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known as Verneh. The side facing the street, equally rectilinear, offers a suitably vibrant syncopated pattern of grouped windows and balconies, themselves divided into alternating halves of cream tile and cast-iron railing, a trellis-like grid rotated 45 degrees also used for the fence separating the Estate from Spa Green park. The drama is accentuated by the colour, India red picking out the flanges that divide each balcony (and conceal the fire-escape stairs in the taller blocks), deep slate grey on the back walls giving an illusion of greater depth. (In elevation drawings preserved by the RIBA, this chiaroscuro is emphasized by brilliant white and black with no mid-tones.) Among other complexities of the balcony elevation, Allan cites âthe way the central tiled frame is widened to contain a double stack of windows, thereby centring the composition, when in fact the left-hand set belong to the flats outside the frameâ (
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contemporary. Over half a century later Spa Green still radiates a sense of optimism that defies the commonplace dismissal of flatted estates as a modern urban aberration.â For Peter Coe and
Malcolm Reading, âthe success of the Estate proved the relevance of an ordered and comprehensive investigation into the lives of those for whom the housing was being designedâ. James Payne concludes that âSpa Green remains exceptional for its success at an urban level, managing to combine the idea and scale of the London street and square with the modernist object in the park landscape.â Nikolaus Pevsner called it âthe most innovative public housing in England at the timeâ and praised the âvisual kickâ of the balconies, porches and façades, though he did grumble that âthe buildings are placed in any old directionâ. Spa Green embodies the qualities that the architect
247:, vol. 47, pp. 98â99). The most striking of these curvilinear forms crown the roofs of the two taller blocks, designed with the help of an aerodynamics specialist to produce a constant breeze for drying laundry. These two âwind-roofsâ are each different (though identical in the model), Tunbridge's being a slender canopy while Wells's thrusts out over the plaza and curves like an aircraft wing. In dialogue with Lubetkin's own Highpoint and Le Corbusier's Marseilles UnitĂŠ dâHabitation, these graceful roof canopies in turn influenced many high-rise buildings, most immediately the coarser and more massive Finsbury Estate nearby (by another original Tecton member,
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canted meeting lodge (originally the caretaker's flat), which emerges from Sadler House surreally fitted with traditional multipane and bow windows. Lubetkin's decorative
Modernism is surprisingly contextualist, establishing visual continuity with the extant terraces (whose rusticated stucco is echoed in the small service building adjoining St John St). Already in 1945 Lubetkin explained the S-curve of the future Sadler House as meant to create 'a more organic link' to the Rosebery Avenue terrace houses. This carefully studied siting of the buildings obviates Pevsner's complaint about randomness.
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The sequence of bedroom walls is staggered relative to the bathroom-kitchen-living room side, providing diagonal views that increase the sensation of space. This effect is particularly striking in the direct connection from living room to the third bedroom. Precast concrete window-frames project externally and internally; their bevelled or splayed profile (repeated in the free-standing rectangular 'triumphal arch' at the entry) again accentuates the space and light.
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preserved an existing tree in the plaza is echoed, inversely, in the sunken circular bed around
Princess Margaret's tree. In Wells House the vestibule entries are given an âaerodynamicâ inward curvature, and the horizontal parabola around the foundation stone in the east porch corresponds to the vertical parabola of the west porch. Sadler House itself takes on a serpentine form, perhaps alluding to the sinuous Rydon Crescent that once occupied this site (
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plaza and the extant terrace houses of
Rosebery Avenue. (Originally this smaller block had staircases but no lifts, though these were later added together with a semicircular external stair tower that breaks the line of the rear entrance-galleries.) One-storey service buildings complete the ensemble, all but the bicycle sheds still extant.
231:, p. 108). Both the taller façades are further enlivened by clerestories of glass brick marking the three entry halls and their corresponding lift housings, which punctuate the roof terrace and form beacons at night. The narrow side elevations, unfenestrated cream tile, are variegated by red accents including a windowpane check.
