Churchill Gardens is a large

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States a ...

in the

Pimlico Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by London V ...

area of

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The estate was developed between 1946 and 1962 to a design by the architects Powell and Moya, replacing Victorian terraced houses extensively damaged during the Blitz. Comprising 1,600 homes in 32 blocks, the estate is notable as the only housing project completed under the ambitious Abercrombie Plan to redevelop the capital on more "efficient" lines. Tall slabs of between nine and eleven storeys are enclosed by seven storey blocks and interspersed with maisonettes and terraces. A pioneering example of mixed development, it acted as a model for many subsequent

public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

projects, although few matched its size and even fewer achieved its architectural distinction or social diversity. Many of the estate's tall buildings are accessible using lifts leading directly onto the street, with a local lift serving all floors and an express lift serving only floors that are multiples of 3. The estate is also notable for its early and rare example of

district heating District heating (also known as heat networks or teleheating) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating a ...

in the UK, the

Pimlico District Heating Undertaking The Pimlico District Heating Undertaking (PDHU) is a district heating system in the Pimlico area of London, United Kingdom. The first district heating system built in the United Kingdom, it is owned by Westminster City Council and operated by City ...

. A glass-faced accumulator tower was built to collect the CHP by-product heat in hot water from the now-disused

Battersea Power Station Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned Grade II* listed coal-fired power station, located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Nine Elms, Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It was built by the London Power Company (LPC) ...

on the opposite side of the Thames, providing heat and hot water throughout the estate. The system was upgraded in 2006 to allow it to supply an additional 1,400 homes. Churchill Gardens was designated a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

in 1990, and in 1998 six blocks (Chaucer House, Coleridge House, Shelley House, Keats House, Gillbert House and Sullivan House) as well as the accumulator tower were

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Between 2002 and 2019, the estate was managed by

CityWest Homes CityWest Homes was an arm's length management organisation (ALMO) of Westminster City Council, London, England, established in April 2002 in order to manage its housing stock. They managed over 21,000 properties which included council tenant a ...

, an arm's length management organisation (ALMO) of

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Cons ...

. After the fire at

Grenfell Tower Grenfell Tower is a derelict 24-storey residential tower block in North Kensington in London, England. The tower was completed in 1974 as part of the first phase of the Lancaster West Estate. The tower was named after Grenfell Road, which ran to ...

North Kensington North Kensington is an area of west London. It is north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green and in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The names North Kensington and Ladbroke Grove describe the same area. North Kensington is wh ...

killed 72 people, management was brought directly under

. Churchill Gardens forms the bulk of Churchill ward within the area under local administrative control by Westminster Council. In 2021, a by-election was triggered by the resignation of Labour councillor Andrea Mann. There is ongoing local political controversy surrounding the demolition and redevelopment of some of the social housing on the estate. The estate houses notable LGBTQ+ in Islam activist Omar Hegazi, who ran for council as a Liberal Democrat. The landscape of the Churchill Gardens estate is Grade II listed on the

Register of Historic Parks and Gardens The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...

. Several buildings within the estate listed Grade II on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

. Coleridge House, Chaucer House Shelly House, Keats House, Gilbert House and Sullivan House are all individually listed Grade II. A pair of shelters outside the Chaucer House are listed Grade II. The accumulator tower and district heating workshop is also Grade II listed.

Footnotes

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References

* London from Above documentary http://www.bbc.co.uk/britainfromabove/stories/rewinds/churchillgardens.shtml

Footnotes

References

Further reading