Misplaced Pages

#670329

111-590: The Golden Lane Estate is a 1950s council housing complex in the City of London . It was built on the northern edge of the City, on a site devastated by bombing during the Second World War . Since 1997, the estate has been protected by a grade II status, deemed a site of special architectural interest. The estate provides residential accommodation to the north of Cripplegate , following destruction by Nazi bombing of much of

222-1128: A deal with the BBC to gain access to Rank's nineteen feature offerings. In 1987, the Rank Film Distributors group received a $ 100 million fund for film financing, and the Rank Film and Television division had invested in $ 32 million that they would take the budget against non-U.S. rights. In 1995, the Rank Group acquired all the outstanding shares of the Rank Organisation. In spring 1997, the Rank Group sold Rank Film Distributors, including its library of 749 films, to Carlton Communications for £65 million and immediately became known as Carlton/RFD Ltd. Pinewood Studios and Odeon Cinemas were both sold off in February 2000 for £62 million and £280 million respectively. The company finally severed its remaining connections with

333-699: A deck and by 1975, and they were declared unsuitable for families with children, the elderly and the disabled. In 1975, 96.3% of the residents wanted to leave. 643 families petitioned to be rehoused. They were demolished between 1991 and 1994. Proportion of houses and flats built by local authorities and New Towns in England and Wales, 1960–80 (a) Notes: (a) Tenders approved. (b) Including maisonettes. While some tower blocks have been demolished, many that occupy convenient city centre sites (such as The Sentinels in Birmingham, Trellick Tower and Great Arthur House on

444-482: A group profit of over £6 million and stated 41% of its film production income came from overseas. In October 1964 Davis reported profits of £4.6 million. From 1959 to 1969, the company made over 500 weekly short cinema films in a series entitled Look At Life , each film depicting an area of British life. From 1971 to 1976, Rank only invested around £1.5 million a year in film production. According to executive Tony Williams "the two main streams that they were down to

555-420: A growing desire by many towns and cities to retain population (and thus rental income and local rates) within their own boundaries (rather than "export" people to New Towns and "out of boundary" peripheral estates) led to this model being adopted; abandoned inner-city areas were demolished, and estates of high-rise apartments blocks proliferated on vacant sites. Whole working class communities were scattered, and

666-492: A housing association, in 2004; this represented the second largest stock transfer in British history. Housing rented from the council accounted for about 28% of the district and around 40% of the actual city of Wakefield. Many districts of the country have less than 10% of housing rented from the council; the national average stood at 14%. On 16 May 1968, the problems associated with tower blocks were brought into sharp focus after

777-820: A large percentage of Edwardian and late Victorian private houses. A number of types of system building used in flats have serious flaws. They were initially very popular with tenants due to their generous space standards, and with councillors and housing officials due to their speed of construction – but have suffered problems, especially poor protection from damp and weather ingress, as well as other design defects and poor management. Also, studies such as Family and Kinship in East London found that people moving to such estates lost their old social networks and failed to develop new ones. As noted by one study: "There was, however, one way in which slum clearance rather than enhancing housing standards actually threatened to reduce them:

888-512: A local authority, though the terms are largely used interchangeably. Before 1865, housing for the poor was provided solely by the private sector. Council houses were then built on council estates, known as schemes in Scotland, where other amenities, like schools and shops, were often also provided. From the 1950s, blocks of flats and three-or-four-storey blocks of maisonettes were widely built, alongside large developments of terraced housing, while

999-658: A new impetus, when the poor physical health and condition of many urban recruits to the army was noted with alarm. This led to a campaign under the slogan "Homes fit for heroes". In 1919, the Government first required councils to provide housing, built to the Tudor Walters standards, under the Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919 (Addison Act), helping them to do so through the provision of subsidies. London County Council embraced these freedoms and planned eight 'cottage estates' in

1110-492: A newspaper at the time, including Marilyn Monroe and her then partner Joe DiMaggio , French actor Gérard Philipe , and the first prime minister of Independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru . Their photograph was influential in its placement of a human figure within a visual representation of an unbuilt architecture. The Smithsons were members of the ' Independent Group ' that also counted Eduardo Paolozzi and Nigel Henderson among its members. Compared to other council housing of

1221-486: A panel of residents and stakeholders to ensure the continued maintenance of the property. Though listing restricts owners' freedom to make modifications to their flats (under threat of criminal prosecution), values on the estate have followed others in the area in rising steadily since listing. Council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom , also known as council housing or social housing , provided

SECTION 10

#1732844283671

1332-488: A recreation building, bowling green (now tennis courts) and other facilities to be added. The Estate was finally completed in 1962. A documentary, Top People , outlining the development of the area, was made by the Rank Organisation as one of its Look at Life documentaries. When completed, the estate attracted even more publicity than the architectural competition, being viewed as a symbol of post-war recovery. It

1443-469: A selective uptake, with middle-aged and married skilled workers with mature children being the most likely to purchase their homes. In effect, those in extreme poverty did not have the option to avail the offer, exacerbating the social and economic inequalities prevalent in the sector. Furthermore, the price of private increased due to the rent deregulation policies that were implemented simultaneously. This made it increasingly difficult for those excluded from

