0:00:05 > 0:00:06In this series,
0:00:06 > 0:00:10I'm uncovering the history of the ordinary British home.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15I want to explore the homes that most of us live in
0:00:15 > 0:00:17and that most of us take for granted.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20From Tudor cottages and Victorian terraces
0:00:20 > 0:00:22to post-war high-rise flats.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26I want to reveal how these often ordinary-looking homes
0:00:26 > 0:00:28are in fact extraordinary.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30Pull!
0:00:30 > 0:00:33In each episode, I'll search out the stories
0:00:33 > 0:00:35of how and why our homes were built,
0:00:35 > 0:00:39and I'll explore the evidence of centuries of design and redesign.
0:00:39 > 0:00:44Since I've got you here, I can explore your plumbing in detail!
0:00:44 > 0:00:49Our homes offer a intimate portrait of our public and our private selves.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52From the glass in our windows to the gadgets in our kitchens,
0:00:52 > 0:00:57they lay bare how healthy, how wealthy, even how happy we are.
0:00:57 > 0:00:58She kissed the walls.
0:00:58 > 0:01:03We have a lot of common. I'm always kissing architecture. So she loves her terraced house!
0:01:03 > 0:01:07I'll uncover the architectural details which have shaped our social
0:01:07 > 0:01:12history and transformed our daily lives.
0:01:12 > 0:01:13TOILET FLUSHES
0:01:17 > 0:01:21I want to go beyond masonry and mortar and come face-to-face with
0:01:21 > 0:01:23residents past and present.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27I want to understand how they lived and how they transformed buildings
0:01:27 > 0:01:29into homes.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45This is the Lincoln Estate, Bromley-by-Bow, East London.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48A landmark council housing scheme.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51It was designed in the late 1950s,
0:01:51 > 0:01:53opened in the early 1960s,
0:01:53 > 0:01:57and at its heart are two 19-storey blocks of flats.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02The construction of these twin towers was part of
0:02:02 > 0:02:05a nationwide explosion in high-rise living.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11Over 6,000 skyscrapers sprung up in the post-war era,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15forever changing the architecture of Britain's towns and cities.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19The very term "flat" evokes
0:02:19 > 0:02:22an aura of modernism,
0:02:22 > 0:02:25of futuristic living high in the sky.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32And these towers were indeed a very modern solution to an ever-present
0:02:32 > 0:02:34national problem.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36In the wake of the Second World War,
0:02:36 > 0:02:38Britain was in the grip of a housing crisis.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45Two million British homes had been destroyed or damaged
0:02:45 > 0:02:47by the Luftwaffe's bombing campaign.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54But the impact of the war was just one part of a wider malaise.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58The terrace, the solution to a Victorian housing crisis,
0:02:58 > 0:03:00had itself become a problem.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04Dilapidated, overcrowded and often squalid.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09By the 1950s, five million working-class Britons
0:03:09 > 0:03:12were living in terraced slums.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16Politicians demanded a solution.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20And it fell to a group of idealistic post-war architects
0:03:20 > 0:03:21to eradicate the problem.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27They would shun the traditional house and garden
0:03:27 > 0:03:30and embrace Continental ideas of high-rise living.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36I want to discover how the high-rise flat became the answer to Britain's
0:03:36 > 0:03:40post-war housing crisis and why this modern way of living became
0:03:40 > 0:03:43loathed and loved in almost equal measure.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50This one estate in East London charts, in microcosm, the story of
0:03:50 > 0:03:54a bold architectural experiment to rehouse an entire class.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02The idea of multistorey living had been around for centuries.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05The Scottish tenement was essentially
0:04:05 > 0:04:07a three-or-four-storey block of flats.
0:04:08 > 0:04:13In Victorian London, mansion blocks were built for rich and poor alike.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16Philanthropic trusts like Peabody and Guinness
0:04:16 > 0:04:19put up subsidised homes for workers.
0:04:20 > 0:04:21In smart St James's,
0:04:21 > 0:04:27the 12-storey Queen Anne mansions so upset Queen Victoria in 1874,
0:04:27 > 0:04:29spoiling her view of Parliament,
0:04:29 > 0:04:31that new buildings over 80 feet high
0:04:31 > 0:04:34were banned in the centre of London for decades.
0:04:36 > 0:04:37100 years later,
0:04:37 > 0:04:41British architects took the traditional flat and transformed it
0:04:41 > 0:04:44to provide mass housing for working people.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48They drew their inspiration from a radical new architecture movement
0:04:48 > 0:04:50that was sweeping across Europe.
0:04:50 > 0:04:51Modernism.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57It turned its back on history and ornament to embrace the new, and had
0:04:57 > 0:05:01its roots in the intellectual ferment of the interwar years.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06Then, Bauhaus pioneers Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe argued
0:05:06 > 0:05:09that emerging technologies permitted
0:05:09 > 0:05:12a wholly modern, clean, minimal design.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15At the same time, the man who came to epitomise the movement,
0:05:15 > 0:05:19French architect Le Corbusier, was formulating a radical agenda.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24He believed the new architecture had the power to transform the way
0:05:24 > 0:05:27people lived and, with it, society.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33His theory is exemplified by the Unite d'habitation,
0:05:33 > 0:05:38a massive apartment block in Marseille that he designed in 1947.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45Inside, each flat is laid out to reflect the utilitarian credo that
0:05:45 > 0:05:47form should follow function.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49But the Unite also embraced
0:05:49 > 0:05:52street-like corridors with shops and cafes.
0:05:52 > 0:05:57Its roof had a running track and a children's play area, all inspired
0:05:57 > 0:06:00by Le Corbusier's belief in communal, collective living.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05For some, he was a false prophet,
0:06:05 > 0:06:08his ideal fatally flawed.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10To others, a utopian visionary.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12And amongst the devotees,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15a generation of British politicians and architects.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19These buildings, when designed,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22were very much part of the modernist vision.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26Now, they've been much altered since completion in 1962,
0:06:26 > 0:06:28but the vision is still apparent.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30They're still very abstract,
0:06:30 > 0:06:33very functional in appearance, and the great thing is,
0:06:33 > 0:06:37they stand as great sculptural objects in open space,
0:06:37 > 0:06:40so that residents would have a mini park to enjoy
0:06:40 > 0:06:42and light would flood inside.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47In the 1960s, such towers were sprouting up all over Britain.
0:06:50 > 0:06:55The Lincoln Estate was designed by the London County Council, or LCC,
0:06:55 > 0:06:57Architects' Department.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02One of their number was a young idealist, David Gregory-Jones.
0:07:04 > 0:07:09He dreamt up the inner-city, 19-storey reinforced-concrete Lincoln
0:07:09 > 0:07:11whilst living in leafy suburban Bexleyheath.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19In the late 1950s, when David Gregory-Jones was developing his design,
0:07:19 > 0:07:23he lived here as a lodger in the Red House,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26this wonderful Arts and Crafts masterpiece
0:07:26 > 0:07:29designed for and partly by William Morris.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33At the time, the Red House was owned by Ted Hollamby,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35a leading London County Council architect.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38Now, Hollamby and Gregory-Jones had a shared vision.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41They believed that architecture had a social purpose.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Its role was to improve the homes, the lives,
0:07:44 > 0:07:46the environment of ordinary working people.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51At first glance, modernism,
0:07:51 > 0:07:55with its emphasis on industrialised mass production and clean lines, was
0:07:55 > 0:07:59very different from the Arts and Crafts movement celebrated here,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02which took curvy Gothic and handcrafted construction
0:08:02 > 0:08:04as its inspiration.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09But in fact, the tension and links between the two made the Red House
0:08:09 > 0:08:11a ferment of debate.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14There was a row brewing about whether hardline modernism
0:08:14 > 0:08:16was applicable to soft old Britain.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23In 1950s Britain, there were, I suppose, two strands of modernism.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27One one could call, I guess, hard,
0:08:27 > 0:08:29inspired by the machine age, mass production,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32industrialisation and so on, the machine aesthetic.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35And the other perhaps one could call soft.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39And which did David Gregory-Jones pursue?
