Thamesmead Estate, Erith
1967-1973
G.L.C. Department of Architecture and Civic Design
North Greenwich Underground Station
1999
Alsop, Lyall and Stormer
Our new Modernism Beyond Metro-Land guidebook features many architects, working in a variety of styles and materials. Walter Segal’s work is unique among them for its focus on self building and use of timber. The borough of Lewisham was the first place to embrace his ideas, which have subsequently spread around the suburbs and beyond.
After a number of years designing small projects such as houses, flats and offices, largely in brick, Segal began to explore timber construction with a temporary annexe whilst his house in Highgate was being rebuilt, devising a self build system using widely available and low cost materials, in standard units. He saw how anybody could use the system to construct their own homes, and via the anarchist writer and architect Colin Ward, found a sympathetic reception at Lewisham Borough Council. They eventually allowed him some land to start building in Forest Hill, constructing 7 homes in what would be named Segal Close.
Other houses were built in Ormanton Road and Longton Avenue, Sydenham and Elstree Hill, Ravensbourne, all using the Segal method and producing houses built with timber frames and infill panels. Another plot of land was given over for self building in Honor Oak Park, where 13 two-storey timber houses were completed in 1986, and the street named Walter’s Way.
The borough’s own architects department also took inspiration from Segal's ideas, with the scheme at Brockley Park, next to Segal Close, designed by Geoffrey Wigfall, using mono pitched homes built in brick and finished with timber cladding and grass roofs. Some of the houses feature “pods” at the front, to be used for extra living or storage space, and the estate is grouped around a large green space.
Segal passed away in 1985 but his ideas persisted with self build projects appearing all around the capital's suburbs, with collaborator Jon Broome continuing the philosophy with his own practice Architype. Self-built projects can be found at Headway Gardens in Walthamstow, Parish Gardens in Greenwich, Eridge Green Close in Bromley and opposite Segal Close in Brockley Park, as well as at many other sites around the suburbs. Walter Segal’s self-build houses will have an extended section in our Modernism Beyond Metroland guidebook, now at 94% of its crowdfunding total. Get your copy here https://unbound.com/books/modernism-beyond-metro-land/
Overshot, Hinskey Hill, Oxford
1939
Samuel and Harding
Image from RIBApix
New House, 13 Arkwright Road, Hampstead
1939
Samuel and Harding
Image from RIBApix
Staircase, Willow Road
1939
Erno Goldfinger
Image from RIBApix
Homebase, Great West Road, Brentford
1987
Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners
Image from Grimshaw
Staircase, 2 Foxes Dale, Blackheath
1957
Eric Lyons & Partners
Image from RIBApix
Granada Cinema, Kingston Upon Thames
1939
George Coles, with Cecil Masey
Image from Cinema Treasures
Granada Cinema, Clapham Junction
1937
Leslie C. Norton and H.B. Horner with Cecil Masey
Plan of Arnos Grove Underground Station
1932
Charles Holden
Image from RIBApix
Exterior of Bounds Green Underground Station with large map
1932
C.H. James
Image from London Transport Museum
Turnpike Lane Underground Station under construction
1932
Charles Holden
Image from London Transport Museum