1554-556: A shift in their focus from providing affordable homes to generating returns for investors. Financialization also led to an increase in buy-to-let mortgages, resulting in higher private tenancy levels and rising costs. The design and character of a council estate is related to the government initiative that allowed it to be built. The estates of the Addison Act are mixed tenure estates with generously proportioned semi-detached houses designed to be fit for heroes, albeit only affordable by

1665-575: A spokesman for Rank. The following year, Rank reported a record pre-tax profit of £102 million. According to Tony Williams: After a time Rank Film Distributors was in trouble because they hadn't got any new product. So Rank Film Distributors was then given chunks of money to go and buy into pictures because they made a blunder. And they carried on, on that basis, not directly making them and they had no direct control over what they made at all, no influence. They just bought into pictures. They did an output deal with Orion and that carried on until they sold

1776-432: A wider audience. The Rank Organisation was established, as a means for Rank to consolidate his filmmaking interests, in 1937. A loose collective of filmmakers was established by Rank under the banner of Independent Producers Ltd. including The Archers , consisting of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger , Cineguild Productions , consisting of David Lean , Ronald Neame , John Bryan , and Anthony Havelock-Allan ,

1887-523: Is a fine vantage point towards St Paul's Cathedral and the Barbican Estate and has panoramic views across London. It is three stories high, making a virtue out of the lift's winding gear and tank housing to form a rooftop modernist gazebo , and makes the most of the small footprint of the tower block. Pergolas and carefully integrated window cleaning equipment are treated for their sculptural qualities. An ornamental pool with stepping stones flows from to

1998-448: Is claimed to be the first of several to address the thermal efficiency of the estate and to address a substantial cumulative maintenance backlog by the freeholder, programmed to run from 2017 to 2027. Restoration of the swimming pool and recreational facilities on the Estate was completed in 2015 by architects Cartwright Pickard. This saw the original design generally respected, but involved

2109-511: Is itself clearly traceable to the thinking of Le Corbusier, evidenced by the Unités and elsewhere. The detailing and finishes of the Golden Lane Estate do, however, differ substantially from those of Le Corbusier's work. Since 1997, the estate has been protected as a group of listed buildings of special architectural interest. The estate is listed at Grade II, except for Crescent House, which

2220-446: Is listed at Grade II* in view of its importance as an example of post-war residential architecture. The common parts, landscapes and gardens of the estate were separately listed as a designed landscape at Grade II in 2020. The estate has remained largely intact, despite undergoing a steady erosion of design detail. In 2006/2007, in part to address this erosion, Listed Building Management Guidelines were developed with Avanti Architects and

2331-472: Is not being built to replace it and waiting lists for social housing have become very long, up to 18 years. Over a million people are on the social housing waiting list and a quarter of people on social housing waiting lists have been there for 5 years or more. The number of social homes is at a record low, over 100,000 households were on council waiting lists for over 10 years. Council houses sold under right to buy are typically sold at half market value, some of

SECTION 20

#1732844283671

2442-521: Is owned by local authorities. Increasingly the stock is managed on a day-to-day basis by arms-length management organisations rather than directly by the authority, and by housing associations . Public housing became needed to provide " homes fit for heroes " in 1919, then to enable slum clearance . Standards were set to ensure high-quality homes. Aneurin Bevan , a Labour politician, passionately believed that council houses should be provided for all, while

2553-578: The Bush Radio manufacturing facility and began to diversify its interests. In the early 1960s Rank took over Murphy Radio to form the Rank Bush Murphy Group (which was eventually sold to Great Universal Stores in 1978). In 1956 Rank began a partnership with the Haloid Corporation to form Rank Xerox , to manufacture and promote its range of plain paper photocopying equipment. In later years,

2664-507: The City of London during the Blitz of the Second World War . Only around 500 residents remained in the City in 1950, a mere 50 of whom lived in the Cripplegate area. The brief was to provide general-needs council housing for the people who serviced or worked in the City, as part of the comprehensive recovery and rebuilding strategy for the City of London. At that time the Estate fell within

2775-819: The Golden Lane Estate in London) remain extremely popular with residents and have even been subject to an element of gentrification , caused by the onward sale of leases purchased by original tenants under the right to buy scheme to more affluent purchasers. In 1988, the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher set up the first of six housing action trusts designed to regenerate some of Britain's most deprived council housing areas, which involved refurbishment or demolition of council properties in these areas, as well as improved community facilities and scope for new private and social housing developments. The North Hull HAT

2886-623: The Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890 ( 53 & 54 Vict. c. 70), which encouraged the London authority to improve the housing in their areas. It also gave them the power to acquire land and to build tenements and houses (cottages). As a consequence, London County Council opened the Boundary Estate in 1900, a 'block dwelling estate' of tenements in Tower Hamlets . The Housing of

2997-465: The J. Arthur Rank Organisation ) is a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937, Rank also served as the company chairman. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribution, and exhibition facilities as well as manufacturing projection equipment and chairs. It also diversified into

