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Barrier Block: what could have been
The hideous plans that developers had lined up for brixton
(Last updated: July 2010)
The Barrier Block was part of a truly disastrous plan to completely redevelop Brixton.
The Greater London Council had already announced a community-splitting scheme to drive a huge flyover through the heart of Brixton (running parallel with the railway above Coldharbour Lane), and concrete-crazed Chief Architect Ted Hollamby * was called upon to produce redevelopment plans.
Old Ted clearly got caught up in the spirit of things, proposing that a greater chunk of the town to be completely demolished to make way for his instant uber-ghetto, complete with fourteen 50-storey skyscrapers rising up from a sea of asphalt.
Thankfully, squabbles between local and central government ensured that this urban nightmare never saw the light of day, with just the Barrier Block and the equally brutal Brixton Recreation Centre serving as a small reminder of what might have been...
*(Concrete-celebrating Ted apparently lived in a delightful rural 1869 house described as 'more of a poem than a house'.)
» Click here to see larger image
Update: new photos of proposed redevelopment [July 2010]
The excellent Lambeth Landmark site has made available new photos of the proposed redevelopment.
'Model for the redevelopment of Brixton town centre seen from above Brixton Road looking south. Designed by Ted Hollamby, Lambeth's Chief Architect and Town Planner, the proposal included a flyover above the railway line and fifty-storey blocks of flats. However, due to lack of funding from central government, Southwyck House in Coldharbour Lane was the only element of the scheme completed.'
Other resources:
Also check out these sites detailing the battle to save Angell Town, Lambeth:
 Victory Villa, challenging the planners in South London
St Agnes Place- 28 Years of Squatting History and Diverse Culture
THE LONDON MOTORWAY BOX (RINGWAY 1)
Had this monstrosity been built in its entirety, it would have quite likely been the largest inner ring road the world had ever seen, with the motorway encircling about sixty square miles of central London.
» Click here to see larger image (50k)
The south London section was to start at Clapham Junction, and then run north-east along the railway land before following the south side of the tracks to Stockwell.
From thence it would have ploughed through Stockwell, Brixton and Peckham, remaining on the south side of the tracks befire crossing into Lewisham.
MORE INFO:
Ringway 1 history
South Cross Route
London: Roads to nowhere [Independent 8th Feb 2011]
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