Planned housing

Thackeray's Almshouses
Rushey Green
Catford
SE13
Grade II
Built and endowed in 1840 for six aged females by John Thackeray of the Priory, Lewisham, this pretty building features a carved stone coat of arms of the Thackeray family.

Carrington House and Sylva Cottages
Brookmill Road
Deptford
SE8
Grade II and Locally Listed
The contrast in scale between these two buildings could hardly be greater but they shared the same purpose of providing much needed public housing. Carrington House, 1902-3, was built as a lodging house for single men by London County Council (LCC) while Sylva Cottages, 1903, were built for working class families by the Greenwich Board of Works. The arts and crafts styling of Carrington House with its deep-eaved end towers, twin-bayed off-centre entrance and use of stone, brick and render, portrays the influence of the Scottish architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Passfields
Bromley Road
SE6
Designed by the Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew Partnership in 1949-50 with Ove Arup as engineers, the estate is one of the most important public housing projects of the immediate post-war period. The carefully sited blocks give maximum open space, light and sunshine whilst reducing traffic noise by being placed at right angles to the main road. The scheme made innovative use of concrete frame construction combining a variety of accommodation and treatments such as balconies, walkways and shared garden areas. It won a Festival of Britain Merit Award in 1951.

3-35 South Row
Blackheath
SE3
Grade II
This is a terrace of ten houses and a block of 23 flats designed by Eric Lyons and built by Span Developments Ltd in 1963. Span was one of England's most important private post-war developers and their best work is in Blackheath. They believed that well-designed, equipped and landscaped, unashamedly modern houses with a communal element could sell.

Segal Close and Walters Way
Brockley and Honor Oak Park
Brockley Park and Honour Oak Park
SE23
Sometimes buildings are special due to the way they came into being rather than the design the finished product takes. These two small self-build developments fit into this category. Walter Segal (1907-85) was one of a number of German architect refugees who came to Britain in the 1930s. During the 1960s, when housing projects were typically big and brutal, Segal was advocating the use of small scale housing projects which could be designed and fabricated by owners to suit their own needs on a low budget. This social experiment was tried out at Segal Close, 1977-82 and Walters Way, 1985-7, where London Borough of Lewisham were able to provide gap sites for the self-builders.

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