They are the high rise tower blocks built in British cities after the end of the Second World War as a solution to a chronic shortage of homes that many hate but some still love.
Now a new academic project will explore whether they are viable in the 21st century. The study will focus on high rise public housing in London and Birmingham built between the 1950s and the 1960s to see if it still has a role to play in providing homes with the Government aiming to build a million new homes by 2020.
In Birmingham alone more than 400 tower blocks were constructed over the two decades, around 200 of which have since been demolished including the Smallbrook Queensway development, and a number of local groups are calling for a reassessment of Birmingham’s 20th century heritage.
Tim Lewis, a PhD researcher at Birmingham City University, will reassess the reasons for the construction of all forms of high rise blocks including early architecture led mixed development that combines houses and flats and maisonettes as well as the problems they encountered and their viability as homes today.
It will also examine later structures such as the system build developments that largely focused on increasingly tall developments in urban areas.
Lewis believes that with the UK currently experiencing a shortage of available housing a qualitative study into the reasons, ideals and viewpoints surrounding high rises could play a major role in shaping future developments.
‘High rise is an iconic form of housing that has divided opinion since its inception and has become a symbol of social housing and the welfare state, whether good or bad it deserves a re-evaluation to inform its continued viability as housing,’ he said.
‘Clearly if some of the best examples of its type can be retained and conserved we not only maintain a record of our past and continue to provide much need housing but we also protect our environment by minimising the ecological impact of demolition and rebuilding,’ he added.
Case studies will examine examples in London and Birmingham and explore whether the original ideals may meet the needs of modern urban housing. The research will ask whether properties deemed to be unsuitable for many of the original tenants, such as families, could provide a viable solution for a new demographic of people living in cities.
Views on conserving buildings will also be explored, ranging from evaluating the importance of these buildings through the extent to which redevelopment is possible, and whether gentrification is an inevitable consequence of conservation.
