Transcript
ALEXANDRA ROAD
_Architect Neave Brown_
Europe’s longest roof gets a stable-of-the-art renovation
The Alexandra Road estate, properly known as the Alexandra and Ainsworth estate, but more commonly,
and erroneously, referred to as simply Rowley Way, is a housing estate in the London Borough of
Camden, North West London, England. It was designed in 1968 by the architect Neave Brown.
Construction work commenced in 1972 and was completed in 1978. The building is a good example of
the Brutalist Style and constructed from site-cast, board-marked, unpainted reinforced concrete. Along
with 520 apartments, the estate also includes a school, a community center, a youth club, and parkland.
The estate consists of three parallel east-west blocks, and occupies a crescent-shaped site bounded by the
railway to the north. The 8-story block facing the railway line acts as a noise barrier.
Project: Alexandra Road
Architect: Neave Brown
City: London
Country: England
Address: Abbey Road NW8 (Camden)
Building type: Row house, slab, gallery-access,
point-access, terrace
Location Number of Dwellings: 520
Date Built: 1977
Dwelling Types: 1 br. flats, 2,3,& 4 br. Maisonettes
No. Floors: 4; 8
Section Type: maisonettes & flats, point access and gallery access
Exterior Finish Materials: concrete with metal details and windows
Construction Type: R-C frame
Ancillary Services: community center, schools, parking, maintenance spaces, gardens
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| SITE
Alexandra Road housing estate consists of two
parallel east-west blocks, and occupies a crescent-
shaped site bounded on the south by a public park,
Loudoun Road on the east, Abbey Road on the west,
and by the railway line to the north. Between this
row of dwellings is a continuous pedestrian
walkway, known as Rowley Way.
Evaluation
Section
Description
Alexandra Road housing estate consists of two parallel
east-west blocks, and occupies a crescent shaped site
bounded on the south by a public park, Loudoun Road
on the east, Abbey Road on the west, and by the
railway line to the north. Between this row of
dwellings is a continuous pedestrian walkway, known
as Rowley Way. In addition, there is a cluster of
community services at the east and of the site
including a community centre, school, shops, youth
club, play centre, children's centre and buildings
department depot.
Evaluation
It was designed to meet the normal requirements of
local authority housing in terms of costs and space
standards, Alexandra Road incorporated a dramatic
centrepiece, a 350 metre long curving pedestrian
street, Rowley Way, lined on either side by stepped
terraces that extend along its full length. In contrast,
Alexandra road received much criticism during and
after construction because of enormous cost overruns
caused by the complicated construction, unforeseen
foundation problems and inflation.
General section through the site
Open Space Structure Circulation Scheme
Gradient Private(dark) – Public(light)
Porosity
Inversed figure ground
Site plan Train way
Car way
Pedestrian way
Traffic nodes
BUILDING
Description
Two rows of terraced apartments are aligned along
the tracks with the higher 8 story stepped building
designed to block the noise of the trains from
reaching the interior portion of the site. A lower, 4-
story block runs along the other side of a continuous
public walkway that serves both terraced rows of
buildings. Parking is located beneath the building
along the tracks. Poured-in-place concrete is used
throughout. According to Walter Benjamin, walking
through its "streets and bridges in the sky" and
encountering other passers-by you are, "on a popular
stage - divided into innumerable, simultaneously
animated theatres. Balcony, courtyard, window,
gateway, staircase, roof are at the same time stages
and boxes." The dwellings in each block are based on
the terrace model, many of them with back gardens
and all of them with entries related directly to the
street.
Evaluation
May be this row house look bored. So the successful
here is that it can created a good community for
everybody who live in this area.
Diagrams showing overlaps of units and shared spaces
Section diagrams of entry sequence
CAR PARKING
General views of garage level
Alexandra Road have both underground and above
ground car parking
BUILDING TYPOLOGY
DWELLING
Description
Description
Open-plan format with through views and
sliding partitions; bedrooms on lower floors
with living/kitchen areas above; and a
private open-to-the-sky external space for
every dwelling, whether house, maisonette
or flat. The dwellings are arranged so as to
be accessible from the pedestrian street via
steps. Units range from a one-person two-
bedroom unit to a six-person four-bedroom
unit. In all two storey dwellings the
bedrooms are situated on the lower level of
the house with the living room directly
above it. Access is via the staircase directly
outside the front entrance. Each living room
has an external balcony, which is separated
from the living space by means of full height
glazed sliding doors.
DWELLING TYPOLOGY
FUNCTION & ACTIVITIES
Alexandra Road is a place for older
and young people live, work, learn and
play side by side. This place bring
young people into contact with older
residents and get everyone interested
in and proud of where they live. There
are a lot of activities here like drink
tea, chat, playing tennis, etc.
T
References:
http://housingprototypes.org/project?File_No=NETH004
http://www.iko.com/projects.html
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Alexandra_Road_Housing.html
http://www.ikogroup.co.uk/Case-Studies/Alexandra-Road,-London/
TECHNOLOGY & CONSTRUCTION
There is a distinct materiality to the building
(brick) and the entry (metal). Each of these
elements belongs to other territories: brick
belongs to a larger family of buildings; the metal
railings at the entry are also part of a continuous
screen of fencing.
CONCEPT
In designing these projects, the Camden architects
sought an alternative to the high-rise blocks that
most local authorities were building. The aim was not
merely to meet pragmatic requirements but to
establish a new kind of architecture based on a
radical reinterpretation of traditional English
urbanism, based around the street. Brown believed
that, even in central urban locations, every home
should have its own front door opening directly onto
the network of routes and streets that make up a city;
and that every home should have its own private
external space, open to the sky, in the form of a roof
garden or terrace. It was these ideas that he
incorporated to such striking effect at Alexandra
Road. The street allowed not only a place of social
interaction but also provided each dwelling with a
direct connection to the main thoroughfare.
top related