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Alton Estate, Roehampton, southwest London Built 1958 -1959, Designed by a London County Council team led by Rosemary Stjernstedt, Subject to 'regeneration'.

 

I recently had the great pleasure of speaking to Robin Bishop, resident of the Estate and member of Alton Regeneration Watch twitter facebook an organisation that he described as 'having a critical eye' on the proposed regeneration of the estate. We met in Cafe Joy on Danebury Avenue (in the area proposed for demolition) He spoke - amount other things - about life on the estate, the closure of local services and amenities (especially those for children), managed decline, the promise of ‘jam tomorrow’, the misguided concept of ‘designing crime out of an estate’, the general lack of meaningful diagonal between residents and the council; also the developer, the ‘consolation’ company and course the architectural natural of the site.

Also had the equally great pleasure of speaking to Robin's neighbour Pam about - among other things - what she loves about the estate; especially the block in which they lives.

Thanks to Cafe Joy for allowing us to sit on their sofa for hours and chat. They service rather good tea and coffee, thoroughly recommended!

Here's an article about the Alton Estate's architecture and the threats to it in Apollo magazine 

 

On a foggy afternoon in December 2016 an unusually large flock of crows settled on one of the point blocks (which at the time were undergoing refurbishment and clad in scaffolding) on the estate, at a given moment, they all swooped off making the most Incredible chatting sound as they went.

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