3108-531: The Royal Ballet . In February 1956 Davis announced Rank would make 20 films at over £3 million. He said "great care will be taken to ensure that, while retaining essentially British characteristics the films will have the widest international appeal. This is part of an intensified drive to secure ever widening showing in overseas markets which already return more than half the revenue earned by Pinewood films." That year, Rank announced it would set up distribution in

3219-450: The financialization of housing in the UK has contributed to issues in the public housing sector. Under the wider neoliberal agenda, the deregulation of mortgage finance and the liberalisation of credit was implemented, creating systemic risks as 'sub-prime borrowers ' bought homes with loans they could not realistically pay back. In the U.K, financialization became increasingly prominent after

3330-625: The 1950s and 1960s, the number of high-rise dwellings rose significantly. In 1953, just 23% of public-sector approvals were for flats, with only 3% high-rise (defined as blocks of six stories or more). By 1966, however, high-rise housing accounted for 26% of all homes started. A National Dwelling and Housing Survey carried out in 1977 also found higher levels of housing satisfaction amongst owner occupiers than council housing tenants. The survey found that 90% of owner occupiers were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their accommodation and only 4% "dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied", while for council tenants

3441-522: The 1950s, council house provision was shaped by the New Towns Act 1946 ( 9 & 10 Geo. 6 . c. 68) and the Town and Country Planning Act 1947 of the 1945–51 Labour government. Simultaneously, this government introduced housing legislation that removed explicit references to housing for the working class and introduced the concept of "general needs" construction (i.e., that council housing should aim to fill

Golden Lane Estate - Misplaced Pages Continue

3552-488: The 1960s and to some degree the 1970s saw construction of many high-rise tower blocks . Flats and houses were also built in mixed estates. Council homes were built to supply uncrowded, well-built homes on secure tenancies at reasonable rents to primarily working-class people. Council housing in the mid-20th century included many large suburban council estates, featuring terraced and semi-detached houses, where other amenities like schools and shops were often also provided. By

3663-433: The 1990s as securitization and foreign finance were introduced in the housing sector. One of the key mechanisms of financialization was securitization, which allowed investors' mortgages to be sold as packages in the market, encouraging the imperative of profitability. Housing associations, which previously relied on government grants and private donations, could now access capital markets and sell bonds. However, this led to

3774-605: The Cannes Film Festival in 1980, Ed Chilton of Rank announced a £12 million slate of projects. However, by June, they withdrew from production once again. "The decision was made to plunge on in and then it was pulled back", said Williams. The Rank films that had been announced for production – including an adaptation of HMS Ulysses , The Rocking Horse Winner and a film version of To the Manor Born – were cancelled. "It now takes too long to recoup money on films," said

3885-496: The City of London. By 2016, 52% of the flats had been sold on long leases under the Right to Buy scheme provisions brought in by the Thatcher government ; when subsequently sold, leases have proved attractive, and command prices in line with the surrounding area. After two decades of abortive proposals to repair the two bespoke curtain walls of Great Arthur House, John Robertson Architects

3996-454: The Conservative politician Harold Macmillan saw council housing "as a stepping stone to home ownership". The Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher introduced Right to Buy in 1979, with the millionth council house being sold within seven years. In time, the transfer of public housing stock to private ownership reached the point where councils had to rent back their own houses to house

4107-544: The Labour government of Tony Blair tightened the rules (reducing the maximum discount in areas of most housing need), it did not end the right-to-buy. Labour did relax the policy forbidding reinvestment of sales proceeds. Following its election in 2015, the Conservative government has announced proposals to extend the Right to Buy to housing association tenants. Social housing is being sold off under right to buy, new social housing

4218-464: The Sands and Silver Dream Racer . Many of these stories were set in the past. "You have to go back in time to tell a story that doesn't have to face seventies problems", said Williams in 1978. "What people are nostalgic for isn't necessarily any particular period, but the happier values that are missing today." Few of these new Rank films performed well at the box office, losing £1.6 million overall. At

4329-603: The Stingers , Wilbert Harrison , Skip & Flip , Andy Stewart , Craig Douglas and John Leyton . A US branch operated from 1959 to 1961; its artists included Jack Scott , Dorothy Collins , and The Fireballs . Rank Audio Visual was created in 1960, bringing together Rank's acquisitions in multimedia, including Bell & Howell (acquired with Gaumont British in 1941), Andrew Smith Harkness Ltd (1952) and Wharfedale Ltd (1958). Subsequent acquisitions included Strand Electric Holdings (1968) and H.J. Leak & Co. (1969). In

4440-782: The UK, opening its first services at Farthing Corner on the M2 in Kent in 1963. Top Rank operated a portfolio of 10 service areas until the takeover of Mecca Leisure Group by the Rank Group in 1991, when they were spun off to ex-Mecca CEO Michael Guthrie under the name Pavilion (later acquired by Granada and now forming part of Moto Hospitality ). There were other small specialised groups, including Rank Taylor Hobson who made inspection equipment, Rank Cintel who made telecine (television film scanners) machines, and Gaumont Kalee who made audio analysis equipment. During this period, Rank started focussing on primarily solidly commercial ventures, largely aimed at

