The West Kentish Town Estate provides more than 300 flats to social housing tenants. Built in the 1960s, using a panel building system, it has provided generations of Londoners an affordable home, close to the heart of one of the world’s biggest cities.

But today, it is not meeting the needs of local families. Homes are too small, and problems with ventilation and insulation cause damp, unpleasant, living conditions. Local council Camden, trying to balance budgets after decades of central government austerity, has taken an option chosen by many other social housing landlords: a complete demolition and rebuild, with social homes funded through the sale of private flats in a high rise development.

When local architect Alice Brown learned of the council’s plan, she wanted to see if another option was possible: retaining and retrofitting the estate, with in-fill and additional stories used to provide the larger homes needed by many families. With the help of structural engineer Allan Dunsmore, of Conisbee, she was able to show that the panel system used on the estate could be safely modified, to bring the estate up to modern standards.

And, by using the RICS Whole Life Carbon Assessment methodology, she was able to show that retrofit would only produce a fifth of the carbon emissions of the proposed rebuild.

Guests

Andrew Dow, resident, West Kentish Town Estate

Alice Brown, principal, AAB Architects

Allan Dunsmore, director, Conisbee