniform and standardised parts, such as toilet fittings and door handles, would be fitted throughout many tower blocks; planners deemed that buying in bulk would reduce overall costs.[7]
Another key aspect of the tower block vision was the
Social issues
Coleman's 1985 work argues that in trying to emulate Le Corbusier's ideas, the tower-block planners only succeeded in encouraging social problems.[11]
Although architects and local authorities intended the opposite, tower blocks quickly became, as Hanley sharply stated, "slums in the sky".
Tower blocks were unsuitable for families with children, as parents could not supervise them playing outside from a flat in the sky. Poor design decisions ruined the anticipated benefits of the buildings. Open spaces, which were supposed to benefit the residents, were instead unattractive, unused, and inadequately supervised; often, the spaces were simply left as undeveloped wasteland.[14][15][16][17] Residents felt maintaining the large open spaces around the blocks was difficult because they realistically belonged to no one.[18] Social problems increased as the tower blocks quickly degraded because of poor maintenance and an insecure communal environment, leading to an increase in crime in the common areas.[19][15] Apart from frequent break-downs, communal lifts were a source of fear for people travelling alone.[20] Rarely could one "enter a clean-smelling, undefaced lift".[21] The tower blocks, many of which were on the periphery of the city, made residents feel isolated and cut off from society.[22] Outsiders and newcomers were also affected; they felt the overbearing design of the tower blocks made them fearsome and unsociable.[23]
Power argues that as a direct consequence of their design and construction, security problems were prevalent in many of the tower blocks.[12] Break-ins, vandalism, and muggings were common, which were aided by the buildings' concealed areas, the mazes of internal corridors, and dark corners.[24] Police were often required in the tower blocks,[4] but their infrequent presence did little to pacify towers rife with delinquency. To contain disruptive behaviour, local authorities began to place "problem families" in the same blocks; Hanley argues that this policy only led to "further alienation ... nihilism and a creeping sense of lawlessness".[25] Dunleavy seconds this, suggesting that the mental health of long-term tower-block residents may have been detrimentally affected.[26]
While local authorities and their architects intended to create tower blocks that encouraged harmonious and vibrant communities, often the results were far from ideal. Postwar tower blocks were compromised from the outset by a combination of faults; local authorities advocated impractical architectural methods; design and construction faults were frequently reproduced; and a lack of understanding appeared about the social consequences of certain design features. Collectively, these oversights transformed many tower blocks into undesirable places to live. By 1985, 45% of people living in tower blocks were in the 10 poorest local authorities in the country.[27]
Fire safety
Compliant protections for residents in tower blocks can be very expensive to retrofit, and lessors (such as local authorities) have been sued for lack of a current fire-safety inspection, or implementation of its recommendations.
Tower blocks may be inherently more prone to casualties from a fire because people living on higher floors cannot escape fires easily and the fire brigade cannot reach the higher floors quickly. In buildings with more than 100 residents, ensuring that every single resident acts responsibly to minimize fire risk is difficult; poorer residents in tower blocks may be tempted to use cheaper flammable fuels rather than electricity, they are also more likely to be smokers (carelessness with cigarettes is a major cause of home fires), and they are more likely to have old furniture, not made to modern fire-safety standards. Fire-safety legislation introduced in 2006 requires new high-rise buildings to be built to higher safety standards with sprinkler systems; the same standards do not apply to pre-2006 tower blocks, which contain a greater proportion of poor people.[31] Recent studies [32][33] have investigated the combined use of egress components (e.g., stairs and elevators) to enhance the effectiveness of evacuation strategies in case of fire.
The 24-storey
Many fire risk assessments (FRA) are considered inadequate because the assessors fail to examine the structure in detail, for example, looking above false ceilings. Grenfell Tower in London was considered a medium-fire risk, but in spite of this, at least 72 people died in the fire; FRA also failed with the Lakanal House fire. Prof Arnold Dix described the FRA system as only a, "box-ticking exercise". Dix maintains cladding, how hard it is to evacuate a burning tower block, fire risks inside flats such as old electrical equipment that is at greater risk of catching fire and combustible bedding, are not taken into account.[37]
Current use
In recent years, some council or ex-council high-rises in the United Kingdom, including Trellick Tower, Keeling House, and Sivill House, have become popular with young professionals due to their excellent views, desirable locations, and architectural pedigrees, and now command high prices. Plans have been made to redevelop the Little London and Lovell Park areas on the fringes of Leeds city centre into luxury flats for 'young urban professionals'. The plans entail demolishing all of the council housing and refurbishing the high-rise flats. This demand has led to many councils rethinking plans regarding their demolition.