4551-569: The US. In October Davis listed the Rank actors he thought could become international stars: Dirk Bogarde , Peter Finch , Kay Kendall , Jeannie Carson , Virginia McKenna , Belinda Lee , Michael Craig , Tony Wright , Maureen Swanson and Kenneth More . In October 1957, at the 21st birthday for Pinewood Studios, Davis said Rank would make 18 films this year and 20 the next, with the latter costing £5 million. However cinema attendances fell. In September 1958

Golden Lane Estate - Misplaced Pages Continue

4662-421: The Working Classes Act 1900 extended these power to all local councils, which then began building tenements and houses. In 1912, Raymond Unwin published a pamphlet Nothing gained by Overcrowding . He worked on the influential Tudor Walters Report of 1918, which recommended housing in short terraces, spaced 70 feet (21 m) apart at a density of 12 per acre (30/ha). The First World War indirectly provided

4773-404: The adjacent Barbican scheme, the earliest phases of which were by then on site. The architects kept to their brief of providing the high density within the 7 acres (2.8 ha) available. The visual anchor of the design is the tower block of one-bedroomed flats, Great Arthur House, which provides a vertical emphasis at the centre of the development and, at 16 storeys, was on its completion briefly

4884-476: The adoption of system-building by many local authorities across the UK in the 1960s. Nonetheless, space standards in council homes (based on those prescribed by the Parker-Morris Report remained above those of many privately built dwellings at the time. The earliest council estates were built within the borough boundaries on low value land that was walking distance from the places of employment. When that

4995-425: The aggregate. Inside, most maisonettes display open-tread cast terrazzo staircases projecting from the party walls as a cantilever . This, and the fact that the bedrooms are suspended, structurally speaking, without supports over the living rooms gives very compact planning with a surprisingly spacious feel to small flats, in spite of the fact that they were built under the severe Government building restrictions of

5106-644: The boundary of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury , and a proportionate number of tenancies were initially offered to those on the Finsbury waiting list. The Estate has been within the political boundary of the City of London since 1994, following boundary changes lobbied for by residents. The competition for designs was announced in 1951. At a time when post-Second World War recovery was still slow, this rare opportunity for architects in private practice to design such an estate attracted many entries. The competition

5217-573: The building by experimented prefabricated methods, of large impersonal estates of high-rise buildings, lacking many of the amenities common in similar developments on the continent." The last major push in council home provision was made under the Wilson government of 1964. The energetic Minister of Housing Richard Crossman accepted the truth that the provision rate was too slow and instructed authorities to exercise their compulsory purchase powers and construct large overspill estates. In Birmingham he forced

5328-468: The building of Castle Vale and the 15,590 dwelling Chelmsley Wood estate, Solihull . Laws restricted councils' investment in housing, preventing them subsidising it from local taxes, but more importantly, council tenants were given the Right to Buy in the Housing Act 1980 offering a discount price on their council house. Proposed as policy by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and carried out under

5439-493: The commission as a team. The competition was assessed by Donald McMorran , who also designed (in a traditional style) housing for the Corporation of London. An entry from Alison and Peter Smithson was unsuccessful but received press coverage at the time, because their entry included an architectural visualisation of their ' street in the sky ' proposal. This image was a photomontage of well-known figures who had been featured in

5550-404: The company had lost £1,264,000 on films causing the group's profit to drop from £5 million to £1.8 million. John Davis wound up several long term contracts Rank had with talent. "The trouble with some of them is they won't work," he said. "They lose their sense of proportion." To recoup some of their losses, Rank sold Ealing Studios and its library to Associated British Picture Corporation . In

5661-414: The conversion of residents' social facilities and a former police office into a commercially-run membership gym. The former Community Hall and Social Club on the estate underwent conversion to a hall for hire. The architects were Studio Partington, and the work was completed in 2018. This involved wholesale reconfiguration of the internal layout and alterations to elevations, especially at roof level. Both

SECTION 50

#1732844283671

5772-510: The earlier work and that at Crescent House are clearly influenced by the work of Le Corbusier , an influence the architects were happy to acknowledge. Crescent House displays affinities with his Maisons Jaoul at Neuilly-sur-Seine , while the maisonettes (with their open-plan stairs and double-height stair spaces) are reminiscent of those at his Unité d'Habitation in Marseilles , and also of his other work. The idea of an estate as urban microcosm

5883-585: The economic rent was 30/- a week but had to be let at 12/6d". The provision of local authority housing varied throughout the UK; in the period 1919–39 67% of the houses built in Scotland were in the public sector , compared to 26% in England. Source: The Addison Act provided subsidies solely to local authorities and not to private builders. Many houses were built over the next few years in 'cottage estates'. The Housing, &c. Act 1923 ( Chamberlain Act ) of 1923 stopped subsidies going to council houses but extended

5994-543: The equivalent figures were 74% and 14%, respectively. Subsequent research at the London School of Economics has tried to cast doubt on claims that only high rise developments could accommodate the population density required for these policies. The post-war governments considered the provision of as much new housing as possible to be a major part of post-war policy, and provided subsidies for local authorities to build such housing. The Conservatives competed with Labour for

6105-412: The era, there was a greater emphasis on the housing needs of single people and couples rather than families with children. Studios and one-bedroomed flats comprise the majority (359) of the 554 units. The population density, at 200 persons per acre, was high—but 60% of the site area is open space, a figure made possible by building taller structures than was common in 1951. The site had been occupied since

