Lambeth Architecture 1965-99

I have just ordered Edmund Bird's and Fiona Price's new book Lambeth Architecture 1965-99.  It is of particular interest to BRUG as it has quite a bit of information on Brixton Recreation Centre and on it's architect George Finch. So I am really looking forward to receiving my copy.

There is one point relevant to the cost of the rec that is not mentioned in the book, I quote: “...but it took 12 years to complete due to funding crises and labour disputes. The cost of the project spiralled to £25 million – twelve times the original estimate.” The point is that the rec was built through out a period of high inflation. The actual rise in cost for the period (1971 - 1985) was 4.665 times higher. So the real over run was 7% (i.e. 107% of original estimate).

Here are some of the pages from the book that show the Rec.

You can purchase the book from The Herne Hill Society.

Edmund's latest book is his fourth in the series on Lambeth's architectural history since 1900, taking the story on from the creation of the GLC and the enlarged Lambeth borough in 1965, up to the end of the century. It is the first book to assess the work of Ted Hollamby, the borough's chief planner and architect between 1964 and 1981, and his enormous output of council housing, as well as that the major GLC estates of the 60s and 70s. He charts the brief flirtation with high-rise towers such as those on Clarence Avenue and appraises Hollamby's high-density low-rise developments such as Clapham Manor and Gaskell Street. It was also a boom time in the provision of leisure and community buildings, cradle-to-grave social and health care, construction of new schools and of course the completion of the post-war vision of the cultural hub of the South Bank. His book also includes the public art of the period and the growing numbers of buildings of this era that are now no more. Biography: Town Planner and conservation officer in the cities of Lichfield and Bristol before joining Lambeth in the mid 1990s and rising to become Head of Conservation & Urban Design, moving on to the same position at Camden in 2003, and for the last 9 years, Heritage Advisor to the Mayor of London's GLA and TfL. Academia: BA (Hons) Economic & Social British History 1815-1980, MSocSc Urban Planning and MA Town & Country Planning. He has lived in Streatham Hill and Herne Hill for 20 years.