0:08:39 > 0:08:41Oh, it's very clear,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44especially when you're standing here inside the Red House, that
0:08:44 > 0:08:49Hollamby and Gregory-Jones followed the softer, if you like, model.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53Really based on the Swedish progressive housing programme of the 1930s
0:08:53 > 0:08:57where you used vernacular materials, using colour and brick,
0:08:57 > 0:09:02incorporating details like planters and timber cladding to kind of
0:09:02 > 0:09:05give a domestic feel to this type of modernism.
0:09:05 > 0:09:10Tell me about the influence that William Morris, the Arts and Crafts movement
0:09:10 > 0:09:13and of course the glorious Red House where we're standing,
0:09:13 > 0:09:17tell me about the influence they had on British modernism
0:09:17 > 0:09:18in the '50s and '60s.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22From a very early age, Gregory-Jones really believed in
0:09:22 > 0:09:27the social power that architecture could provide to people,
0:09:27 > 0:09:30and he was a committed socialist. In fact,
0:09:30 > 0:09:34he was actually a fully paid-up member of the Communist Party.
0:09:34 > 0:09:39So he certainly shared the socialist values of Morris
0:09:39 > 0:09:41and, in fact,
0:09:41 > 0:09:44by living here with Hollamby and...
0:09:44 > 0:09:47living in this communal lifestyle,
0:09:47 > 0:09:52sharing activities and communal spaces and the restoration of this house,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56he was really able to kind of play out those socialist ideals.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59So they lived here in a Morris-like way?
0:09:59 > 0:10:02Exactly. Imagine how exciting that must have been,
0:10:02 > 0:10:07to not only be in the house that you've read about and heard about
0:10:07 > 0:10:10and was integral to this whole Arts and Crafts movement,
0:10:10 > 0:10:13but to actually live it yourself.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21Whether working-class East Enders actually wanted to live in
0:10:21 > 0:10:24a utopian paradise dreamt up by distant architects
0:10:24 > 0:10:26was another matter altogether.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31Many cherished their slum homes.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35The terrace had given birth to a close-knit community
0:10:35 > 0:10:38where life revolved around the tightly packed streets.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44Working-class Londoners weren't ready for
0:10:44 > 0:10:48the radical change of lifestyle offered by high-rise flats.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54I've come to Tower Hamlets archives to gauge the depth of opposition to
0:10:54 > 0:10:56the LCC's plans for the Lincoln.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04The planning of the Lincoln Estate in the late 1950s
0:11:04 > 0:11:06was a highly controversial affair.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10That is made clear from these files of memos and letters between
0:11:10 > 0:11:15the London County Council, Poplar Borough Council and the Government,
0:11:15 > 0:11:17the Ministry of Housing and Local Government.
0:11:17 > 0:11:23For example, this memo from the town clerk of Poplar Borough Council,
0:11:23 > 0:11:28"Much of the proposed development arises from planning ideas
0:11:28 > 0:11:32"which are not very closely related to practical living conditions
0:11:32 > 0:11:34"in a borough such as Poplar."
0:11:34 > 0:11:37Absolutely right, the ideas were Continental. Le Corbusier.
0:11:37 > 0:11:42The great visionary schemes of Continental Europe for streets in the sky.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48The LCC sustained its position in the face of opposition from Poplar,
0:11:48 > 0:11:53and this is a memo within the LCC reiterating the benefits of the scheme.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56"All living rooms would face south
0:11:56 > 0:11:59"and would enjoy magnificent views across the river
0:11:59 > 0:12:02"to the hills in Surrey and Kent."
0:12:05 > 0:12:08Poplar point out that, "On the other hand,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11"the Borough Council contend that the main outlook
0:12:11 > 0:12:16"would be on power stations, gasworks
0:12:16 > 0:12:19"and smoke and grime."
0:12:19 > 0:12:24So, basically, you have here the vision of modern living,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27the ideal state of modern living,
0:12:27 > 0:12:30in conflict with the reality,
0:12:30 > 0:12:32as pointed out by the people actually living in Poplar.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34Incredibly fascinating.
0:12:36 > 0:12:41Now, here we have a response from the Ministry of Housing and Local Government
0:12:41 > 0:12:43addressed to the LCC.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45This is essentially the planning consent.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48The Government has supported the LCC
0:12:48 > 0:12:52against the reservations of the local politicians
0:12:52 > 0:12:54to build in Poplar, at this stage,
0:12:54 > 0:12:58one 19-storey block of housing for local people.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06The fierce local resistance to the estate was no anomaly.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09The modern flat polarised opinion across the country
0:13:09 > 0:13:14as community after community was changed out of all recognition.
0:13:16 > 0:13:21In London alone, 100,000 terraced houses were bulldozed as hundreds of
0:13:21 > 0:13:24tower blocks rose up from the ashes of the slums.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28Planning permission in hand,
0:13:28 > 0:13:32it took the LCC just two years to knock this area flat
0:13:32 > 0:13:34and to start building the Lincoln.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40In the summer of 1962, the first residents arrived,
0:13:40 > 0:13:43standing in the shadow of the tower,
0:13:43 > 0:13:46all of them council tenants lucky enough to be given a flat in this
0:13:46 > 0:13:48futuristic skyscraper.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53There was, like, about six people there
0:13:53 > 0:13:56and there was six maisonettes available
0:13:56 > 0:13:59and we had a choice as to what floor we wanted to live on...
0:14:01 > 0:14:04..and I wanted to live on the first floor, I didn't want to go up the top,
0:14:04 > 0:14:08so I just took the keys that was for the first floor
0:14:08 > 0:14:11and I just let everybody else go and find theirs!
0:14:13 > 0:14:18When I first moved in, I was amazed to think there was so much room.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20Cos I thought, "Oh,
0:14:20 > 0:14:22"I've got another tiny little flat,"
0:14:22 > 0:14:24you know, that's what I expected.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27And first day I went in, I thought, wow.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30Really lovely. I was so chuffed.
0:14:31 > 0:14:32Happy bunny, I was.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39Sleaford and Gayton House were the tallest skyscrapers in London,
0:14:39 > 0:14:42soaring nearly 200 feet in the air.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49The entrance vestibule, rather arid, empty,
0:14:49 > 0:14:51I suppose to discourage loitering.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55Originally, it wasn't an entrance vestibule.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59The ground floor was open and the ground floor
0:14:59 > 0:15:03would remain available for public use and enjoyment.
0:15:03 > 0:15:08I suppose one can see here concrete piers.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10Very much in the kind of modernist idea.