6216-577: The family market. These include the popular Norman Wisdom comedies, the Doctor films series and, later, Rank took on the Carry On film series from Anglo-Amalgamated . Films of note were produced during this era including Carve Her Name with Pride , Sapphire , A Night to Remember and Victim , as well as a clutch of prestige topics such as the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and filmed performances by

6327-424: The filmmaking duo of Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat , and the directors Ken Annakin and Muriel Box . The Company of Youth , the Rank Organisation's associated acting school often referred to as "The Charm School", was founded in 1945. It launched several careers including those of Donald Sinden , Dirk Bogarde , Diana Dors and Christopher Lee . Although she was not a member of the school, Petula Clark

6438-479: The first ITV television contract holder for the south of England . In the late 1950s, The Rank Organization set up Rank Records Ltd. , the record label division was named Top Rank Records and Jaro Records (a US subsidiary). In 1960, Top Rank Records was taken over by EMI , and in 1962 they replaced it with Stateside Records . Top Rank Records artists included Gary U.S. Bonds , the Shirelles , B. Bumble and

6549-501: The first experience of private garden space (usually front and rear). The quality of these houses, and in particular the existence of small gardens in England and Wales, compared very favourably with social housing being built on the European continent in this period. The 1951 Conservative government began to re-direct the building programme back from "general needs" towards "welfare accommodation for low income earners" The principal focus

6660-420: The focus of an intense regeneration programme, resulting in a dramatic drop in crime on the estate. In London, many council estates are being demolished and replaced with luxury housing, resulting in a net loss of social housing . Campaigners fear almost 8,000 homes could be lost during the decade following 2018. Among estates for regeneration, over 80 will be partly or completely demolished. In recent years,

6771-512: The homeless. Even in the stable medieval model of landowner and peasant, where estate workers lived at the landowner's whim in a tied cottage, the aged and infirm needed provision from their former employer, the church or the state. The documented history of social housing in Britain starts with almshouses , which were established from the 10th century, to provide a place of residence for "poor, old and distressed folk". The first recorded almshouse

SECTION 60

#1732844283671

6882-409: The industry; in particular they led film director David Lean , responsible for some of Rank's most critically and financially successful films, to look elsewhere for backing. J. Arthur Rank stepped down as managing director of the Rank Organisation in 1952, but remained as chairman until 1962. In October 1955 the company reported its film production was "satisfactory". In 1945, the company bought

6993-439: The late 1950s Sydney Box became head of production although he retired from the industry in 1959. In January 1960, John Davis announced that Rank would concentrate on bigger budgeted, internationally focused productions. In 1961 they announced a production slate of a dozen films worth £7 million. In October 1962 Lord Rank resigned as chairman of the company and was replaced by managing director Davis. That year to company made

7104-433: The late 1970s, almost a third of UK households lived in social housing. Since 1979 council housing stock has been sold to private occupiers under the Right to Buy legislation, and new social housing has mainly been developed and managed by housing associations . A substantial part of the UK population still lives in council housing; in 2010, about 17% of UK households. Approximately 55% of the country's social housing stock

7215-451: The line of the radial roads. This marked a further movement out of the city, first by the middle classes and then the blue-collar workers, leaving just the poorest layer of society living in the urban area. The first Labour government was returned in 1924. The Housing (Financial Provisions) Act 1924 (Wheatley Act) restored subsidies to municipal housing but at a lower level, it failed to make any provision for lower paid, who were living in

7326-508: The maisonette blocks and more than 100 bungalows. Community facilities on the estate were also improved, and the main shopping centre was completely redeveloped. One of the most ambitious post-war council housing developments, the complex of estates at Broadwater Farm (shown above), became a national symbol of perceived failures in the council housing system following the Broadwater Farm riot in 1985. Since then, Broadwater Farm has been

7437-464: The majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. Dwellings built for public or social housing use are built by or for local authorities and known as council houses . Since the 1980s non-profit housing associations became more important and subsequently the term "social housing" became widely used, as technically council housing only refers to housing owned by

7548-516: The manufacture of radios, TVs and photocopiers (as one of the owners of Rank Xerox ). The company name lasted until February 1996, when the name and some of the remaining assets were absorbed into the newly structured Rank Group plc . The company itself became a wholly owned subsidiary of Xerox and was renamed XRO Limited in 1997. The company logo, the Gongman , first used in 1935 by the group's distribution company General Film Distributors and seen in

7659-490: The mid and late 1970s, Rank Audio Visual made a 3-in-1 stereo music centre, as well as TV sets in conjunction with NEC of Japan. The production of the "classic" Rank TV ran in the mid to late 70s, some interim models appeared and the "modern" Rank TV appeared in the early 1980s. The NEC badge did not appear in the PAL /220/240 volt countries until the mid-1980s. Top Rank was one of the early operators of motorway service areas in

7770-415: The mid-19th century by small Victorian industries and businesses, especially metal working. Some of the basements of the bombed buildings were retained as sunken areas of landscaping. It was designed by architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon , who later designed the adjacent Barbican Estate . The Golden Lane Estate was commissioned and paid for by the City of London Corporation , which remains freeholder of

