Wikipedia Draft:Aylesbury Estate (Demolition)

The Aylesbury Estate is a large housing estate located in Walworth, South East London.

The estate contains 2,704 dwellings, spread over a number of different blocks and buildings, and was built between 1963 and 1977. There are approximately 7,500 residents. The estate is currently undergoing a major demolition and redevelopment construction work.

Timeline
Below is a timeline of the life span of the Aylesbury Estate from design to demolition.

1963
The building was designed by Austrian architect Hans Peter Felix Trenton and it was built between 1963 and 1977.

1980s
The estate then went through a period of decline as old tenants moved out and new tenants came in. In 1997, Tony Blair chose to make his first speech as Prime Minister here, in an effort to demonstrate that the government would care for the poorest within society. The estate is often used as a typical example of urban decay.

1999
The council planned to trade the estate with housing association as part of a stock transfer deal. However, a tenant ballot was held on transfer to a housing association which was rejected by 73% of the votes on a 73% tenant turnout.

2005
The London Borough of Southwark made the decision to move forward with the demolition plan regardless of the previous tenant ballot. The council decided that rather than spend £350 million updating the estate to basic living standards, it would order its demolition and replace the dwellings with modern houses controlled by a housing association.

2013 - Present
In 2013, Notting Hill Housing Trust in partnership with Southwark Council began demolition works in the Aylesbury Estate as part of the phased mix-used regeneration scheme in the area.

Redevelopment
The redevelopment of the Aylesbury Estate has been divided into several phases which will see the estate being re-built in 20 years. The indicative phasing plan states when tenants plan to be re-housed and when leasehold properties would be bought by Southwark Council. However, this timetable is subject to a certain amount of flux, until the development partner is appointed and the more detailed scheduling of the work can begin, which will offer greater certainty to residents about when they will need to move.

The first Phase 1a was completed in August 2013, it lies near the south-west corner of the Aylesbury Estate and is divided into four development sites: A, C, B/E and D. This phase was developed with the L&Q housing association. It comprises 261 units, and a new resource centre for adults with disabilities. It is a mixture of affordable and private housing, with existing Aylesbury residents given priority to move into the new buildings.

The first stage of Phase 2, also known as Plot 18, includes 300-313 Missenden, 57-76 Northchurch and the space to the south of Taplow. The second stage of Phase 2 includes all the Wendover, Wolverton, Winslow, Padbury, Ravenstone and Foxcote blocks as well as Brockley House. Demolition of the blocks on Plot 18 started in 2017 and over 1,000 new homes will be built across this phase over the next seven years.

Phase 3 includes all Taplow and Northchurch blocks to the west of Thurlow Street as well as 184 and 218 East Street. Demolition of the existing blocks is programmed to start in 2021 and 200 new homes will be built in this phase over the next six years.

Phase 4 includes all the Missenden, Michael Faraday, Gayhurst, Gaitskell, Latimer, Calverton, Danesfield and Emberton blocks. It also includes Chadwell House, Lees House, Soane House, Dorwell House and 51-67 Inville Road. Demolition of the existing blocks is programmed to start in 2023 and over 1,500 new homes will be built over the next nine years.

While this was updated in May 2018, it is noted that the regeneration is a long-term project so facts and figures may change over time. In addition, the Aylesbury Area Action Plan (AAAP) adopted 10 years ago was supposed to govern the 25-year redevelopment of the estate. It is then expected to require a high level of consultation and the involvement of affected residents throughout the regeneration process.

Pre-demolition Works
As part of the pre-demolition works starting August 2015, Keltbray Ltd has been contracted as the demolition contractor to carry out the initial stages.

First Development Site Demolition
For the first development site demolition, works are carried out by specialist demolition company, Erith Contractors Ltd. According to the Aylesbury Regeneration Newsletter, a top-down demolition method is adopted with machines working on top of the building. Scaffolding and Monaflex, which is the white scaffold sheeting, were used one floor at a time as the demolition progressed. This reduced dust and noise levels. The sequence of works programme during March 2020 to July 2020 began from handover of subplot 5 partial & complete to hill construction, demolition of 1-172 Chiltern, demolition of link bridge on Portland Street, and finally removal of obstruction and foundation.