0:15:10 > 0:15:15Here we are, concrete, concrete here, and then I say,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18open from back to front, a vista through the building.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23The piers, or piloti, on which the towers rested
0:15:23 > 0:15:27were the most visible sign of the Lincoln's debt to Le Corbusier.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31To him, piloti were the expression of a structural frame,
0:15:31 > 0:15:33allowing adaptable interiors
0:15:33 > 0:15:36and ensuring the land on which the building stood
0:15:36 > 0:15:38could remain in public use.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42The piloti left the towers seemingly floating in space.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46The towers were largely made of reinforced concrete
0:15:46 > 0:15:50and it was this material that allowed the LCC's architects
0:15:50 > 0:15:52to realise its space-age vision.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59Concrete is cheap, versatile and incredibly strong
0:15:59 > 0:16:01once reinforced with steel,
0:16:01 > 0:16:02and it was used to create
0:16:02 > 0:16:05pretty much every part of the Lincoln's towers.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10Their internal walls, floors
0:16:10 > 0:16:12and abstract pattern facades.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20I'm at Cemex,
0:16:20 > 0:16:22one of the world's largest concrete companies,
0:16:22 > 0:16:24to find out how the Lincoln was built.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28Concrete used in the 1960s,
0:16:28 > 0:16:30is it significantly different to concrete used today?
0:16:31 > 0:16:34It's similar in terms of its raw materials.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36Specifications have changed massively,
0:16:36 > 0:16:41but still made with similar raw materials to this.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44- A coarse aggregate. - Those are basically pebbles.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46You may call them pebbles, we would call them aggregate!
0:16:46 > 0:16:50- And then it's... I wouldn't call that sand.- That is sand. That's...
0:16:50 > 0:16:51- Water.- Water, yeah.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54- And this is Portland? - Portland cement.- Portland cement.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59- This is basically...- Clay chalk, which is heated up and then grained,
0:16:59 > 0:17:01so the coarse aggregate gives you the stability and the volume,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04- your coarse aggregate.- Yes, yes. - Your fine aggregate, the sand,
0:17:04 > 0:17:06is giving you your cohesion
0:17:06 > 0:17:09and then the cement there is your binder,
0:17:09 > 0:17:12your glue, to ultimately give you your compressive strength.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15OK, so now presumably one puts them in the mixer.
0:17:15 > 0:17:16Indeed, yep.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23I've got a whole beach here!
0:17:23 > 0:17:25One large coarse aggregate.
0:17:27 > 0:17:28Sand.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34And now we can add our assembler.
0:17:34 > 0:17:35OK.
0:17:37 > 0:17:38Yeah.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44- It's looking good already. - We'll add our water, yeah?
0:17:56 > 0:17:59Well, I can see why you got into concrete.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01It's wonderful, isn't it?
0:18:05 > 0:18:09But liquid concrete doth not a 19-storey tower make.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13What happens next hasn't changed much in 60 years.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18This is Great Eastern Quay
0:18:18 > 0:18:20on the biggest new development in East London,
0:18:20 > 0:18:23just a few miles from the Lincoln.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27Project director Brad Coker is going to give me a crash course in
0:18:27 > 0:18:30how to build a 200-foot-high skyscraper.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35Steel reinforcement is added to the raw concrete
0:18:35 > 0:18:38to give increased load-bearing strength.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41This is crucial in tall buildings,
0:18:41 > 0:18:45where the weight bearing down on lower stories is immense.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51Bars of steel are joined into cages, ready to be used on site.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55Can you show me what it would have been like to build the towers
0:18:55 > 0:18:58on the Lincoln Estate six or so years ago?
0:18:58 > 0:19:00Yeah, we've got the starter steel coming out.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03They come out the ground, up to there,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06then we've got the steel cage that we saw them making up downstairs.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08This is the steel reinforcing for the concrete.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10This is it. The strength within the concrete.
0:19:10 > 0:19:11Yeah. And what are these?
0:19:11 > 0:19:14Basically, what we've got here are little spaces,
0:19:14 > 0:19:18so when the shutter goes on, they clamp onto there,
0:19:18 > 0:19:19the shutter pushes up against that.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22OK, I get it, the shutter, the timber mould,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24this in fact gives us spacing
0:19:24 > 0:19:27between the steel reinforcing and the concrete?
0:19:27 > 0:19:29What you can't have is the elements getting through to the steel
0:19:29 > 0:19:31and that rusting.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35This one's about to go. You should get this one. That's a good one.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40Once the wooden mould, or shutters, are ready,
0:19:40 > 0:19:44the liquid concrete is pumped inside via this huge hose.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48When the shutter is full,
0:19:48 > 0:19:52a machine vibrates the concrete to remove any trapped air bubbles.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56So this is the vibrator now, the vibration's going on.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58That's it, they're doing that now.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02Very quick. They will vibrate that from the bottom up,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05they'll check the depth, and then that's left overnight.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08So we have seen that pier being formed as we've chatted, that's it.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10- That's it, done.- Here we are.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12The shuttering, or mould, has been removed
0:20:12 > 0:20:14and here's the finished product.
0:20:14 > 0:20:15The hard solid concrete.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17- Concrete, yep. - This was poured yesterday,
0:20:17 > 0:20:19shutter was removed this morning,
0:20:19 > 0:20:21and that's here now and will be for the next...
0:20:23 > 0:20:24- ..several years.- Several years.
0:20:24 > 0:20:25Eternity.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31It's impossible to overestimate
0:20:31 > 0:20:35the importance of steel-reinforced concrete.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38Durable, structurally strong.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42Cheap, and indeed rather beautiful.
0:20:42 > 0:20:47It offered thousands of people the chance to have a home of their own,
0:20:47 > 0:20:50and also when concrete was exposed visually,
0:20:50 > 0:20:53as on the elevation of a building,
0:20:53 > 0:20:57its rather tough and rough and brutal character
0:20:57 > 0:21:02helped to define the architecture of the 1960s and 1970s.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09That look gave its name to a type of modernism, brutalist,
0:21:09 > 0:21:11which comes from the French "beton brut",
0:21:11 > 0:21:13meaning "raw concrete".
0:21:13 > 0:21:15Exemplified by Balfron Tower,
0:21:15 > 0:21:19another extraordinary '60s building just a mile from the Lincoln.
0:21:25 > 0:21:30But the Lincoln towers were more about rational and minimal design.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34You might expect residents to be living in monkish cells.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36Doors closing.
0:21:36 > 0:21:37It works!
0:21:39 > 0:21:40'But not so.'
0:21:42 > 0:21:46Lincoln resident June Needham has lived on the 17th floor
0:21:46 > 0:21:48for over 40 years.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59- Hello.- Hello, I'm June.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01- I'm Dan.- Welcome to my home.
0:22:01 > 0:22:02Thank you very much. Can I...?
0:22:02 > 0:22:04- Come in.- Thank you.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06Have a look round.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08Ah, so very nice, the entrance lobby,
0:22:08 > 0:22:12- and here, presumably, is the bathroom.- Bathroom and toilet.
0:22:12 > 0:22:13Yes, yes.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16Originally, it would have been two rooms, separate rooms.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18Yes, there was a wall down the middle
0:22:18 > 0:22:20and then they said it would be nice
0:22:20 > 0:22:23if we had it in one small room, but bigger.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25- Yes, a bit more space. - A bit more space, yes.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27Your flat, the entrance, is at bedroom level,
0:22:27 > 0:22:29so here's the bedrooms...
0:22:29 > 0:22:31My bedroom.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33And the spare room.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36- Yes, they're big rooms, aren't they? - Yeah. They are big.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38- Generous.- The other side is different.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40Yes. You enter the other side, presumably.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43They go into their kitchen and living room and they go up to bed,
0:22:43 > 0:22:45whereas we go down to bed.
0:22:45 > 0:22:46Would you like to go upstairs and explore?
0:22:46 > 0:22:48I'd love to, thank you very much.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51- I'll leave you to it.- OK, I'll see you in a minute, maybe. Thank you.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54'Gregory-Jones's flats are rather unusual.'
