Max Fordham: Projects and innovations
Alexandra Road Estate
This striking piece of architecture in North London pioneered a modernist approach to high density low-rise living. It is the first post-war housing estate to be listed by English Heritage and is an early example of our founder Max Fordham’s innovative approach to sustainable building services engineering.
Key information
Architect
Neave Brown
Client
Camden Council
Value
Undisclosed
Year of Completion
1978
Sector
Services
Challenge
The estate consists of over 500 homes, a school, and a community centre. The now-famous sweeping curved design provides each dwelling with its own private open area. Max teamed up with architect Neave Brown to produce the iconic design for Camden Council and the work was completed in 1978.
Alexandra Road Estate backs onto the busiest railway line in the country so the building was insulated with double walls and windows and its foundations were mounted on rubber pads to absorb vibration. The building itself is also an acoustic barrier from the railway noise, while its orientation embraces ‘free’ heat and daylight from the sun.
Max's design included an innovative heating system comprising pipes embedded in the structural concrete walls. This approach was devised to solve problems of uniform heating, to answer Camden Council’s brief of the heating being ‘as economical as possible’, and to hide the building services.
Quote
"At his Alexandra Road and Fleet Road estates, Neave Brown showed how to achieve successful high-density housing without high rise. The tallest part of the Alexandra Road is just eight floors, dropping to four at its lowest point - yet 520 spacious and sought-after homes were provided on this exemplar scheme."
Gallery
Total of 3 images
© Tim Crocker
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