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.