0:22:55 > 0:22:56They're on two floors.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59A design known as a scissor section.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03Ah, now, the bedrooms are below,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06and up here, the kitchen and the sitting room,
0:23:06 > 0:23:09the living area, split-level living.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11Very modern. You maximise...
0:23:12 > 0:23:15..the space in every way possible, so lots of cupboards.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18I suppose original little handle here.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20It's a latch, isn't it? Oh, yes,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23you press that and you release the button. Oh, OK.
0:23:23 > 0:23:24Oh, an airing cupboard.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27I guess there was a boiler in here.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30Immersion heater now, and lovely detail.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33Again, I say, to be efficient, efficient with storage space,
0:23:33 > 0:23:37the architects designed these rather charming little sliding holders
0:23:37 > 0:23:39for your clothes.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45Oh, the kitchen. The kitchen is pretty compact, pretty small,
0:23:45 > 0:23:47just a galley kitchen, really.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51Very much a machine for food preparation.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58The largest room in the flat, the sitting room,
0:23:58 > 0:24:00and I suppose also it would have been the dining room,
0:24:00 > 0:24:04being next door to the kitchen, dining room and table here.
0:24:04 > 0:24:10And, of course, the whole wall here is made of glass,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12allowing light to flood inside, of course,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15but also offering sensational vistas,
0:24:15 > 0:24:18prospects over London, looking south over the docks,
0:24:18 > 0:24:22and another favoured modernist detail,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24there's a very generous balcony,
0:24:24 > 0:24:27allowing one to stand outside and get the air, take in the view,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30but also get some exercise. It's big enough.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33It certainly is like a street in the sky.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39I couldn't go onto the balcony.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42My husband, I used to stand right near it and he'd say, "Come on,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45"come out here. I'll hold on to you,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47"you're not going to fall or anything."
0:24:47 > 0:24:50I said, "No, it's too high. I can't go out there."
0:24:50 > 0:24:55But once I started going out, you can't stop me going out there now!
0:24:55 > 0:24:57It's lovely, really lovely.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00I didn't realise they were maisonettes,
0:25:00 > 0:25:03and then when you walk through the front door and to the right of you,
0:25:03 > 0:25:05there's stairs, and I didn't even...
0:25:05 > 0:25:07I thought, "Where the hell do the stairs go?"
0:25:11 > 0:25:15Although lacking the ornament you might find in earlier homes,
0:25:15 > 0:25:17these flats are extraordinary.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20They are supremely functional,
0:25:20 > 0:25:25very generous in space and the main rooms are flooded with light.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29They offered decent housing for ordinary working people,
0:25:29 > 0:25:32housing provided by the state.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35They were part of a social and political revolution.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49When the Lincoln Estate was designed,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52the London County Council had the largest and in many ways the finest
0:25:52 > 0:25:54architectural practice in the world.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57Indeed, it was responsible for the creation of
0:25:57 > 0:26:00some of the most iconic modernist housing schemes in Europe.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04I'm now on my way to see original drawings of the Lincoln Estate,
0:26:04 > 0:26:06to see how it was initially envisaged
0:26:06 > 0:26:09and how it and individual flats were laid out.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18Elaine Harwood of Historic England is an expert on the work of
0:26:18 > 0:26:21the London County Council's Architects' Department.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25How important is the Lincoln?
0:26:25 > 0:26:30Or rather, how typical is it of LCC developments of this period?
0:26:30 > 0:26:32It's very typical indeed.
0:26:32 > 0:26:37It's the real ideal plan of taking an old area,
0:26:37 > 0:26:41retaining a few of the public buildings...
0:26:42 > 0:26:45..like Frances Mary Buss settlement,
0:26:45 > 0:26:49the church. Those sort of institutional buildings survive.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52The roads get truncated.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54I think Tidey Street's been chopped
0:26:54 > 0:26:58to give you more space for grassland and play areas
0:26:58 > 0:27:01for leapfrog, marbles, hopscotch.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04And so into that...
0:27:05 > 0:27:12..net comes a mix of low-rise houses for families,
0:27:12 > 0:27:18made possible by having your one or two tall blocks,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21so number ten is your block.
0:27:21 > 0:27:27So the whole thing gives you 140 people per acre as your density.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30A comprehensive development created to make life better.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33Here's the ground plan.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38What you do have that's a BIG advance
0:27:38 > 0:27:43is a boiler room for central heating to the whole block.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47This is one of the very first to have central heating.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49- And it's communal central heating. - That's right, yeah.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52All the flats benefit. Hot water, central heating.
0:27:52 > 0:27:53Everybody gets everything,
0:27:53 > 0:27:55at presumably all much the same temperature.
0:27:57 > 0:27:58More detail.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01This is where we can talk about this amazing innovation here.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03This is the section I need.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05Helpful at the top.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08We've got the main corridor
0:28:08 > 0:28:10connecting all the flats to the left,
0:28:10 > 0:28:14so you're coming in one side onto bedroom level
0:28:14 > 0:28:16and going up those stairs,
0:28:16 > 0:28:17across the landing,
0:28:17 > 0:28:23to your kitchen and living room and there's your little outside balcony.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25On the other side of the corridor,
0:28:25 > 0:28:27you come into a little lobby,
0:28:27 > 0:28:30into your kitchen, with your living room beyond,
0:28:30 > 0:28:35and going upstairs to a landing and your bedroom,
0:28:35 > 0:28:37and that's the crossover,
0:28:37 > 0:28:43so one lot of stairs do that, one lot of stairs do that,
0:28:43 > 0:28:45giving you your scissor section.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50In David Gregory-Jones's design,
0:28:50 > 0:28:52pairs of flats are stacked one on top of each other
0:28:52 > 0:28:57in an elegant crossover layout, minimising wasted space,
0:28:57 > 0:29:00maximising the number of people each block can hold.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05It also means that all the bedrooms and living rooms are kept separate
0:29:05 > 0:29:07on opposite sides of the building
0:29:07 > 0:29:10and that each flat has a dual aspect,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13with living rooms facing south and bedrooms north.
0:29:14 > 0:29:18This was the first time a scissor section inspired by Le Corbusier
0:29:18 > 0:29:20had been used in the UK.
0:29:23 > 0:29:24It felt so big,
0:29:24 > 0:29:26having the two floors.
0:29:26 > 0:29:28I thought, "This is brilliant,
0:29:28 > 0:29:30"this is, having two floors."
0:29:30 > 0:29:32It's just like a house, really,
0:29:32 > 0:29:34because your bedrooms are upstairs
0:29:34 > 0:29:36and the bathroom's upstairs,
0:29:36 > 0:29:39but obviously when they have to come downstairs to bed
0:29:39 > 0:29:42and the bathroom, I think that's really weird.
0:29:45 > 0:29:47The original plans for the Lincoln
0:29:47 > 0:29:51envisaged paved children's play areas and open grassland.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55People would flow from them into the ground floor
0:29:55 > 0:29:57and the long internal corridors,
0:29:57 > 0:30:00all of them completely open to the public.
0:30:00 > 0:30:04A reimagining of Le Corbusier's internal streets, shops and cafes.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07But here in London,
0:30:07 > 0:30:09there wasn't the money or political will
0:30:09 > 0:30:11to replicate Le Corbusier's model.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13No shops.
0:30:13 > 0:30:14No cafes.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20It turned out to be a fatal mistake,
0:30:20 > 0:30:23but one overlooked in the excitement aroused
0:30:23 > 0:30:26by the Lincoln's embrace of technology.
0:30:26 > 0:30:27First and foremost,
0:30:27 > 0:30:29a lift.
