Who: David McKendrick
Where: Barbican Estate
Architects: Chamberlin, Powell and Bon
What are the best things about living here?
The location, peace and quiet, and the swimming pool is a stone’s throw away at Golden Lane Estate leisure centre – now that is London’s best kept secret.
Who: David McKendrick
Where: Barbican Estate
Architects: Chamberlin, Powell and Bon
What are the best things about living here?
The location, peace and quiet, and the swimming pool is a stone’s throw away at Golden Lane Estate leisure centre – now that is London’s best kept secret.
Who: David McKendrick
Where: Barbican Estate
Architects: Chamberlin, Powell and Bon
What are the best things about living here?
The location, peace and quiet, and the swimming pool is a stone’s throw away at Golden Lane Estate leisure centre – now that is London’s best kept secret.
Who: Katy Caroll
Where: Park Hill
Architects: Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith
What are the best things about living here?
Concrete! The interior/exterior space, the views afforded by the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows (at both the front and the back of the flat) and the light they bring right into our living space. At the front we overlook a roundabout used by trams, cars, bicycles and pedestrians. It has trees and greenery at the centre, a swimming pool on clear view through the glass roof, and trains running alongside the station; it’s constantly moving. At the back we see the original Park Hill flats, in all their glory, juxtaposed against some of those that have been ‘urban splashed’.
Who: Katy Caroll
Where: Park Hill
Architects: Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith
What are the best things about living here?
Concrete! The interior/exterior space, the views afforded by the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows (at both the front and the back of the flat) and the light they bring right into our living space. At the front we overlook a roundabout used by trams, cars, bicycles and pedestrians. It has trees and greenery at the centre, a swimming pool on clear view through the glass roof, and trains running alongside the station; it’s constantly moving. At the back we see the original Park Hill flats, in all their glory, juxtaposed against some of those that have been ‘urban splashed’.
Who: Katy Caroll
Where: Park Hill
Architects: Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith
What are the best things about living here?
Concrete! The interior/exterior space, the views afforded by the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows (at both the front and the back of the flat) and the light they bring right into our living space. At the front we overlook a roundabout used by trams, cars, bicycles and pedestrians. It has trees and greenery at the centre, a swimming pool on clear view through the glass roof, and trains running alongside the station; it’s constantly moving. At the back we see the original Park Hill flats, in all their glory, juxtaposed against some of those that have been ‘urban splashed’.
Who: Katy Caroll
Where: Park Hill
Architects: Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith
What are the best things about living here?
Concrete! The interior/exterior space, the views afforded by the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows (at both the front and the back of the flat) and the light they bring right into our living space. At the front we overlook a roundabout used by trams, cars, bicycles and pedestrians. It has trees and greenery at the centre, a swimming pool on clear view through the glass roof, and trains running alongside the station; it’s constantly moving. At the back we see the original Park Hill flats, in all their glory, juxtaposed against some of those that have been ‘urban splashed’.
Who: Eleanor Fawcett, Nathan and Nina Jones
Where: Alexandra & Ainsworth Estate
Architect: Neave Brown
What are the best things about living here?
Getting involved with the community and, of course, the design of our house. Some of our favourite things about the house are:
– The panoramic view of the trees from the full-width window in our kitchen – the view changes throughout the year.
– The way the staircase runs up through the centre of the open plan living spaces, making all the floors feel really connected.
– The huge sliding doors, and generosity of the full height doorways.
– The ‘upside-down’ arrangement, with the bedrooms on the ground floor and the living room at the top.
– The big roof terrance, which connects to the living room and feels like a real outdoor room.
Who: Eleanor Fawcett, Nathan and Nina Jones
Where: Alexandra & Ainsworth Estate
Architect: Neave Brown
What are the best things about living here?
Getting involved with the community and, of course, the design of our house. Some of our favourite things about the house are:
– The panoramic view of the trees from the full-width window in our kitchen – the view changes throughout the year.
