Lancaster West Estate Artist in Residence

It was a pleasure to meet up recently with Derek Latham at Lancaster West estate in North Kensington where I was community artist in residence. He worked for the architectural firm of Clifford Wearden and Associates in the late 1960s making detailed drawings for Testerton, Hurstway and Barandon; locals call these low-rise housing blocks the “finger blocks” and they radiate out from the central high rise tower on the estate.

Ahead of out meeting, Derek kindly sent me his 1973 thesis: Community Survival in the Renewal Process – An integral part of the housing problem. It is a lovely collage of photos, transparent sheets and pull out diagrammatic sections. The relationship between development and community is very topical as RBKC council are currently consulting on a major regeneration in the area. I am also constantly thinking about what is the role of an artist in relation to these complex social issues. Derek gave me some fascinating food for thought about how you might become engaged or radicalised.

The following extracts are taken from a statement supplied by Derek and an audio interview on the estate.

“During the development in the 1970s I became concerned when I discovered that a large proportion of the existing tenants who lived in the area were not to be rehoused. This was because they were effectively itinerant tenants living in the Rachman owned properties. Often two families to a floor sharing a kitchenette and sometimes six families sharing one bathroom and toilet. We think housing conditions today are poor, but I wish I had the photographs to show you the appalling conditions that these people were living in. They truly were slums. Not because of the way they were originally built as fine townhouses for single families with their servants but because of the way they were being exploited with little maintenance and severe overcrowding as the housing shortage at that time was so acute. You could look at a film like Cathy Come Home which was made back in the 1960s which fully explains the situation at that time. Because of my concern at the situation I joined Shelter. But I could do nothing to help the families that were in the Lancaster Road West area, most of whom had already been moved out to create a “ghost town”. In fact the area was used as a film set just before it was demolished. All the buildings were painted black to create a macabre backcloth for some form of thriller or horror film. I am sorry, but I cannot remember the name of the film – I never did see it. (Derek is referring to the 1969 film, Leo The Last and which I used as the basis for an arts project).

I was passionate about the need for a better solution to housing regeneration than the large clearances that were occurring throughout all the major cities in Britain. Communities survived better through the redevelopment process if they could remain where they were. Hence I developed the philosophy of Gradual Renewal – simply removing the very worst of the houses that were in poor condition and replacing them on the same street with new houses fitted in between those that remained. The philosophy was that in 15 or 20 years when some more of the original houses reached the end of their economic life then these too could be replaced. This would utilise the hammer and chisel and a small-scale builder rather than the bulldozer and the tower crane. It would avoid the decade of disruption that occurs with clearance and redevelopment.

There aren’t slums now. There are estates which have been vandalised, but more often neglected. Maybe because they are more expensive to look after than other estates, so they don’t get that extra money. But in the long term maintaining places is cheaper than pulling them down and rebuilding them. And that’s without taking into account social costs. In my experience the disruption to the community is usually not less than 10 years from the start of a development to its end. This is a good part of any child’s life. What are the consequences of that? They are enormous and they don’t get costed down. The principal should be to save and find ways of improving. How can we build an extra floor if we want to increase the density? How can we improve the walkways or insulation? Sometimes you might need to demolish certain portions. I wouldn’t be alive now without some pretty good surgery from time to time. But the point about the good surgeons is that they only cut the bits that absolutely ned to be cut and the rest of the organ keeps going. And if you look at any community estate, it’s like a living being and will need some surgery. But surgery isn’t death by bludgeoning and waiting for a re-birth. Nobody survives that well.”

​

I’ve almost concluded my artist residency at Lancaster West estate. There has been a hiatus to the community project work that has consisted of making large scale drawings for a mural and a short film. The regeneration works on Grenfell tower has entered its final phase and we are also in the festive season when even self-employed artists might be afforded a break. However it was a pleasure to be invited back onto the estate by residents and I attended two contrasting events in December.

The first was the Christmas meal for seniors. This was held at Aldridge Academy that has recently been built on the former green of the estate. The meal, drinks and raffle went down exceedingly well. This was the first event organised by the new resident association under the guidance of Clare Dewing and Andrea Newton. I had a chance to film residents and chat to them about the estate and how this area of North Kensington has changed.