0:30:29 > 0:30:31'Lift going down.'
0:30:31 > 0:30:34Without which the whole project would have been impossible,
0:30:34 > 0:30:37as people laboured up 19 flights of stairs.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40Lifts made high-rise living possible.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42But they were expensive.
0:30:42 > 0:30:47Lifts could add up to 20% to the construction cost of each flat.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50Seems amazing. Also,
0:30:50 > 0:30:53lifts produced among some housing authorities in the 1950s
0:30:53 > 0:30:56a sense of almost moral panic.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58They feared lifts would be abused.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02Abused by joyriders, or by courting couples,
0:31:02 > 0:31:04or abused by tradesmen,
0:31:04 > 0:31:07who'd use them as public conveniences
0:31:07 > 0:31:08and urinate in them.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11Now we're going...
0:31:12 > 0:31:13Oh, up.
0:31:14 > 0:31:15Afternoon.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18Today, the world's fastest lifts
0:31:18 > 0:31:20travel at an eye-popping 50 feet a second.
0:31:22 > 0:31:24'Doors closing.'
0:31:24 > 0:31:27In 1962, the Lincoln's managed a mere five feet.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32But it was enough to usher in the high-rise revolution.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39Gregory-Jones's transformation didn't stop at the lift door.
0:31:48 > 0:31:52Now, a bathroom with constant running water
0:31:52 > 0:31:55would have been a sensational innovation for most families
0:31:55 > 0:31:57moving into this block in the early 1960s,
0:31:57 > 0:31:59families that had come from terraced houses
0:31:59 > 0:32:02where often there'd be a bath in the kitchen.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04To have a discreet bathroom
0:32:04 > 0:32:08with constant hot water, literally on tap,
0:32:08 > 0:32:09would have been amazing.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11And here it is.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14But I suppose more amazing still would have been
0:32:14 > 0:32:17a private, internal lavatory.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20Lavatories often then were in the yard outside,
0:32:20 > 0:32:23in many cases shared with other families.
0:32:23 > 0:32:25So, an amazing innovation.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28A transformer of the quality of their life.
0:32:28 > 0:32:30MUSIC: Wouldn't It Be Nice by the Beach Boys
0:32:31 > 0:32:36In the slums, 40% of households had no bath or shower at all.
0:32:38 > 0:32:42Two decades later, and only 10% of us had to share.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44Oh, it was...
0:32:44 > 0:32:48It was out of this world to just go in there,
0:32:48 > 0:32:52knowing that nobody else has been in there, you haven't got to share it.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56It was so nice to have my own bathroom.
0:32:56 > 0:32:57Lovely.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01As developments like this changed Britain...
0:33:02 > 0:33:05..it was a change that rippled through the home.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12In the old Victorian terraces, the kitchen was the heart of the house,
0:33:12 > 0:33:14a room to cook, eat and live in.
0:33:17 > 0:33:18In the late 1950s,
0:33:18 > 0:33:23compact galley kitchens like this were state-of-the-art.
0:33:23 > 0:33:24Strange as it may seem,
0:33:24 > 0:33:29the designs were based on ideas pioneered in Germany in the 1920s
0:33:29 > 0:33:34by an Austrian architect called Margarete Schutte-Lihotzky.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37She came up with something called the Frankfurt kitchen, which
0:33:37 > 0:33:40essentially is what we would call a fitted kitchen,
0:33:40 > 0:33:44where design meant that the kitchen could be small and compact,
0:33:44 > 0:33:46every detail carefully considered.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52The Frankfurt kitchen was envisaged as a laboratory or factory,
0:33:52 > 0:33:55focused solely on the mechanics of cooking.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00Margarete Schutte-Lihotzky used scientific time-and-motion studies
0:34:00 > 0:34:04to demonstrate that women were being overworked in badly laid-out bases.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09She minimised the space required for basic tasks.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13Everything would be within easy, logical reach.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18The kitchen was also built to a standardised design,
0:34:18 > 0:34:21meaning it could be mass-produced and would be cheap to install.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28The essential part of the fitted kitchen
0:34:28 > 0:34:31was the integration of space-saving new technology,
0:34:31 > 0:34:32such as the fridge.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36The fridge removed the need for a cooled larder.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39So, one big room could be replaced
0:34:39 > 0:34:41by a relatively small object like this.
0:34:41 > 0:34:42Now, here's the thing.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46Let's put this compact galley kitchen to the test.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48I'm about to cook my breakfast.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53Cooked, of course, in this wonderful and now almost illicit product,
0:34:53 > 0:34:55lard.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57It's going to start the day nicely, isn't it?
0:34:57 > 0:35:01A big, bulging, greasy sausage.
0:35:01 > 0:35:02Excellent.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06Lovely white bread.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12You see how efficient I am now in my modern galley kitchen.
0:35:12 > 0:35:13I simply stand here.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16With a mere flick of the wrist,
0:35:16 > 0:35:19it goes into the pan.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25Preparing a lovely breakfast like this in a galley kitchen
0:35:25 > 0:35:28is one of the easiest things in the world. I've hardly moved my feet.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31Look. One step from here to here, and all is done.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38Let's get this to the family next door,
0:35:38 > 0:35:40panting for their vittles.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43The kitchen's lovely. I love my kitchen.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47It's just... I mean, it's so handy as well.
0:35:47 > 0:35:48You cook there, and you go there.
0:35:48 > 0:35:52You know? And you don't have to move much!
0:35:52 > 0:35:54It's only meant for two people.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57But even me and my husband in there, he used to say,
0:35:57 > 0:35:59"Get out of my kitchen, this is my kitchen! Get out!"
0:35:59 > 0:36:01Because he done the cooking.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06The centrepiece of Gregory-Jones's revolution
0:36:06 > 0:36:09was the way tenants used the most familiar room in the home.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17With light flooding inside, and with this wonderful prospect,
0:36:17 > 0:36:21this room was very much the heart of the flat.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24And being made as large as possible at the expense of the kitchen
0:36:24 > 0:36:28over there meant that it had to be multiuse, flexible.
0:36:28 > 0:36:29That's rather modern, isn't it?
0:36:29 > 0:36:33So, the family would have been here, as a sitting room.
0:36:33 > 0:36:34Dining here.
0:36:34 > 0:36:36Children would have been here doing their homework.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40It was absolutely the focus, the heart of the home.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44This was all part of a nationwide effort
0:36:44 > 0:36:46to transform the way we lived.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48Just before the first tenants moved in here,
0:36:48 > 0:36:52the Government issued the landmark Parker Morris report.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55Homes For Today And Tomorrow.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00A very important document in the '50s and '60s.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02It was a vision, really, of how people ought to live.
0:37:02 > 0:37:09And it, importantly, set the minimum space standards for homes and flats,
0:37:09 > 0:37:11ensuring people had generous space in which to live,
0:37:11 > 0:37:16more space than in the dark and dim Victorian hearth,
0:37:16 > 0:37:17the old slums.
0:37:17 > 0:37:22Also, it examined the changing nature of life in the 1950s.
0:37:22 > 0:37:26It observed all the laboursaving devices that had arrived.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29The washing machine, the dishwasher, the Hoover.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33Laboursaving devices like that meant more time for leisure.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39Between 1950 and 1960,
0:37:39 > 0:37:43the proportion of families with a vacuum cleaner doubled.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45Homes with a fridge trebled.
0:37:45 > 0:37:47And washing machine ownership increased tenfold.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52Technology was starting to shape how we lived in our homes.
0:37:53 > 0:37:58More leisure time meant more new leisure activities.