36:, London EC1, England, is the most complete post-war realisation of a 1930s radical plan for social regeneration through Modernist architecture. Conceived as public housing, it is now a mixed community of private owners and council tenants, run by a resident-elected management organization. In 1998 this work by the architect
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This restoration, generally praised for re-establishing the original appearance and reversing the âvisual chaosâ of individual ownersâ window-alterations, did stir controversy. Criticism focused on the high cost and the alleged lack of input from residents, while an internal report documents problems
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The brightly lit interiors, as mentioned, have the bedrooms on the âquietâ side and a spacious living-room with direct access to the balcony; kitchen, separate WC and bathroom give onto this private recessed space. Kitchen and living room are linked by a large serving hatch/dresser with double doors.
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Accusations of âfacadismâ seem dated, given how many
Constructivist-influenced features of Spa Green have become staples of postmodern architecture â not only the floating roof canopy but the red/grey colour scheme, the stairwells marked by repeated clusters of square 'windows', and the acute-angled
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for all her outstanding work in the community. Betty Knight played an important role within the Spa Green
Estates Tenant Management Association (TMO) which was launched in 1995. Betty Knight initially said that before the TMO the estate was filthy and was covered in graffiti and it is the job of the
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flats, including lifts, central heating, balconies, daylight and ventilation from multiple directions, large entry spaces, and a roof terrace. Well designed fitted kitchens, including slide-away breakfast counters and ironing boards, electrical and gas appliances, and a central waste-disposal system
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At entry level, the elaborate double-ramped loggia of Wells House achieves the
Corbusian effect of lifting the building from the ground. (Lubetkin himself derived these ramps from the entries of Russian churches visited as a child.) The impression of flotation is enhanced by the landscaping â which
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disposal units. After the Grade II* listing of Spa Green in 1998, Homes for
Islington with English Heritage initiated a restoration of the entire exterior plus the kitchens and bathrooms of the flats still in council ownership. Deteriorated concrete was recast, windows replaced with double-glazed
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Two parallel blocks of eight storeys (Tunbridge and Wells Houses) define a central plaza, which also contains a single-storey nursery school (of later date, but conceived in the original design). Sadler House, four storeys becoming five as the land drops away, runs in a sinuous curve between this
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The taller buildings have two sharply differentiated façades corresponding to the rhythms of the day. On the inner plaza side bedrooms (also used for reading or sewing, as
Lubetkin noted) form a calm chequerboard design derived from his study of textiles and particularly from the Caucasian kilim
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Lubetkin's design made sure that everyone had a balcony on the street side. Quieter bedroom windows on the inner side look at the bedroom façade in the mirroring building across the plaza. (Though differentiated at ground and roof level, Tunbridge and Wells Houses otherwise repeat one another in
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Comparison with Tecton's drawings in the RIBA collection reveals that, with a few exceptions, the external appearance and internal layout of Spa Green have been restored as closely as possible to
Lubetkin's original vision â an 'exhilarating' architecture of civic responsibility and aesthetic
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Within this overall orthogonal scheme, expressed in both plan and elevation since the buildings run parallel, experiments in curvature â parabolas, aerofoil sections, cylinders, âpianoâ and âtear-dropâ forms - recur in the landscaping and in the entry ramps and porches. The raised drum that
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Piecemeal refurbishments in the 1980s, when the estate needed repairs and upgrades, included painting, retiling and a secure entry system with ironwork that plays variations on Lubetkin's trellis grille. Central heating was extended to all rooms, and some residents tore out the canted-frame
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Spa Green has been eulogized by architects and historians before and after its Grade II* listing in 1998. âRightly listedâ, John Allan remarks, âthe first and best of Lubetkin and Tectonâs post-war housing schemes set a standard in architectural and technical accomplishment unmatched by any
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praises in Lubetkin: âa search for harmony, a rational procedure, a precision of detail, constructional integrity, a respect for human scale, and, most importantly, âthe expression of faith in ideology ⌠and the creation of architecture that contained a message for the futureââ. Lubetkinâs
168:âs innovative concrete box-frame or 'egg-crate' construction gave each flat clear views and interiors uncluttered by beams, columns, or pipes, while his aerodynamic 'wind-roofs' and open terraces provided a communal area for drying clothes, social gathering and enjoying views of
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Sadler House is configured differently, with open gallery entries at the quiet rear. Bedroom and living room both belong to the lively balcony side, another variation on the contrapuntal balcony-railing-window rhythm.