Plot 18 Construction
As construction continues, demolition work was also included in the works programme under building contractor. Starting spring 2021, Vistry, which is the Plot 18 contractor, is responsible for the demolition of Northchurch and Section 278. The estimated completion time is 13 weeks. Works included barriers and road sweepers on site, water for any dish suppression, hoarding around Northchurch and traffic marshals guiding traffic. Standard monitoring included dust and noise levels in compliance to construction trigger levels. Newsletter are sent quarterly to inform public and aylesbury neighbourhood.

Site Wide Waste Management Strategy
According to the Planning Application for the Aylesbury Estate Regeneration, a pre-demolition audit of the Site was undertaken in July 2014 by the Building Research Establishment (BRE). The estimated quantity of demolition materials identified during the audit totals approximately 296,313 tonnes (127,061m3) and the key demolition materials were identified as concrete, bricks and metal. The recycling of these materials is deemed feasible and an overall diversion of waste from landfill target of 97% was proposed.

For site preparation and earthworks, waste arising from site clearance, primary infrastructure and earthworks is expected to comprise rubble, tarmac from former hard standings, gravel, clay material and possibly contaminated material. Any clean excavated material that cannot be reused on-site would be removed by licensed waste carriers and sent for reuse at another development site or sent for disposal at appropriately licensed facilities, which are expected to be inert waste landfill sites.

The estimations show that 14,138 tonnes of waste may arise from construction of the FDS Application. The estimations show that 36,996 to 38,561 tonnes of waste may arise from construction of the Masterplan Application, based on the above indicative floor area ranges. In combination, the Comprehensive Development may generate 51,134 to 52,699 tonnes of construction waste.

Criticism
The New Southwark Plan described the Aylesbury estate as “characterized by large concrete slab buildings built in the mid-1960s –70s, now at the end of their service life.”

This drew criticism from residents, leading to a change of wording. Further objections during the EIP hearing, argued that the Council had submitted no evidence supporting the claim that the estate was at the end of its service life and had failed to investigate whether refurbishment could be a more viable and sustainable option. This was contrasted to Southwark’s decision to bail out Notting Hill Genesis housing, at a cost of over £200m, after the housing association failed to deliver the First Development site, evidently hit with financial viability problems.

Successful examples of the refurbishment of estates built using the same system as the Aylesbury and which might usefully be examined, can be found on the Six Acres estate in Islington and the Doddington estate in Battersea.

Occupation
In January 2015, following the March for Homes, a block on the estate was occupied by a group of squatters and housing activists in a protest against the demolition of the estate and the gentrification of London. Despite facing resistance from the police and security guards the occupation continued, shifting from block to block as the protesters faced eviction notices. The occupation gained press attention for its tactics and for the counter measures taken by Southwark Council—who installed security guards, security dogs, and a spiked fence to deter protesters.

As the regeneration continues in phases, more estate is dominated by the construction site and the tenants who remain report feeling increasingly fearful. In March 2021, it has been reported that vacant properties in the low rises were being taken over by squatters because of inadequately police security. In addition, many residents are suffered from long-standing heating and hot water outrages and leaks in their homes. According to the remaining residents, there has been growing frustration by what they say is too little action from Southwark Council and the Met to make the area safe.

In popular culture
Ben Campkin, former director of the UCL Urban Laboratory, called the estate's depiction as "a desolate concrete dystopia [which] provides visual confirmation of tabloid journalists' descriptions of a 'ghost town' estate." The ident was also the first and last of its respective series to be broadcast.

However, according to a report by the Guardian, for decades, the residents of the Aylesbury estate were tired of having their community portrayed in a poor light. This reflects a typical social stigma in the U.K. which is often associated with brutalist architecture.