0:37:58 > 0:38:02One of the great new activities that could be pursued at home
0:38:02 > 0:38:05in the 1960s was the television.
0:38:05 > 0:38:11In 1960, as many as two households in three had TV sets.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14So, watching television replaced the old activity
0:38:14 > 0:38:18of gathering around the fireplace watching coals burning.
0:38:18 > 0:38:19BUZZING
0:38:25 > 0:38:27And with the television...
0:38:27 > 0:38:29came the television dinner.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31Indeed, a social revolution.
0:38:34 > 0:38:35This is BBC Television.
0:38:38 > 0:38:43TV dinner was itself a reflection of a change in society.
0:38:43 > 0:38:44As more women worked,
0:38:44 > 0:38:47there was simply less time for domestic drudgery.
0:38:53 > 0:38:54But as Britain changed,
0:38:54 > 0:38:56so nagging questions started to emerge
0:38:56 > 0:38:59about our new high-rise homes.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02The utopian ambitions of planners and architects were revealed to have
0:39:02 > 0:39:05a number of serious flaws.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10The first crack appeared in the late 1960s.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13What had seemed to be the solution for housing problem
0:39:13 > 0:39:16became overnight a major problem itself.
0:39:16 > 0:39:20We heard an explosion, we saw a load of rubble coming past the window,
0:39:20 > 0:39:23and the next thing we knew, half the building was ruddy falling down.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26- What did you do then? - Well, we just panicked, up and run.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31On 16 May 1968,
0:39:31 > 0:39:34a small gas explosion on the 18th floor of a tower block,
0:39:34 > 0:39:36just two miles from the Lincoln,
0:39:36 > 0:39:39caused one entire corner of the building to collapse
0:39:39 > 0:39:41like a house of cards.
0:39:50 > 0:39:51Four people were killed
0:39:51 > 0:39:56and 70 more injured in the Ronan Point disaster.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03Clues to what went wrong that fateful day lie here
0:40:03 > 0:40:06in the Royal Institute of British Architects' archives.
0:40:07 > 0:40:08In the mid-1960s,
0:40:08 > 0:40:12there was a radical change in the way tower blocks were built.
0:40:12 > 0:40:16Concrete was slowly poured onto steel reinforcing on site
0:40:16 > 0:40:20in the early developments, like the Lincoln,
0:40:20 > 0:40:22giving buildings an inherent strength.
0:40:22 > 0:40:23But this was too slow,
0:40:23 > 0:40:27too time-consuming to meet the insatiable demand for homes.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31The solution was to system-build.
0:40:31 > 0:40:35Premade concrete slabs were bolted together as a kit of parts,
0:40:35 > 0:40:39leading to a swathe of new identical high-rises across Britain.
0:40:40 > 0:40:44Architect Sam Webb gave evidence at the official enquiry
0:40:44 > 0:40:45into the disaster.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50So, Sam, can you tell me why Ronan Point collapsed?
0:40:50 > 0:40:53Well, it was built, literally,
0:40:53 > 0:40:55like a pack of cards.
0:40:55 > 0:40:56So...
0:40:56 > 0:40:57each panel...
0:40:59 > 0:41:03..and the floor slabs rested one on top of the other.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06And what really held them together was gravity.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09When you removed one of them, gravity brought it down.
0:41:09 > 0:41:13- There were mistakes made, weren't there, during the construction process?- Yes.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17Well, they should never have built it this high.
0:41:17 > 0:41:19It should only have been four storeys high.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22- It was 22, wasn't it? Something like that.- Yes, yes.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24Now, these...
0:41:24 > 0:41:28These are bits of the building.
0:41:28 > 0:41:29That's a floor slab.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32Oh, that's a floor? OK.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36And this bolt was in the floor slab.
0:41:36 > 0:41:42All the ones I saw, and there were lots, were never screwed down tight.
0:41:42 > 0:41:47And all that was originally holding the walls
0:41:47 > 0:41:51- and the floors together were these pieces.- Never. That's it?
0:41:51 > 0:41:54- That's it.- That's not a bodge, that was part of the system?
0:41:54 > 0:41:56That was part of the system.
0:41:57 > 0:41:58And this was to stop...
0:42:00 > 0:42:03..the floor sliding off the wall.
0:42:03 > 0:42:05Let's have a look at this...
0:42:05 > 0:42:09this photograph, which shows a floor.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12Here's a wall that's now been removed.
0:42:12 > 0:42:17Yes. From there to there should have been solid concrete.
0:42:18 > 0:42:22- 150 millimetres, six inches. - That's a load of old paper here.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26This is... Blue Circle cement bag.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30Which meant that the entire weight of the building
0:42:30 > 0:42:34was resting on these bolts, which bent them.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38Right. And any extraordinary events,
0:42:38 > 0:42:43- even a high wind or explosion, would topple it, as it did.- Yes.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55Ronan Point had very little in common,
0:42:55 > 0:42:57certainly from the structural point of view,
0:42:57 > 0:43:00with towers like those erected on the Lincoln Estate.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03Yet its collapse sent a shiver through the nation,
0:43:03 > 0:43:07leading many to reject the very idea of living in high-rise flats.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13It wasn't just dodgy builders.
0:43:15 > 0:43:17Design flaws and municipal penny-pinching
0:43:17 > 0:43:20came to haunt estate after estate.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25At the Lincoln, the barren open space outside the towers,
0:43:25 > 0:43:28the lack of maintenance and management inside
0:43:28 > 0:43:31meant that the open ground floor created by the piloti
0:43:31 > 0:43:34became a dark, ominous wasteland.
0:43:37 > 0:43:39The estate's open corridors
0:43:39 > 0:43:42meant open sesame to opportunist criminals.
0:43:43 > 0:43:45The estate was awful.
0:43:45 > 0:43:50There was such a load of break-ins, drugs, everything there.
0:43:50 > 0:43:52It was really awful.
0:43:52 > 0:43:54Rapists we had there.
0:43:54 > 0:43:56Blood in the foyer bit.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59They'd been fighting and that, you know.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04When I moved in, the stairways was terrible.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07There was a lot of drugs going around,
0:44:07 > 0:44:11they were sitting there burning foils, and lighters.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14You'd see people sleeping, vomiting there.
0:44:14 > 0:44:18It wasn't... The area was absolutely terrible, I would say.
0:44:19 > 0:44:24When it was at its worst, we just got youths hanging around.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26but there used to be a walkway through,
0:44:26 > 0:44:29and there was a stabbing in there, and he died.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33And then there was also a stabbing in the block above that.
0:44:35 > 0:44:41A chef. There was a group of youths that stabbed him, and he died.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46The 1970s were a dark decade.
0:44:46 > 0:44:50High-rise living couldn't survive further cuts in council maintenance
0:44:50 > 0:44:53as Britain's economy nosedived and budgets were slashed.
0:44:56 > 0:44:57It wasn't just money.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03Council homes were previously given to those in work and deserving.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06But under the 1977 Housing Act...
0:45:07 > 0:45:09..councils now had a duty to house everyone in need,
0:45:09 > 0:45:11particularly the homeless.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14This meant new residents were often vulnerable and troubled.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19On the Lincoln, the pressure told.
0:45:19 > 0:45:21Flat after flat fell empty,
0:45:21 > 0:45:23squatters moved in.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28One of them was Jenny Fortune.
0:45:30 > 0:45:32But Jenny wanted to make a difference,
0:45:32 > 0:45:34banding together with women on the estate
0:45:34 > 0:45:37to create a people's food cooperative
0:45:37 > 0:45:40to help the dispirited residents cope
0:45:40 > 0:45:42with the soaring cost of living.