7881-541: The money from the sale has to go to the Treasury. Councils can replace only one in three of homes sold under right to buy. The Housing Acts of 1985 and 1988 facilitated the transfer of council housing to not-for-profit housing associations. The 1988 Act redefined housing associations as non-public bodies, permitting access to private finance, which was a strong motivation for transfer as public sector borrowing had been severely constrained. These housing associations were also

7992-592: The most notable HAT was the one founded in 1993 to regenerate the Castle Vale estate in Birmingham , which had been built in the 1960s. The original master plan for the redevelopment of Castle Vale saw 17 out of 34 tower blocks on the estate earmarked for demolition, as well as 24 of the estate's 27 maisonette blocks, but by the time of the HAT's demise in 2005 all but two of the 34 tower blocks had been demolished, as well as all of

8103-446: The most prosperous workers. The generosity changed in the 1930s, with the push to eliminate the slums. Aneurin Bevan 's new towns and estates planned to the Tudor Walters standards were designed to be the pinnacle of housing to which all classes would aspire. This gradually changed through the 1950s and 1960s, partly due to the increase in private housebuilding under Harold Macmillan , as well as due to dropping standards, especially with

8214-635: The needs of a wide range of society). In particular, Aneurin Bevan , the Minister for Health and Housing , promoted a vision of new estates where "the working man, the doctor and the clergyman will live in close proximity to each other". While a number of large cities tentatively erected their first high-rise developments (e.g., Aston Cross in Birmingham , Churchill Gardens in Westminster ), in England and Wales homes were typically semi-detached or in small terraces . A three-bedroom semi-detached council house

8325-588: The occurrence of such an explosion. The same year Manchester started the construction of the Hulme Crescents . Thirteen tower blocks connected by aerial walkways and the four long curving south facing blocks of flats and maisonettes connected by walkways and bridges. Five thousand homes were constructed in eight years. Three thousand of these were the deck access flats, almost immediately the constructional problems became apparent: they leaked, ducting failed and they were too expensive to heat. A child died falling from

8436-507: The opening titles of the films, became a celebrated and enduring film emblem. The company founder J. Arthur Rank, born in Kingston upon Hull , UK, was already a wealthy industrialist through his father's flour milling business, Joseph Rank Ltd , before making his start in filmmaking by financing short religious subjects in line with his Methodist beliefs. As Rank was a Methodist Sunday School Teacher, he wished to introduce these beliefs to

8547-565: The partial collapse of Ronan Point , a system-built tower block in Newham , east London, as a consequence of a gas explosion. A similar incident caused significant damage to one side of a block in Manchester . Although these incidents were due to a series of failures (not least being the illegal connection of gas cookers by unqualified friends of tenants ), subsequently all system-built tower blocks were usually built with "all electric" heating, to prevent

8658-479: The peripheries of London: Becontree , St Helier , Downham for example; seven further followed including Bellingham . Houses were built on green field land on the peripheries of the urban area. The war had caused house building costs to rise enormously: Sir Ernest Simon reported to the Manchester Housing Committee in 1910 that "houses that had cost £250 to build pre war were then costing £1,250, so

8769-436: The policy to afford alternatives, leaving them with the least desirable residual sector of social housing. Over time, changes were made to the Right to Buy policy, especially for specific regions but overall, the policy reinforced the stigmatized position of public/social housing as a 'last resort', moving away from the previous welfare-statist ideals. The "right to buy" was popular with many former Labour voters and, although

8880-504: The popular vote over who could build more houses, abandoning Bevan's principle that numbers weren't enough – that the homes had to be spacious and well built, too. The use of system building methods was later seen as possibly being a short-sighted, false economy, as many of the later houses are in a poor state of repair or have been demolished. On many estates, older council houses, with their largely superior build quality, have outlived them – more incredibly, they have even been outlasted by

8991-408: The post-Second World War period. The engineer was Felix Samuely . Some maisonettes retain their hour-glass shaped hot-water radiators, visible in windows. Crescent House, the last of the blocks to be completed in 1962 and the largest, runs along Goswell Road . Designed by the firm's assistant architect and draughtsman Michael Neylan, it shows a tougher aesthetic that the architects were developing at

9102-404: The providers of most new public-sector housing. By 2003 36.5% of the social rented housing stock was held by housing associations. In some council areas referendums on changing ownership were won by opponents of government policy, preventing transfers to housing associations. The Wakefield district council found itself unable to maintain its supply of council housing and transferred it all to

9213-541: The remit of Secretary of State for the Environment Michael Heseltine , the Right To Buy scheme allowed tenants to buy their home with a discount of 33–50% off the market value, depending on the time they had lived there. Councils were prevented from reinvesting the proceeds of these sales in new housing, and the total available stock, particularly of more desirable homes, declined. The policy resulted in

9324-414: The shooting match. Then the decision was made to get out of (the) film (industry), so RFD was closed down, Rank Film Advertising was sold off, eventually, the laboratories went. Cinemas was the last one to go. In 1982, the company partnered with Andre Blay Corporation to license its British title library to home video. In 1986, Rank Film Distributors, and archrival Cannon Screen Entertainment had signed

