Churchill Gardens, Pimlico
Subscribe now to instantly view this image
Subscribe to the Architects’ Journal (AJ) for instant access to the AJ Buildings Library, an online database of nearly 2,000 exemplar buildings in photographs, plans, elevations and details.
Already a subscriber? Sign in
Galwey, Arphot Download Original
Thirty acre housing estate situated on the north bank of the Thames
The estate was developed between 1946 and 1962 under the Abercrombie Plan, replacing Victorian terraces houses damaged during the Blitz.
Comprising 1,600 homes in 32 blocks, the estate is a pioneering example of mixed development, acting as a model for many subsequent public housing projects. Tall slabs of between nine and eleven storeys are enclosed by seven storey blocks and interspersed with maisonettes and terraces.
Construction is in reinforced concrete with transverse spine walls and slab floors. Walls are lined with wood wool slab insulation and the external facades are clad in yellow flint lime brick. The heat accumulator tower consists of an outer casing of rolled steel prefabricated panels enclosed in a casing of rough cast glass in aluminum frames.
The estate is notable for its early and rare example of district heating in the UK. A glass-faced accumulator tower collected the CHP by-product heat in hot water from the now-disused Battersea Power Station, providing heat and hot water throughout the estate. The tower is no longer in use, but still stands as the estate's most prominent feature.
Churchill Gardens was designated a conservation area in 1990, and in 1998 six blocks and the Accumulator Tower were Grade II listed.
Data
- Begun: 1946
- Completed: 1954
- Sector: Residential
- Funding: Westminster City Council
- Address: Churchill Gardens, Pimlico, London, SW1V 3LG, United Kingdom
Professional Team
- Architect: Powell & Moya
- Project architect: Martin Hurley
- Client: Westminster City Council
- Main contractor: Holloway Bros
- Structural engineer: Scott and Wilson
- Services engineer: J Roger Preston & Partners
- Quantity surveyor: E. C Harris & Partners
Suppliers
- Bricks: Uxbridge Flint Brick Co
- Pumps: W. H. Willcox & Co
- District heating plant: J. Jeffreys & Co