Recent work of Camberwell Borough Council carried out under the direction of the Borough Architect : May 1963 : Camberwell Green redevelopment proposals : sketch 2
I've recently acquired an interesting ring binder of photographs and plans showing various housing schemes undertaken by the old Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell and dated May 1963. The binder is marked "FOH District Town Planning" and likely the initials stand for F.O.Hayes; Camberwell being unusual amongst London Borough councils in having a Borough architect. Hayes joined the council, as Director of Housing, in 1952 and was responsible for a series of hosuing developments at a time when municipal, or social, housing was amongst one of the most foremost topics of the day. A backlog of redevelopment of slum houses, worsened by wartime damage, saw many British councils heavily involved in slum clearance and looking towards the 'new' architecture of the period to both provide the numbers of housing units needed at a cost that could be afforded. Camberwell had been created as a Metropolitan Borough in 1900 and was merged into the new London Borough of Southwark in 1965.
This series of plans, designs, sketches and photographs of maquettes show the radical proposals for Camberwell Green, the still busy crossroads where the north - south route of Camberwell Road and Denmark Hill meets the east - west route between the Oval and Peckham. The local shops, along with houses, bus garages and the remaining 'green' of Camberwell Green were to be swept away and replaced with a new gyratory system, along with a relocated Green, flanked by a new civic centre to the north consisting of a tower block and podium and all around segregated pedestrain walkways, that very post-war feature, giving access into surrounding residential blocks and estates. As the opening note also mentions some passive provision for the long hoped for Underground extension (mooted at times to be either the existing Bakerloo or the planned Victoria line) was also included in the scheme.
For whatever reason none of this plan came to pass and so this, with its echoes of the ultimately unsuccessful Elephant and Castle scheme a few miles north, remains a fascinating 'might have been' of London's "new" 1960s future. As well as the Green this sketch shows pedestrian flows at both ground level and, above, on high level decks.
Recent work of Camberwell Borough Council carried out under the direction of the Borough Architect : May 1963 : Camberwell Green redevelopment proposals : sketch 2
I've recently acquired an interesting ring binder of photographs and plans showing various housing schemes undertaken by the old Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell and dated May 1963. The binder is marked "FOH District Town Planning" and likely the initials stand for F.O.Hayes; Camberwell being unusual amongst London Borough councils in having a Borough architect. Hayes joined the council, as Director of Housing, in 1952 and was responsible for a series of hosuing developments at a time when municipal, or social, housing was amongst one of the most foremost topics of the day. A backlog of redevelopment of slum houses, worsened by wartime damage, saw many British councils heavily involved in slum clearance and looking towards the 'new' architecture of the period to both provide the numbers of housing units needed at a cost that could be afforded. Camberwell had been created as a Metropolitan Borough in 1900 and was merged into the new London Borough of Southwark in 1965.
This series of plans, designs, sketches and photographs of maquettes show the radical proposals for Camberwell Green, the still busy crossroads where the north - south route of Camberwell Road and Denmark Hill meets the east - west route between the Oval and Peckham. The local shops, along with houses, bus garages and the remaining 'green' of Camberwell Green were to be swept away and replaced with a new gyratory system, along with a relocated Green, flanked by a new civic centre to the north consisting of a tower block and podium and all around segregated pedestrain walkways, that very post-war feature, giving access into surrounding residential blocks and estates. As the opening note also mentions some passive provision for the long hoped for Underground extension (mooted at times to be either the existing Bakerloo or the planned Victoria line) was also included in the scheme.
For whatever reason none of this plan came to pass and so this, with its echoes of the ultimately unsuccessful Elephant and Castle scheme a few miles north, remains a fascinating 'might have been' of London's "new" 1960s future. As well as the Green this sketch shows pedestrian flows at both ground level and, above, on high level decks.