9435-502: The site and acts as its manager. However, it is distinguished from the bulk of the City of London, which is today the largely non-residential European financial services capital. The first phase of the estate was officially opened in 1957, as stated on the commemorative stone on Bowater House. Before completion, the estate was enlarged to the west as more land was acquired, with three buildings added later: Cullum Welch House, Hatfield House and Crescent House. The increased site also permitted

9546-455: The subsidies to private builders. Following the line of the railways, predominantly private estates were built on cheap agricultural land; building houses that the professional classes with an income of £300–500 a year were able to afford. These pattern-book houses, put up speculatively by companies such as Wimpey , Costain , Laing and Taylor Woodrow , were mocked by Osbert Lancaster as " By-pass Variegated ". Large council estates following

9657-405: The tallest residential building in Britain. It was the first residential tower block in London that was over 50 metres in height, and also the first building to breach the 100-feet height limit in the City of London. The names of structures on the Estate are a mixture of references to historic site features and individuals associated with the City of London. The roof garden of Great Arthur House

9768-644: The tenants either relocated themselves to neighbouring overcrowded properties or became isolated away from friends in flats and houses, on estates without infrastructure or a bus-route. Glasgow led the way and others followed. Tower blocks became the preferred model. The councils visited Marseille and saw the results of Charles Édouard Jenneret 's (Le Corbusier's) vision. The argument was advanced that more generously sized dwellings could be provided this way, that communities could be re-housed close to existing employment opportunities and there would be far less disruption to local shopping and leisure patterns. During

9879-535: The underside of the curved concrete canopy. It was originally open to all residents of the estate, but has been closed to all for more than a decade following two suicides. From the outset, the estate was also regarded as a model of social integration with early tenants including caretakers, clergymen, clerks, doctors, office cleaners, police officers and secretaries. Today the estate is home to approximately 1,500 people living in 559 studios and one-, two- or three-bedroom units. There are 385 flats and 174 maisonettes. On

9990-461: The values that lay behind the creation of the estate. Though once common in post-Second World War local authority planning and housing, this idealism, commitment to quality design and a holistic vision of urban living have in many cases been abandoned by municipalities. The rental flats continue as council housing let at affordable rents. Applications for rented housing units can be made to the City of London for eligible applicants who live or work in

10101-446: The waning film company assets were hastily converted and pressed into 'Rank Xerox' service. This venture was a huge gamble but ultimately the company's saving grace, until, once more in financial difficulties, it signed off increasing percentages of its holdings, to the parent company, finally becoming fully integrated into Xerox in the late 1990s. Rank was also a significant shareholder in the consortium which became Southern Television ,

10212-420: The western edge is a line of shops, and there were social facilities in order to create an urban microcosm. These included a public swimming pool, gym, guest flats for residents' visitors, estate office, pub and tennis courts (originally a bowling green), nursery and police office – the whole combining to make an urban microcosm. The nursery and police office have been closed but other facilities survive, preserving

10323-498: The workhouse. The workhouse provided for two groups of people – the transient population roaming the country looking for seasonal work, and the long-term residents. The two were kept separate where possible. The long-term residents included single elderly men incapable of further labour, and young women with their children—often women who had been abandoned by their husbands, single mothers and servant-girls who had been dismissed from residential positions. The pressure for decent housing

10434-475: The worse conditions, and could not afford to pay the higher rents of the new houses, or travel to or from them to work. They continued in substandard housing circling the urban core; in Manchester, for example, this 'slum belt' was about half a mile wide. While new council housing had been built, little had been done to resolve the problem of inner-city slums , which could also be found in many smaller towns. This

10545-515: Was Carry On pictures and horror films made by Kevin Francis". However, in 1976, Rank enjoyed much success with Bugsy Malone (which they co-produced with Paramount Pictures , who held its American rights). This encouraged them to re-enter film production. In 1977, Rank appointed Tony Williams head of production and over two years Rank made eight films worth £10 million, including Eagle's Wing , The Shout , The Thirty Nine Steps , Riddle of

10656-488: Was an isolated instance. The first council to build housing as an integrated policy was Liverpool Corporation , starting with St Martin's Cottages in Ashfield Street, Vauxhall , completed in 1869. The Corporation then built Victoria Square Dwellings, opened by Home Secretary Sir Richard Cross in 1885. That year, a royal commission was held, as the state had taken an interest in housing and housing policy. This led to

10767-417: Was covered in the architectural and general press. The partnership of Chamberlin, Powell and Bon was formed when on 26 February 1952 Geoffry Powell was announced as competition winner. The three partners-to-be of Chamberlin, Powell and Bon were all lecturers in architecture at Kingston School of Art, and had entered into an agreement that if any of their separate entries won the competition, they would share

10878-598: Was exhausted, peripheral estates were built on the edge of the town. Residents needed to commute by public transport or bicycle, as almost none of the people living in these areas had cars until well after World War II . Councils bought vacant land in neighbouring boroughs to build overspill estates . In Greater Manchester , this included Wythenshawe in 1930 and then Hattersley in the 1960s. Later, infill estates were created on small pieces of brown field land that had been vacated by contracting heavy industry. Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation (founded as