0:45:43 > 0:45:48Living here made you want to take action, to bring about change,
0:45:48 > 0:45:51to make things better for the working people of the area.
0:45:51 > 0:45:56There wasn't community on that estate at that point, just the opposite.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59People didn't know each other, they were scared of each other.
0:45:59 > 0:46:04So one of the things we thought we could do was start a food co-op
0:46:04 > 0:46:08and we would go off to warehouses and markets, buy the cheaper food,
0:46:08 > 0:46:10come back and distribute it.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14And I see you've brought along some publications,
0:46:14 > 0:46:16I suppose from the mid-'70s,
0:46:16 > 0:46:21and it says here, "People's Food Co-op, Lincoln Estate, Bow."
0:46:21 > 0:46:22I remember that sign.
0:46:22 > 0:46:24Women's Action, women's lib, isn't it?
0:46:24 > 0:46:29Yes, it was all about the idea of how important it is
0:46:29 > 0:46:31- to have community. - This is incredibly interesting.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35The estate. This is you collecting views, women, I imagine.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38This is comments from people who lived on the estate.
0:46:38 > 0:46:40I notice the last box simply says, "Help!"
0:46:40 > 0:46:41Which is slightly...
0:46:42 > 0:46:44This is a good one. Look. This says,
0:46:44 > 0:46:47"The flats don't make it easy to talk.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50"The architecture of these places makes it unnecessarily hard."
0:46:50 > 0:46:53So loss of traditional community life,
0:46:53 > 0:46:56- of talking over the garden fence, that's all gone.- Yeah.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59I remember distinctly the long corridor at the top,
0:46:59 > 0:47:01that the doors were always shut,
0:47:01 > 0:47:05you never knew who was there or who wasn't there.
0:47:07 > 0:47:11- There was a lot of violence. I mean, I was attacked three times.- Really?
0:47:11 > 0:47:14One by some lads, with blood all over their hands.
0:47:14 > 0:47:18One by a guy who was probably insane, with a knife.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21Once shot at with an air rifle.
0:47:21 > 0:47:22But that was common.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26Fed up, the Lincoln's residents
0:47:26 > 0:47:30started to agitate for changes in the way the estate was run.
0:47:31 > 0:47:37One potential benefit of packing so many people into high-rise buildings
0:47:37 > 0:47:40was to create open space at ground-floor level,
0:47:40 > 0:47:44space that could be formed into delightful park-like gardens
0:47:44 > 0:47:46for communal enjoyment.
0:47:47 > 0:47:50But of course the creation of space itself was not enough.
0:47:50 > 0:47:52The space had to be well designed,
0:47:52 > 0:47:56well managed, cherished, nurtured,
0:47:56 > 0:47:57loved.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59At this period, rarely was that the case.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02Often, the open space became abandoned,
0:48:02 > 0:48:05became a dangerous no-go area.
0:48:05 > 0:48:07That happened here.
0:48:10 > 0:48:12Outside I was, like, feel a bit scared.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17Normally there was... always there is a problem.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23Six o'clock, there's no way we could have been out
0:48:23 > 0:48:26and be safe walking on the street.
0:48:26 > 0:48:29It felt like I was in prison, to be honest.
0:48:29 > 0:48:33In the mid-1990s, many British council towers were demolished...
0:48:35 > 0:48:39..written off as too costly to maintain, too expensive to repair...
0:48:41 > 0:48:44..too blighted by social problems to be saved.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49The fate of the Lincoln hung in the balance.
0:48:52 > 0:48:53Morning.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56But at the turn of the new millennium they were saved,
0:48:56 > 0:48:59by abandoning some of their founders' most sacred principles.
0:48:59 > 0:49:02First, public ownership.
0:49:02 > 0:49:08In 1998, Tower Hamlets Local Council sold the Lincoln to Poplar Harca,
0:49:08 > 0:49:10a housing association.
0:49:11 > 0:49:15It's a measure of the desperation that the price was £0.00.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20The idea was that the semiprivate Harca could borrow from the banks
0:49:20 > 0:49:22where the council couldn't
0:49:22 > 0:49:24and use the money to save the estate.
0:49:24 > 0:49:26Hugely controversial...
0:49:26 > 0:49:28but it worked.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31We had the security door put on, which was great.
0:49:33 > 0:49:36They decorated all the hallways, painted them all.
0:49:36 > 0:49:37Put the new lifts in.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40It's much improved, much better,
0:49:40 > 0:49:44and it cut down a lot of antisocial behaviour now around.
0:49:44 > 0:49:46I feel more safe to walk around.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49And they've decorated the outside twice.
0:49:49 > 0:49:51They painted it all white.
0:49:51 > 0:49:52That was brilliant.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55When they first did it, it was like a beacon.
0:49:55 > 0:49:58You could see that block for miles.
0:49:58 > 0:50:00Oh.
0:50:00 > 0:50:01Here we are.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05'Crucial to fostering a renewed sense of community
0:50:05 > 0:50:08'was the reinstatement of a permanent caretaker.'
0:50:08 > 0:50:10That's very efficient, isn't it?
0:50:10 > 0:50:12- It's good.- Was it waiting for us?
0:50:13 > 0:50:16I'm joining Danny McFarlane on his rounds.
0:50:18 > 0:50:22I suppose, you know, the tenants having you doing this for them,
0:50:22 > 0:50:25you know, that's a big deal. It makes it more than just a block,
0:50:25 > 0:50:27it makes it a home.
0:50:27 > 0:50:28That's the way I look at it.
0:50:28 > 0:50:34It's nice to be part of the community that I'm working in.
0:50:34 > 0:50:36Of course things are pretty different now.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39A few years ago, there wasn't a caretaker every day, was there?
0:50:39 > 0:50:40No, not in the old days.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43- Yeah.- He would come in, come out,
0:50:43 > 0:50:45but it was falling apart,
0:50:45 > 0:50:48- the properties were falling apart.- Yeah.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50And the council didn't have the money to do them.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53And the housing associations took over.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55Not everyone will agree with me on that
0:50:55 > 0:50:59but when you look at the properties now compared to how they was,
0:50:59 > 0:51:03- they needed money spent on them and the housing association's done it. - Yeah.
0:51:03 > 0:51:06We've planted apple trees and pear trees next to the block.
0:51:06 > 0:51:09- Yeah.- When I was being brought up around here, if someone had said,
0:51:09 > 0:51:12"We're going to plant apple trees and pear trees,"
0:51:12 > 0:51:13I would have laughed at them. You know.
0:51:13 > 0:51:18But this shows you the East End of London has changed...for the good.
0:51:20 > 0:51:22It isn't just the Lincoln that's been spruced up.
0:51:22 > 0:51:26Over the last decade, the public image of the high-rise flat
0:51:26 > 0:51:29has itself been given an astonishing makeover.
0:51:30 > 0:51:32Today, city-centre high-rise flats
0:51:32 > 0:51:35built for private occupation or investment
0:51:35 > 0:51:38are among the most sought-after properties on the market.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41It seems ironic that high-rise living,
0:51:41 > 0:51:44the centrepiece of the social housing revolution
0:51:44 > 0:51:45of the '50s and '60s,
0:51:45 > 0:51:48is now the mainstay of the private-housing boom,
0:51:48 > 0:51:51transforming the country's skyline.
0:51:52 > 0:51:54In London alone,
0:51:54 > 0:51:56there are over 220 residential skyscrapers
0:51:56 > 0:51:58being built or being planned.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04Just a mile south of the Lincoln is London Docklands,
0:52:04 > 0:52:09an area bristling with this new breed of privatised skyscraper.