June Toma: “We’ve lived here for 34 years and slum clearance in the 6os and 70s has changed it a lot. It’s a very multi-cultural area which is lovely. A community is what you make. If you have good neighbours and you’re friendly with your neighbours and get on with them – that’s important. I think as this generation grows up, it will become more of an up-market area. The housing they are building here is quite expensive. I think it pushes out a lot of young families because they cannot afford to live around here any more.”

Norman Lewis: “I came here in 1985. The estate has had its ups and downs. But I have very nice neighbours and we are very close. We watch each other’s backs. The food today is lovely and its nice to have all the community together.”

Cllr Judith Blakeman: “Today we are reviving the Lancaster West pensioners christmas dinner. We couldn’t have one last year because of the building works. It’s always the most fantastic event. The estate is becoming a coherent community partly due to the building works and what residents have gone through. This has really brough residents together. It would be a huge shame if this community was destroyed. The big problem is central government policy towards social housing and that’s what’s worrying us.”

The second event was a mediation meeting between residents of Grenfell Tower at Lancaster West estate and the Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) that run the estate. Also in attendance were the local councillor and MP. I have been to several meetings and residents are now comfortable with me ether filming or sketching during the proceedings.

Let me give some background information. Grenfell Tower has had a £10 million regeneration with new double glazed windows and heating for each flat; the latter has involved a complicated overhaul of the 1970s boiler system. There has been an upgrade to the exterior cladding of the building. In addition to this, new flats are being created and hopefully providing much needed housing at affordable rents. The nursery and boxing club will both be returning to much improved facilities in the building.

Despite all this positive regeneration, there has been a bitter dispute between a large number of residents and the TMO; specifically regarding the location for the new boilers in each property. The newly formed Grenfell compact group that represents residents in the tower has also called for an independent investigation into how the TMO have managed the regeneration. One issue that Lady Victoria Borwick, MP, constantly reiterated during the meeting was the pressing need to set aside differences and for all residents to cooperate with the TMO in getting heating and hot water supplies completed in time for Christmas. Over the past year many residents have refused to let contractors commence work in their flats. This has resulted in some of them being threatened with legal action as the TMO has a responsibility to complete the works. In the run up to Christmas the last few properties were having work done to install new boilers and radiators.

As an artist working with the TMO on community engagement it has not been an easy residency. I have hopefully overcome initial skepticism about art being a waste of time and money. I have embedded myself very closely with the community in an attempt to reflect all shades of communal life from vibrant tinsel to more sombre monochrome. So let me raise a slightly chipped glass and propose a toast to Lancaster West; to all residents who live on the estate and all the personnel from the TMO who manage the 1200 properties. I look forward to finalising designs of the mural with residents and to work with the TMO in celebrating the 40th anniversary of Lancaster West next year.

Fade in. A city landscape. We hear questions being asked by a range of people. Tentative answers are given in response.

I’m moving onto Lancaster West estate, what is it really like?
It’s the largest estate in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, nearly 40 years old with lots of friendly people and the flats are well-sized. It’s in the ward of Notting Barns.

Is there a strong sense of community here?
It’s hard to be objective. The estate is run by the TMO and pioneered the first resident-lead management board for an estate in England. It’s a shame there is no current resident association, but groups are forming or reforming. There is also the critical voice of the Grenfell Action Group.

Want to smoke some weed?
No thank you, I’m a bit busy with my art at the moment.

What is a community artist?
Amongst other things, one who works on social issues and works collaboratively with the community.

This is a replay of the type of conversations I’ve had on the estate.
Incidentally, I’m the community artist. After 4 months, I feel at home with what some residents call the forgotten estate.
What can I contribute to its tales of woe and wonder?
How do we hear voices that are never heard?
What stories are worth telling?
Are we myth making, rabble rousing or hopefully coalescing the community?

What is this? Where is this? It’s worth while mapping this territory in more detail.
Lancaster West is 1200 homes scattered over a large site – they built with a flair for space in the 70s. The various parts of the estate were never unified with concrete decking as the original architects had envisaged. This design would have synchronised with the nearby Westway and underground. Cars that fly in the sky and commuters that are tubed, on this section, in an elevated train. So why not have people walking in the sky?
“The deck may be thought of as the deck of a ship, in so far as it is the roof on which one can walk, and other superstructures or buildings either penetrate or sit on the top of it.” (60s Masterplan)
Decking only now survives wrapped around the tower block. It offers a pleasant promenade to look down on the green and the recently built academy and leisure centre.