10989-446: Was finally selected by tender to replace them. Dating from 1959, the aluminium and glass system was leaking and not performing to modern thermal standards. The project included the wholesale replacement of the curtain wall system with a near facsimile giving higher thermal performance, and strengthening to the concrete frame to receive the heavier replacement walling. The cost to leaseholders is approximately £95,000 per flat. This project

11100-594: Was founded in York by King Æthelstan ; the oldest still in existence is the Hospital of St. Cross in Winchester , dating to c. 1133. The public workhouse was the final fallback solution for the destitute. Rural poverty had been greatly increased by the inclosure acts leaving many in need of assistance. This was divided into outside relief, or handouts to keep the family together, and inside relief, which meant submitting to

11211-539: Was in poor condition before its outbreak. Before the war many social housing projects, such as the Quarry Hill Flats in Leeds were built. However, the bomb damage meant that much greater progress had to be made with slum clearance projects. In heavily bombed cities like London, Coventry and Kingston upon Hull , the redevelopment schemes were often larger and more radical. In the immediate post-war years, and well into

11322-676: Was increased by overcrowding in the large cities during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century; many social commentators (such as Octavia Hill ) reported on the squalor, sickness and immorality that arose. Some industrialists and independent organisations provided housing in tenement blocks , while some philanthropist factory owners built entire villages for their workers, such as Saltaire (1853), Bournville (1879) and Port Sunlight (1888). The City of London Corporation built tenements in Farringdon Road in 1865, but this

11433-563: Was now called), owned: Despite funding films which were both popular and critically acclaimed, Rank was in crisis by 1949, having built up a debt of £16 million, and reported an annual loss of £3.5 million. Managing Director John Davis cut staff, reduced budgets and concentrated film production at Pinewood. Other studio facilities (in Islington ) were closed, sold (Lime Grove Studios) or leased (Denham). The Rank Organisation closed Independent Producers Ltd. The policies of Davis alienated many in

11544-466: Was on inner-city slum clearance , completing the job that was started in the 1930s. Harold Macmillan 's task, as Minister for Housing, was to deliver 300,000 houses a year. These were 700 square feet (65 m ), 20% smaller than a Tudor Walters Bevan house, usually built as a two-bedroom terrace called "The Peoples House". From 1956, with the Housing Subsidy Act 1956 the government subsidy

11655-469: Was restricted to only new houses built to replace those removed by slum clearance, and more money was given to tower blocks higher than six stories. With this subsidy, neighbourhoods throughout the country were demolished and rebuilt as mixed estates with low and high-rise building. At the same time the rising influence of modernist architecture, the development of new cheaper construction techniques, such as system building (a form of prefabrication ), and

11766-474: Was set up to regenerate a large area of predominantly interwar council housing in the north of Hull , Humberside . Liverpool HAT covered 67 of the worst tower blocks on Merseyside ; 54 of these blocks were demolished and replaced by new public or private sector housing developments, while the remaining 13 blocks were refurbished. Stonebridge HAT in Harlesden , London, was the final HAT to cease to exist when it

11877-503: Was to change with the Housing Act 1930 ( Greenwood Act), which required councils to prepare slum clearance plans, and some progress was made before the Second World War intervened. During the Second World War almost four million British homes were destroyed or damaged , and afterwards there was a major boom in council house construction. The bomb damage from the war only worsened the condition of Britain's housing stock, which

11988-755: Was typically built on a square grid 21 feet (6.4 m) on the side, with a maximum density of houses of no more than 12 per acre (30/ha), that is to say around 337 square metres (403 sq yd) per house. As a result, most houses had generous space around them. The new towns and many existing towns had countless estates built to this basic model. In Scotland , the tradition of tenement living meant that most homes of this period were built in low-rise (3–4) storey blocks of flats . For many working-class people, this housing model provided their first experience of private indoor toilets, private bathrooms and hot running water, as well as gardens and electric lighting. For tenants in England and Wales it also usually provided

12099-469: Was under contract to Rank for a period of time and starred in a number of films released by the studio, including London Town (1946), one of the costliest flops in British film history. Also under contract to Rank was the Canadian actor Philip Gilbert . The company grew quickly, largely through acquisition. Significant developments included: By the late 1940s J. Arthur Rank (or the Rank Organisation as it

12210-576: Was widely photographed and written about, also featuring in various newsreel reports. The maisonette blocks are faced with panels in primary colours (red and blue on maisonette blocks and yellow on the tower block). Bush-hammered concrete occurs less than in the Barbican. However, some of the concrete surfaces which are today painted - for example on the narrow elevations of Great Arthur House - were originally unpainted but later coated when they suffered early on from staining and streaking from iron pyrites in

12321-561: Was wound up in 2007, mostly covering an area of council housing built during the 1960s and 1970s. Waltham Forest HAT in South London covered several council estates, mostly built during the 1960s, and lasted until 2002, with the final phase of the regeneration being completed several years later by English Partnerships . Tower Hamlets HAT involved the regeneration of three council estates, mostly consisting of flats, in East London . Perhaps

#670329