Golden Lane Estate
The estate
The whole area from London Wall to Old Street was destroyed by the Luftwaffe in a single night of bombing in 1940. The area lay abandoned for many years.
There were various plans for rebuilding the area, which ultimately resulted in the tower blocks of London Wall and the Barbican estate.
The Golden Lane Estate was the first significant re-development. The City of London owned the land (although it actually fell outside the boundaries of the City). In the early 1950s they held a competition for architects to put forward designs for the area. The competition was won by Geoffry Powell in 1952. He brought in his friends Peter Chamberlin and Christof Bon – they were all lecturers at Kingston Polytechnic at the time - and Chamberlin Powell & Bon was formed.
The original design provided for an 11 storey block, 12 terrace blocks, and a community centre. It took 9 years to construct the estate and the original design was modified over the period, partly to accommodate and additional 7 acres of land which was added to the original proposed site. The swimming pool, for example, was a later addition to the project.
Chamberlin Powell & Bon supervised the building of the estate in detail. The first parts were completed by 1957. They later went on to design and build the Barbica estate to the south.
The boundary changes in 1994 transferred the Golden Lane Estate from Islington to the City.