Who? Let us meet some of the residents.
The lady who does yoga in her flat and dreamily looks across to the horizon and the London Eye. She tells me there is a solar eclipse this week and it’s effecting the geo-politcal balance.
The community gardener who has just seen himself in Visions of Paradise at the Portobello Film Festival. He is waiting for the bearded wonder upstairs to rain down on his garden. He talks about the estate as a black and white film in which there is a sudden shaft of colour. Does this colour represent his Wizard of Oz thunder storm?
I mention to him a B&W film that I had a starring role in and which deployed a lightning flash of colour. Great minds!
Another resident says I should be making a film about the refugee crisis. He also adds that we should not let anyone else into the country. Are there refugees making the perilous journey to our new world and who might end up on this estate? If they arrive and get lost (see previous blog), they could ask the postman on his beat. He clearly knows his way around but is busy complaining about boys interfering with his trolley.

Listen to those other voices.
Some are asking when will the Grenfell tower improvement works end?
Others – when will regeneration really begin?
What does the future hold with all the changes being planned in the area?
I attempt to crystal gaze into the future as I listen to voices from the past.
The wonderfully named Moo-Cow Bakery on Avondale Road  was concerned about the impact of planning blight. That was in 1966 and Lancaster West estate was in the pipe line.
The swinging milkman of this era was probably revelling in changes to society. The inner walkways on the estate were actually designed to allow his float to deliver milk  to the doorstep.
Jump cut to other voices.
I see a man served with a compulsory purchase order and his cri de coeur to the authorities: “As a negro, I have no status. I have no one to whom I can go for sincere advice including the Colonial office.”
There is correspondence from the Oriental Casting Agency who were located at 239 Lancaster Road. The owner fears the impending redevelopment will displace his business and not compensate adequately. This firm specialised in supplying Afro-Asian artists to the entertainment industry. I wonder if they provided the cast for the magical film Leo The Last that was made in 1969? Leo was set on Testerton Street as  it was being slum cleared for the building of Lancaster West. The themes of the film (race, housing and community relations) resonate with the contemporary world.
The past is still living memory. There is a large online community of former residents who cling to prelapsarian Notting Barns. Sharing intimate stories and photos on the Born in W10 and W11 Facebook groups. They have bitter sweet stories to tell about their proud working class origins. And how their home lives were shattered for the building of the estate.

It was Harold Macmillan who said “You never had it so good”.
Migration, austerity. Forks in the path, left and right.
Is this old news or new?

Council minutes tell us there were at least 6 petitions mounted by Lancaster West residents. I was struck by the 1981 petition when 238 residents wrote to the Health and Housing Committee of RBKC. It contained the following prayer:
“We the undersigned residents of the Lancaster West estate demand that the council gives priority to resolving the problems caused by the plague of cockroaches, bugs and other insects in our homes. We understand these insects constitute a health hazard and we are taking legal advice. We may consider withholding our rent and rates until those insects are eradicated from our estate.”
Suffice it to say, praying was not enough. Residents visited the town hall and dropped live cockroaches onto councillors in a meeting.

Fast forward to a drawing event held on the 4th July.
Young children on the estate completely reinvent their home environment.
Concrete and bricks morphed into an art world – theme park ride – battle zone for Spider Man. Many thanks to the following children:  Zaid, Cameron, Abdul, Ilyas, Jonayd and Sara. Especially Mehdi who told several stories to illustrate his drawing:
“Once upon a time there was a boy on a boat and he went into space – a flying boat. And he eat the King Alien and then the alien eat him.
He went back to earth running. He lived happily ever after.”
I also like the way Mehdi described his story telling skills.
“I made two stories up. I use my imagination. I press the imagination button.”

Let us end, by returning to that first question.
A lady who was driving along Grenfell Road, spotted me filming and stopped in her tracks. She was moving here and what was the estate like? I didn’t mention any biblical scenes pertaining to cockroaches or an apocalyptic movie scenario.
Was she moving into one of the new flats being created as part of the £10 million regeneration for Grenfell tower?
Does she have children that will one day use the nursery or boxing club on the estate?
She is the future and may that future be born free of insects and disasters.