In Glasgow, similar initiatives have taken place; in 2011, the
After a gap of around 30 years, new high-rise flats are once again being built in
See also
- Tower blocks in Glasgow
- Danchi, similar group housing buildings in Japan, constructed during the latter half of the 20th century
- Khrushchyovka, a class of group housing building common in countries formerly part of the USSR, constructed during the 1960’s
References
Citations
- ^ "Ronan Point". The Open University. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ Hanley 2007, p. 104.
- ^ Dunleavy 1981.
- ^ a b c d Hanley 2007.
- ^ Dunleavy 1981, p. 57.
- ^ Dunleavy 1981, p. 84.
- ^ a b c d Power 1997, p. 57.
- ^ Dunleavy 1981, p. 58.
- ^ a b Power 1997, p. 59.
- ^ Power 1997, p. 58.
- ^ Lund, B. (1996) Housing problems and housing policy, New York, Longman, p. 127.
- ^ a b Power 1997, p. 93.
- ^ Hanley 2007, p. 119.
- ^ Dunleavy 1981, p. 98.
- ^ a b Rosen 2003, p. 2003.
- ^ Superb Photos Of Life On A 1991 British Social Housing Estate, Flashbak, 2 November 2015
- ^ Life on the Lion Farm estate 25 years ago, BBC News, 12 August 2015
- ^ Power 1997, p. 92.
- ^ Power 1997, p. 111.
- ^ Power 1987, p. 143.
- ^ Power 1987, p. 144.
- ^ Power 1997, p. 95.
- ^ Power 1997.
- ^ Dunleavy 1981, p. 97.
- ^ Hanley 2007, p. 124.
- ^ Dunleavy 1981, p. 99.
- ^ Rosen 2003, pp. 129–131.
- ^ Davey, Ed (28 September 2009). "Tower blocks 'potential disaster'". BBC News. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
- ^ "Tower block fire safety fears". BBC News. 16 June 1999. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
- ^ Walker, Peter (3 January 2010). "Huge fire safety bills for tower block residents". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
- ^ Davey, Ed (8 July 2009). "Are tower blocks a fire hazard?". BBC News. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
- .
- S2CID 108751870.
- ^ Pasha-Robinson, Lucy (14 June 2017). "Residents inside 24-storey London flats on fire were told to stay inside in case of blaze". The Independent. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
- ^ Wahlquist, Calla (14 June 2017). "Fire safety concerns raised by Grenfell Tower residents in 2012". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
- ^ Wainwright, Oliver (15 June 2017). "High-rise towers are safe but tougher inspections needed, say experts". The Guardian.
- ^ Cafe, Rebecca (28 June 2017). "London fire: Fire safety risk inspections pointless, says expert". BBC News.
- ^ "GHA's £7m transformation of multi-story to offer rental homes for city's key workers". GHA – Press Release. Glasgow Housing Association. Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
- ^ Glendinning, Miles. "Feature – Red Road". Scottish Architecture.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2008.
- ^ "Anna Waite: We need more apartment blocks in Southend". Echo-news.co.uk. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
- ^ Bell, Bethan (16 June 2017). "London fire: A tale of two tower blocks". BBC News. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
Sources
- Dunleavy, Patrick (1981). The politics of mass housing in Britain, 1945–1975. Oxford, U.K: Clarendon Press.
- Hanley, Lynsey (2007). Estates: an intimate history. London: Granta Books.
- Power, A. (1987). Property before people. London: Allen & Unwin.
- Power, A. (1997). Estates on the edge. Great Britain: MacMillan.
- Rosen, Andrew (2003). The Transformation of British Life 1950-2000: A Social History. ISBN 978-0-719-06612-2.
External links
- Tower Block - Modern Public Housing in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland By Miles Glendinning and Stefan Muthesius
- The design of high-rise flats: 1958 housing guide – Design of Homes blog