– The way the staircase runs up through the centre of the open plan living spaces, making all the floors feel really connected.
– The huge sliding doors, and generosity of the full height doorways.
– The ‘upside-down’ arrangement, with the bedrooms on the ground floor and the living room at the top.
– The big roof terrance, which connects to the living room and feels like a real outdoor room.
Who: Eva Tyler
Where: Pullman Court
Architects: Sir Frederick Gibberd
What are the best things about living here?
The flat works for me and is always a pleasure – today the sun is pouring into my living room. Plus I’m in the middle back block, so it’s quiet, but good transport links are just at the end of the drive.
Who: Eva Tyler
Where: Pullman Court
Architects: Sir Frederick Gibberd
What are the best things about living here?
The flat works for me and is always a pleasure – today the sun is pouring into my living room. Plus I’m in the middle back block, so it’s quiet, but good transport links are just at the end of the drive.
Who: Eva Tyler
Where: Pullman Court
Architects: Sir Frederick Gibberd
What are the best things about living here?
The flat works for me and is always a pleasure – today the sun is pouring into my living room. Plus I’m in the middle back block, so it’s quiet, but good transport links are just at the end of the drive.
Who: Eva Tyler
Where: Pullman Court
Architects: Sir Frederick Gibberd
What are the best things about living here?
The flat works for me and is always a pleasure – today the sun is pouring into my living room. Plus I’m in the middle back block, so it’s quiet, but good transport links are just at the end of the drive.
Who: Eva Tyler
Where: Pullman Court
Architects: Sir Frederick Gibberd
What are the best things about living here?
The flat works for me and is always a pleasure – today the sun is pouring into my living room. Plus I’m in the middle back block, so it’s quiet, but good transport links are just at the end of the drive.
Who: Eva Tyler
Where: Pullman Court
Architects: Sir Frederick Gibberd
What are the best things about living here?
The flat works for me and is always a pleasure – today the sun is pouring into my living room. Plus I’m in the middle back block, so it’s quiet, but good transport links are just at the end of the drive.
‘I grew up on a council estate’, Modernist Estates author Stefi Orazi says, ‘so I was used to purpose-built apartment blocks. But it was living in the Barbican that really got me hooked on Modernist architecture.’
Back in 1997 when the graphic designer-turned-blogger first rented a room on the Barbican Estate, it wasn’t the trendy postcode it is now. ‘Most people thought it was kind of ugly,’ Orazi says, but the estate, designed by Chamberlin, Powell & Bon, set a standard of living that Orazi was determined to find in her own home.
And find it she did – albeit in a diminutive form – on the nearby Golden Lane Estate. ‘It was a lovely flat, but it was really small. As I started looking for something bigger, I began to discover various post-war estates,’ Orazi says. ‘That’s how my blog really began – Modernist Estates was a way to document the places I’d seen and how expensive they were at the time’.
Rather than focusing solely on their price points, Orazi began unpicking the social value of the buildings she encountered and the history and politics behind why they were built. ‘I decided that if I was going to write about these places, I should find out what they were like to live in.’
With her book about to hit shelves in the UK, Orazi has also embarked upon another new project, this time closer to home…
After interviewing dozens of people and viewing scores more in her hunt for a new home, Orazi finally came across her own perfect property – a 1970s Benson & Forsyth-designed split-level apartment in Camden. ‘I contacted Benson & Forsyth, who are still practising and they sent me the original plans and told me about the building.’
Turning one of her own interview questions back on her, what is the best thing about living in it? ‘It’s quite a small estate – one building that contains 64 flats – and it’s a really great group of people. It wasn’t the reason I moved there, but it’s the best thing about living there.’
‘The architects were interested in dramatic changes in space: they played with scale, and rather than all of the rooms being mediocre in size, they’ve been clever with the economy of space, so corridors are narrow but the living room and kitchen are really big.’