0:52:10 > 0:52:11Eager to discover their appeal,
0:52:11 > 0:52:16I'm being sold a show flat by estate agent Adam Dockley.
0:52:16 > 0:52:17Right. Ah.
0:52:18 > 0:52:20OK, so we'll start in the entrance hallway.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24We have a utility cupboard just on the right-hand side here,
0:52:24 > 0:52:26which has got your boiler in it.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29Through here into the master bedroom.
0:52:30 > 0:52:34Windows are all west-facing, so you get the evening sun.
0:52:34 > 0:52:36Comfort cooling.
0:52:36 > 0:52:38Which is a modern word for air conditioning.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41That keeps it at a nice balance?
0:52:41 > 0:52:42Yes.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46Then you come through here into the reception room
0:52:46 > 0:52:49and this has the views onto Canary Wharf.
0:52:49 > 0:52:51- Yes.- And a bit of water.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53And then your open-plan kitchen.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57Everything's integrated in there, so oven, hob, dishwasher,
0:52:57 > 0:53:00fridge-freezer, sink, all that sort of stuff.
0:53:01 > 0:53:05How typical is this of high-rise flats being constructed in London
0:53:05 > 0:53:07- at the moment?- Very much so.
0:53:07 > 0:53:10I think it is a typical layout, typical construction.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13You know, floor-to-ceiling glass windows,
0:53:13 > 0:53:16and obviously open-plan kitchens, en-suites and what have you.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18So it is typical.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20What sort of price is this sort of...?
0:53:20 > 0:53:22This one's on the market at 650.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26And typically for a two-bedroom in this area
0:53:26 > 0:53:33you can go anywhere from 550 to 8-950, depending on how big it is,
0:53:33 > 0:53:36what the views are, whether it has parking, the development itself,
0:53:36 > 0:53:41if the development itself has 24-hour concierge, a gym, pool,
0:53:41 > 0:53:45- all that sort of stuff. Obviously that...accentuates it.- Yes.
0:53:50 > 0:53:54To rent this flat would cost over £2,500 a month,
0:53:54 > 0:53:58compared to an average of just £500 for one of the Lincoln's.
0:53:58 > 0:54:03Ironically, they're the same size, around 700 square feet.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08It seems that private developers have cottoned on to
0:54:08 > 0:54:11what the idealists of the LCC realised.
0:54:13 > 0:54:18These luxury flats are a reminder that now, as 60 years ago,
0:54:18 > 0:54:20building high can be seen as one possible solution
0:54:20 > 0:54:23to the city's housing crisis.
0:54:23 > 0:54:27As the population of the city increases and building land becomes
0:54:27 > 0:54:31ever more rare and expensive, there is simply nowhere to go but up.
0:54:39 > 0:54:44The Lincoln's first tenants arrived in 1962, a lifetime ago.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47Finally it seems original flaws in vision and design
0:54:47 > 0:54:48are being overcome.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53Today, the cherished idea of community is also returning.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00I'm visiting a sewing school that has taken up residence
0:55:00 > 0:55:02in the bottom of Gayton House.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06Back in the bad old days this space was a dark, neglected void,
0:55:06 > 0:55:07nestling between the piloti.
0:55:09 > 0:55:13And we're going to learn how to finish the shoulder and the sides.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15OK? You happy with that?
0:55:15 > 0:55:16- ALL: Yes.- OK.
0:55:17 > 0:55:20In your view, has this community centre helped to build up
0:55:20 > 0:55:22a sense of community on the estate?
0:55:22 > 0:55:26Oh, yeah. It does. And it's funny because also you learn...
0:55:26 > 0:55:30you learn the culture, you learn how people communicate with,
0:55:30 > 0:55:33like, different nationalities and everything
0:55:33 > 0:55:35- and sometimes you learn, like, new words.- Yes, yes.
0:55:35 > 0:55:37You know? From other languages.
0:55:37 > 0:55:39- Yes. And you meet people. - Yeah.- And you get to know them.
0:55:39 > 0:55:41- Of course.- Strangers become friends.
0:55:41 > 0:55:43That's why communities are so important, isn't?
0:55:43 > 0:55:45It is difficult living in...
0:55:45 > 0:55:47- Difficult normally. - ..a very busy city.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51All that grows from communal shared activities such as this.
0:55:53 > 0:55:55For much of the Lincoln's life,
0:55:55 > 0:55:58the original fears of the old East Enders seemed borne out.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02The Lincoln was an often divided and isolating place.
0:56:04 > 0:56:06But today real strides are being made
0:56:06 > 0:56:09to remedy the mistakes of the past.
0:56:11 > 0:56:13No matter how much they offered me, I wouldn't move.
0:56:13 > 0:56:15I love it there.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19A lot of people say, when I say I'm in a maisonette on the 17th,
0:56:19 > 0:56:23"How could you live on the 17th floor on a high-rise block?"
0:56:23 > 0:56:28But they don't realise until you've lived there how nice it is.
0:56:29 > 0:56:30It's really nice.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35I mean, if my neighbour didn't see me for a little while,
0:56:35 > 0:56:39she would knock to make sure I was OK and stuff like that.
0:56:39 > 0:56:42So...which is pretty good.
0:56:42 > 0:56:43It's really nice.
0:56:46 > 0:56:47Now I think...
0:56:48 > 0:56:50..it'll hurt me if I leave this area, to be honest.
0:56:53 > 0:56:57I would never thought ten years back I would cry for this area
0:56:57 > 0:56:58but probably I will now.
0:57:01 > 0:57:04From its birth, the fortunes of the high-rise flat
0:57:04 > 0:57:06have been in constant flux,
0:57:06 > 0:57:09buffeted by the twists and turns of public opinion.
0:57:11 > 0:57:14In the 1950s, they were embraced as an idealistic solution
0:57:14 > 0:57:16to a national housing crisis.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22In the 1970s, they were loathed as socially irresponsible
0:57:22 > 0:57:23and a blot on the landscape.
0:57:25 > 0:57:28Today, the private penthouse is synonymous with glamour
0:57:28 > 0:57:30and a hefty price tag.
0:57:31 > 0:57:34But with another housing crisis on our hands,
0:57:34 > 0:57:38with an entire generation priced OUT of owning a home,
0:57:38 > 0:57:42perhaps we all need to fall back in love with high-rise living.
0:57:47 > 0:57:49Over the course of the series,
0:57:49 > 0:57:52I've examined why our homes look the way they do.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54It gets tighter.
0:57:54 > 0:57:56I've seen how evolving technology...
0:57:56 > 0:57:58That's it.
0:57:58 > 0:57:59..changing lifestyles...
0:58:00 > 0:58:03..and political decisions have all played their part
0:58:03 > 0:58:05in transforming our homes.
0:58:07 > 0:58:11What has also become apparent is that every era has thrown up
0:58:11 > 0:58:13its own unique style of home,
0:58:13 > 0:58:16designed and built to meet the specific needs
0:58:16 > 0:58:18of that particular time.
0:58:19 > 0:58:24Over the years, the buildings we live in have changed dramatically.
0:58:24 > 0:58:29From timber-framed cottages to concrete-built skyscrapers.
0:58:29 > 0:58:31But one thing has remained unchanging.
0:58:31 > 0:58:33All these buildings have become homes,
0:58:33 > 0:58:36and homes are always more than just buildings.
0:58:36 > 0:58:38They are expressions of who we are.
0:58:38 > 0:58:40They are, in their way,
0:58:40 > 0:58:42a very particular history of the nation.