Michael Cliffe House, Finsbury Estate - geograph

Finsbury Estate is a large-scale

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

Finsbury Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London. The Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man called Finn ...

area of

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, comprising four purpose-built blocks of flats located on a level site, providing 451 residences. Patrick Coman House and Michael Cliffe House are high-rise blocks of 9 and 25 storeys respectively, while Joseph Trotter House and Charles Townsend House are of four storeys. Amenities include a

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

and

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

, below-ground car parking, a ball-games area and a

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people ...

area. Islington Council received lottery-money funding to develop a new

Islington Museum Islington Museum is a public museum dedicated to the history of the London Borough of Islington. It opened in 2008 and covers various themes on local and social history. History Islington Museum opened in May 2008, funded by a £1million grant f ...

which opened beneath the library on the estate in 2008. A former museum at the

Islington Town Hall Islington Town Hall is a municipal facility in Upper Street, Islington, London. The town hall, which is the headquarters for Islington London Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building. History The building was commissioned to replace the ...

closed on 15 December 2006.

Architecture

Finsbury Estate is a 'mixed development' of the High Modern period. It was designed by Emberton, Franck & Tardrew in 1965 for Finsbury Borough Council, though completed after Finsbury had been absorbed into the new

Metropolitan Borough of Islington Islington was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in London, England. It was an ancient parish within the county of Middlesex, and formed part of The Metropolis from 1855. The parish was transferred to the County of London in 1889 and became ...

. Franck had worked for

Tecton The Tecton Group was a radical architectural group co-founded by Berthold Lubetkin, Francis Skinner, Denys Lasdun, Michael Dugdale, Anthony Chitty, Val Harding, Godfrey Samuel, and Lindsay Drake in 1932 and disbanded in 1939. The group was one ...

, and there are similarities with the architecture of Tecton estates such as

Spa Green Estate Spa Green Estate between Rosebery Avenue and St John St in Clerkenwell, London EC1, England, is the most complete post-war realisation of a 1930s radical plan for social regeneration through Modernist architecture. Conceived as public housing, it ...

, as pointed out by the

Survey of London The Survey of London is a research project to produce a comprehensive architectural survey of central London and its suburbs, or the area formerly administered by the London County Council. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Robert Ashbee, an Ar ...

. Through the configuration of the four blocks, two large open spaces have been created, characterized by two predominant inward-looking convex spaces defined by the surrounding blocks of flats. Main entrances to the estate are on St John Street, where the Finsbury Library is located, and on Skinner Street to the south-west.

Accommodation

* Patrick Coman House: 9 storeys, comprising 143 flats, 48 3-bedroom, 80 2-bedroom, 15 bed-sitting. * Charles Townsend House: 4 storeys to the south of the estate, comprising 52 flats: 6 4-bedroom, 6 2-bedroom, 24 one-bedroom and 16 bed-sitting. * Michael Cliffe House: 25-storey tower block, 185 flats, 31 3-bedroom, 78 2-bedroom, 76 1-bedroom. * Joseph Trotter Close: 4 storeys comprising 15 ground-floor maisonettes for large families, with their own front gardens and private gardens at rear. 71 flats: 27 4-bedroom, 13 3-bedroom, 9 2-bedroom, 1 1-bedroom and 21 bed-sitting.

Controversies

Michael Cliffe House was a venue for suicide by jumping until access to high open balconies was restricted.Sharron Kelly (residents' representative
Tower block leaps
at Islington Tribune, Letters to the Editor, 11 July 2008

Cultural associations

Michael Cliffe Michael Cliffe (6 March 19039 August 1964) was a British clothing industry worker and politician, who was a Member of Parliament in inner London for six years. Working life Cliffe, was born in Sheffield and went to Holliscroft School, leaving t ...

House is named after a former mayor of Finsbury Borough Council. * Joseph Trotter House is also named after a former Mayor of Finsbury; his son, also named Joseph Trotter, later served as Mayor of Islington. *

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's award-winning British sitcom ''

Peep Show A peep show or peepshow is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot. Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the development of the ci ...

'', series 1 episode 5 was filmed at Super Hans's fictional flat at Michael Cliffe House on the Finsbury estate.

Nearby London Underground stations

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

(

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, two ...

) * Farringdon (Circle line, Hammersmith & City line, Metropolitan line, -

First Capital Connect First Capital Connect (FCC) was a British train operating company, owned by FirstGroup, that operated the Thameslink and Great Northern sectors from April 2006 to September 2014 which later became the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (T ...

) *

Barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

( Circle line,

Hammersmith & City line The Hammersmith & City line is a London Underground line that runs between Hammersmith in west London and in east London. Printed in pink on the Tube map, it serves 29 stations over . Between and it skirts the City of London, the capital's fin ...

Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in Hillingdon. Printed in magenta on the tube map, the line i ...

)

References

{{coord, 51.52646, N, 0.1053, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title, format=dms Brutalist architecture in London Housing estates in the London Borough of Islington Residential buildings completed in 1968