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laid the foundation stone in July 1946, and the opening ceremonies in 1949 (witnessed by some residents who still live in Spa Green) included the planting of the plane tree that still dominates one entrance, by
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received a Grade II* listing (the grade higher than II) for its architectural significance, and the major 2008 restoration brought back the original colour scheme, which recalls Lubetkin's contacts with Russian
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reverse.) No resident is overshadowed by another. Bedrooms vary from one to three but there is no internal hierarchy of front and back, nor of flats with âgoodâ views and those with less privileged situations.
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with the workmanship and materials of the roofs and the council-tenanted bathrooms. But overall this restoration was hailed, in Britain and internationally, as 'a great success': Manolo Guerci, in the Turin
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and then partly demolished by German bombing. The park screens the estate from Rosebery Avenue and provides tranquil, oblique entry sequences. The entire site is included in the New River Conservation Area.
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pleasure. In 2012 new landscaping designed by Alison Peters improved the central plaza. Spa Green Estate drew many visitors during London's Open City/Open House in September 2012.
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seems to launch Sadler House into flight â and by the use of blue-grey brick for the ground-floor cladding, recessed behind lighter pilotis, in contrast to light red brick above.
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In 2014 Tunbridge Wells had placed a memorial plaque in the memory of Betty Knight for all her work within the community. In 2010 Betty received a special Mayoral award at
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steel Critall units resembling the originals (though with thicker frames), and Lubetkin's colours reconstructed â with some wilder primary colours at the entry level.
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Lubetkin intended this project as a manifesto for modern architecture, rational but also exciting: 'we will deliberately create exhilaration'.
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estates residents to become part of their community and to be able to change situations, people need to get involved in the management.
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148:, flanked by the small Spa Green park, and formerly the site of Islington Spa or New Tunbridge Wells â had been designated for
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Spa Green historic planning file, reports on refurbishment 2004â2008, Environment and Regeneration Dept, Islington Council
308:, ed. Philip Temple (London: Yale University Press, 2008), pp. 96-104; this is the fullest historical account of Spa Green.
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Berthold Lubetkin, conversation with Lionel Brett (in 'Canons of Criticism, 2') and âFlats in Rosebery Avenue, Finsburyâ,
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Bedroom façade and Verneh kilim. Lubetkin explained that this kind of Caucasian fabric inspired his chequerboard facade.
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61:(which by the time of Spa Green's completion in 1949 had regrouped as Skinner, Bailey & Lubetkin). The nearby
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RIBA Library Drawings and Archives Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, PA 115/4, PA 953/5, PA 954/1.
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550:(London: RIBA Publications, 1992). Second, expanded edition (London: Artifice/Black Dog Publications, 2013)
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Martin Spring, Modern Day Reality: Two public housing schemes by Berthold Lubetkin now need basic repairs',
73:. In Spa Green, first designed in 1938 and developed in 1943, Tecton aimed to fulfill this utopian promise.
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in stainless steel, exceeded the amenities enjoyed by most of the population in the austere late 1940s.
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RIBA Library Drawings and Archives Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, PA 115/4, 1-3.
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declaration âNothing is too good for ordinary peopleâ is still the motto of the Estate.
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343:(London: Arts Council of Great Britain and the University of Bristol, 1981), p. 178.
