Churchill Gardens facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Churchill Gardens Estate |
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| General information | |
| Location | Pimlico, Westminster, London |
| Coordinates | 51°29′13″N 0°08′27″W / 51.487°N 0.1407°W |
| Construction started | 1946 |
| Completed | 1962 |
| Client | Westminster City Council |
| Landlord | Westminster City Council |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Philip Powell Hidalgo Moya |
| Awards and prizes | RIBA London Architectural Bronze Medal (1950) |
Churchill Gardens is a very large group of homes, called a housing estate, located in the Pimlico area of Westminster, London. It was built between 1946 and 1962. The architects who designed it were Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya. This estate was built to replace older houses that were badly damaged during World War II.
Contents
What is Churchill Gardens?
A Big Housing Project
Churchill Gardens has 1,600 homes spread across 32 different buildings. It's special because it was the only housing project finished under a big plan called the Abercrombie Plan. This plan aimed to rebuild London in a more "efficient" way after the war.
The buildings here are different heights. Some are tall, with nine to eleven floors. Others are seven floors high. There are also smaller homes like maisonettes and terraced houses. This mix of different types of homes was a new idea at the time. Churchill Gardens became a model for many other public housing projects built later.
Smart Lifts and Heating
Many of the tall buildings at Churchill Gardens have special lifts. These lifts can take people directly from the street to their homes. Some lifts go to every floor. Others are "express" lifts, meaning they only stop at certain floors, like every third floor.
The estate also has a very old and interesting heating system. It's called district heating. This system provides heat and hot water to all the homes from one central place. A special tower, called an accumulator tower, was built to collect hot water. This hot water used to come from the Battersea Power Station, which was across the River Thames. Even though the power station is no longer used for this, the heating system was updated in 2006. It can now heat even more homes!
Protecting Churchill Gardens
A Special Place
In 1990, Churchill Gardens was made a conservation area. This means it's a place with special historical or architectural importance that needs to be protected. Later, in 1998, six of its buildings and the accumulator tower were given a special status called Grade II listed. This means they are important buildings that should be preserved. The listed buildings include Chaucer House, Coleridge House, Shelley House, Keats House, Gillbert House, and Sullivan House.
Who Manages the Estate?
For many years, from 2002 to 2019, Churchill Gardens was managed by a company called CityWest Homes. This company worked for the Westminster City Council. After a serious fire happened at another building in London, the management of Churchill Gardens was taken over directly by the Westminster City Council. This means the council now looks after the estate itself.
