corporation flats
Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 11:28 am
Is there any - relatively easy - way to get information on how certain council housing was actually designed and built? I'm thinking especially of the sort of new tenement that was put up in Blackhill, Lilybank etc in the 1930s (I think) and which are all just about disappearing. They were three story high, with two flats on a landing, each equipped with kitchen (hot water; boiler for washing; sink mangle; oven back to back with living room fire/grating) bathroom, living room (with ornate fire/grating and meat cupboard, with ventilation to outside) and anything from one to four bedrooms. I think the building materials were composite stone with slate roofs. There was a drying green and middens area at the back, and a small garden area at the front. Corner tenements seemed to be larger than others. They were obviously cheaply built and on a massive scale, but my memory is that they were light and airy and the design was a sort of "modernist" take on the traditional tenement. The kitchen and bathroom equipment seemed to have been "cleverly" designed (meaning users very quickly got rid of the or used them for other purposes). They were all in much disprized areas and so are being removed without compunction, except for the occassional superior red-sandstone, or red-composite, ones on prestigious spots. Others were hidden beneath more recent "improvements" before being finally demolished. I wondered if there is any record of whoever designed them, whether they intentionally tried to do a "modern" job on a tight budget, any layout plans of the originals remaining, or any photographs of original interiors (I don't mean the tiled "interiors" which replaced the grates in the 50s). Were they unique to Glasgow? There is a lot on the "sociology" of these areas - I suffer from it still!! - but I would really like to find out more about their design and construction. Any leads?