Lancaster West is approaching 40 years of age. This is potentially a starting point for a midlife crisis. If we need spiritual guidance, our mystical community gardener, Stewart Wallace,  should have the last word:
“Sometimes the weather’s miserable. You have to see the colour in it.
Be happy. It’s easier. Just look for a tiny bit of happiness.”

When post and pizza deliveries, family friends or council reps, come and  visit Lancaster West for the first time, they have to navigate the complex lay out of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s largest estate.

Are you going to the tower block – Grenfell tower? Not to be confused with the four adjacent towers that are on Silchester estate. By a smidgen (ask a pigeon) this is the tallest structure in the area. So whether approaching by train or bus or foot, it should be the landmark to orientate yourself. The tower currently has scaffolding and building works. However since the regeneration, the entrance has been located to the upper walking deck and the floor levels have changed.

Okay. You didn’t actually want to visit the high rise. So are you going to the finger blocks? This is the charming local expression for Hurstway, Barandon and Testerton, the  low level housing blocks. Each one radiates out from the tower and has at its heart, a simply splendid swathe of grass. Perhaps you didn’t notice that these units are actually built above street and ground level garages. You don’t really want to end up down there if you can avoid it.

As we are temporarily lost, perhaps I can take advantage and guide you on a historical diversion.

Both Grenfell tower and the finger blocks were the first stage of building for the estate and illustrate the design ideals of the 60s architects, before 70s politics (oil crisis, three day working week, labour shortages) and changes in thinking  to estate building took hold; this is not to mention the complicating factor of the former Victorian baths on the site of the estate, which became listed for several years, before eventual demolition in the early 1980s.

As you travel around this estate, you do so partly by elevated walkways or walks built into the middle of housing units. Many of the decks have now been removed. However an understanding of their origins might make our journey around the estate more comfortable.

Do you remember Peter Deakins? He was one of the original architects of the estate who we met in a previous blog. He talks ruefully about the early masterplans where blocks were unified by walking decks above ground level and segregating people from traffic. At the centre of this modernist vision were a shopping arcade and business offices. These were never realised; however one section of underground garages was subsequently converted into Baseline business units.

The estate was planned in the 60s, build in the early 70s and only fully completed by the 80s. The latter stages of the project were taken over the borough architect and other firms who were building lower density housing and these can be glimpsed at Camelford, Clarendon and Talbot  Walk and also at Verity Close. The estate has also incorporated housing stock that was build before the 1970s. Also of interest, the original architects convinced the council that the area being redeveloped should have an element of housing for young professionals; this comprises the co-ownership houses at Wesley and St Andrew’s Square.
This is all good background material. But where would history be without art.

Looking at the RBKC archives on the estate, my attention was caught by a reference to the appointment of Messrs. Kinneir, Calvert and Tunhill as graphic designers in 1972. They were tasked to create signage to enable visitors and residents to navigate around Lancaster West and Worlds End estates; both estates were built at the same time. Kinneir and Calvert gained fame for designing the signs used on the British motorway system.

I recently contacted Margaret Calvert to enquire about her work on the estate and she mentioned how they produced on site trial signs. But she was never sure how these were applied, if at all. I think we can clearly see the graphic designer’s blue thumb print in the old signage that is still in place. Modern signs co-exist with the old. So you can stroll around and follow the signs into the past.

There is one signpost that I haven’t mentioned. One pointing to the future. Many of the residents are seeing changes taking place to the local area and have grave concerns about the future of their homes. RBKC council is wanting to build more housing and to upgrade its housing stock. Complex and socially challenging signs in the making.

Whenever I cycle down to Lancaster West, I pass under the Westway (A40) and I connect the signage on this former motorway to the directional signs scattered around the estate. As a frenetic artist (not enough hours to accomplish all those tasks), I’m often seen running around the estate at 70 mph; there are no speed restrictions in place here.

Lancaster West estate is home to 1200 properties. I must not forget this as I re-imagine this space. It has a diverse range of people from all walks of life. I have the privilege of interviewing 6 residents as part of my film project. There is blood and tears and happiness invested in this built environment. No signs can fully communicate this. I am adding my own artistic layering. These will probably not help the post or pizza person. Better off following the conventional signs. If your a resident, the post or pizza is en route.