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John Allan, with photographs by Morley von Sternberg and foreword by Richard Meier,
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Memorandum to Finsbury Borough Council, Nov. 1945, RIBA Archives, LUB/1/25/1, p. 2.
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65:(1938) emblematized the future welfare state and featured in a wartime poster by
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281:, called it a 'winning model' of 'urban integration' and 'quality of detail'.
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Spa Green adapted for working families many features from Lubetkin's luxury
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Spa Green Estate for the Metropolitan Borough Council of Finsbury (Bb. 12)
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Lubetkin and Tecton, Architecture and Social Commitment: A Critical Study
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Anna Winston, âLubetkin estate residentsâ fury over âdamagingâ refurbâ,
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430:, 2nd edn (London: Artifice/Black Dog Publications, 2013), p. 400.
317:'A Conversation with Lubetkin ' , RIBA Archives, LUB/20/1/1, p. 5.
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RIBA Photographs from 1949 and 1980 including model and interiors
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Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Islington
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Berthold Lubetkin: Architecture and the Tradition of Progress
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Berthold Lubetkin: Architecture and the Tradition of Progress
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worked with the equally radical Lubetkin and his practice
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Pevsner cited in Matt Weaver, âDesigned to infuriate,
536:(London: Triangle Architectural Publications, 1992)
673:Housing estates in the London Borough of Islington
583:An Anchorage in Time: Seven Sketches of Lubetkin
112:Tunbridge House balcony façade from St John St
568:John Allan, âLubetkin, Berthold Romanovichâ,
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494:, vol. 109 (Jan.-June 1951), pp. 135â49
534:Lubetkin and Tecton: An Architectural Study
520:Berthold Lubetkin: Un Moderne en Angleterre
144:The area of the current Estate - opposite
53:Medical and political leaders in the then
32:between Rosebery Avenue and St John St in
352:Payne, âLong Live Lubetkinâs Republicâ,
606:James R. Payne celebrates refurbishment
601:RIBA Lubetkin Archive, list of contents
570:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
439:Payne, âLong live Lubetkinâs republicâ.
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104:Meeting Lodge at corner of Sadler House
16:Housing estate in Clerkenwell, London
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611:Short film on Lubetkin and Spa Green
306:Northern Clerkenwell and Pentonville
382:Richard Meier, Foreword to Allan,
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585:(London: Avanti Architects, 2012)
558:* Julia Thrift, âLife Is Sweetâ,
497:Cement and Concrete Association,
483:âGroupe dâHabitation Spa Greenâ,
80:Sadler House from Rosebery Avenue
678:Modernist architecture in London
330:(London: Merrell, 2002), p. 108.
268:fireplaces and steel sinks with
55:Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury
532:Malcolm Reading and Peter Coe,
339:Peter Coe and Malcolm Reading,
25:Wells House from Spa Green Park
578:, July/August 2011, p. 57
515:, 25 June 1982, pp. 32â34
506:Modern Architecture in Britain
88:Tunbridge House bedroom façade
71:Your Britain: Fight For it Now
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522:(Sprimont : Mardaga, 1983)
461:No. 66, October 2008, p. 18.
663:Berthold Lubetkin buildings
128:Wells House ramped entrance
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616:Spa Green Tenants' Website
485:Architecture dâAujourdâhui
279:Giornale dell'architettura
518:François Chaslin et al.,
508:(London: Batsford, 1959)
501:(London: C&CA, 1952)
369:, 16 Nov. 2005, and in
205:Architecture in context
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397:Lubetkin and Tecton
198:Islington Town Hall
170:St Paul's Cathedral
639:51.5288°N 0.1055°W
373:, vol. 47, p. 103.
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657:Categories
627:51°31â˛44âłN
289:References
174:Old Bailey
630:0°06â˛20âłW
161:Highpoint
513:Building
176:and the
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386:(2002).
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