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Span Developments

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Span Developments Limited was a British property development company formed in the late 1950s by Geoffrey Townsend working in long and close partnership with Eric Lyons as consultant architect. During its most successful period in the 1960s, Span built over 2,000 homes in London, Surrey, Kent and East Sussex – mainly two- and three-bedroom single-family homes and apartment buildings.[1]

Span Developments
Company typeproperty development
Industryconstruction
Founded1956
FoundersEric Lyons, Geoffrey Townsend
Area served
Southern England

Formation

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Lyons and Townsend first met whilst studying architecture at evening-classes at the Regent Street Polytechnic in the 1930s. Townsend started his first architectural practice, Modern Homes, in Richmond in 1937 and Lyons joined soon after. Commissions were sparse in the immediate pre-war period but they reunited after the war, working mostly on war-damage restoration and house alteration projects and the business progressed. In 1948 they secured a contract to design a development of 24 flats in Whitton. This development, Oaklands, exhibited many of the features of their subsequent successful style.[2]

Features

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Span were notable for several characteristics, radical for their time, that continue to inspire and influence. Lyons and Townsend shared a vision of social housing.

The test of good housing is not whether it can be built easily, but whether it can be lived in easily.[2]

— Eric Lyons

Architecturally, their designs combined modernist design with attention to detail and harmony with the suburban environment. Their house designs usually had mono-pitch roofs with large, clerestory high level windows and open-plan interiors. However, these were softened by more traditional features such as hung tiles and stock brick work.

The Span ethos was to build "homes within a garden", so most developments include large integrated landscape communal gardens. The exterior space is a recognised feature and many Span developments are car-free – a radical difference from other post war developments. Concealed communal parking was deliberately located to encourage opportunities for social interaction.[3]

Commercially, Lyons and Townsend targeted the young professional first-time property-buyer market and deliberately kept costs low, working to lower profit margins than established contemporaries.[4] The use of modular designs and the fabrication of some components on-site also helped keep construction costs as low as possible. The relatively high housing density also added to the economies but was often a matter of conflict with planning authorities.

Span, and Townsend in particular, promoted the concept of a legally constituted Residents' Association, membership of which was a condition of sale, and which included covenants that placed mutual obligations on the residents to maintain the properties and grounds.[5]

Key projects

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In 1953, frustrated with a lack of support from developers and funders for their ideas for modern economic housing, Townsend established Bargood Estates, a development company of his own in conjunction with Henry Cushman, an agent for the Alliance Building Society.[6] Bargood Estates went on to build 12 Townhouses at Chapel Street and North Walls Chichester embodying many of the Span features of openness, light and community,1963.

To become a developer, Townsend had to resign from RIBA due to their conflict of interest rules of the time. Although the partnership with Lyons was legally ended, they continued to share the same business premises, the studio offices at Lyons' home, Mill House, East Molesey, maintaining their close collaboration.[7]

Span went on to develop 73 schemes, comprising 2,134 dwellings, up to the end of the 1960s.

Parkleys

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Pastorale by Keith Godwin at Parkleys, Ham

Townsend and Cushman acquired four acres of the former Ham Farm Nursery near Ham Common, Ham, London, and the adjacent Cairn House, formerly known as The Elms, that fronted the Upper Ham Road.[5] With Lyons as consultant architect, the development, Parkleys, comprised 169 flats across fifteen two and three-storey H-plan blocks and a block of six shops and maisonettes set in high quality landscaping that carefully retained many mature trees and plantings from the former properties. The Elms was demolished to make way for the scheme.[8] Wates were the builder.[9] As the project progressed, Townsend and Cushman were joined by another former Regent Street Polytechnic student, Leslie Bilsby (who had previously worked with Ernő Goldfinger and Denys Lasdun), to form Priory Hall Ltd.[10] Towards the end of the project, in 1955, landscape architect, Ivor Cunningham joined Lyons practice.[11][12] A final addition to the landscaping at Parkleys was the commission of a statue, Pastorale, by artist, Keith Godwin, unveiled in 1956 by Sir Hugh Casson and filmed by Pathé.[13] Parkleys won several awards and established Lyons and Townsend's reputation. In the late 1950s, Townsend moved the development company to one of the properties within Parkleys.[7] All fifteen blocks, named after poets, were listed Grade II in December 1998.[9] Along with the adjacent Ham Farm Road, Parkleys was declared a conservation area in 2003.[14]

The Priory

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Bilsby had acquired land in Blackheath near to his home, and this became the group's next project, The Priory. This was the first of nineteen developments in Blackheath and of thirteen within the Cator estate.[12][15] Constructed between 1954 and 1956, the development comprised 61 flats of type A, B and C and, like Parkleys, care was taken to retain the estate's mature trees.[7]

In 1957, Bilsby gave up his other business interests and committed his time to Priory Hall Ltd. The name "SPAN Developments" came into use in the early 1960s, deriving from the company's stated aim to "span the gap between the suburban monotony of the typical 'spec building' and the architecturally designed individually built residence".[10]

In 1961, Danish landscape architect Preben Jacobsen (1934–2012) joined Lyons' practice.[16]

Cedar Chase

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24 houses of type C30, set on a sloping site in Taplow, South Buckinghamshire. Cedar Chase is one of the best-preserved examples of Span's work. It was controversial when built, but is explicitly included in the Taplow Village Conservation Area "because of the high quality of its design and the way it blends in with the landscape".[17]

Marsham Lodge

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Marsham Lodge, 25 houses in communal gardens in Gerrards Cross built in 1969, was one of the last developments to be completed under the Span Developments company name.[18] Like Cedar Chase, Marsham Lodge uses only the C30 house design which was not used on any other development.

New Ash Green and after

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The ambitious New Ash Green project, an entire village conceived by Span, dating from 1966, hit substantial financial difficulties, causing Lyons to withdraw and Bilsby and Townsend to resign. Townsend worked independently as a developer for several years thereafter. Bilsby and Townsend reunited in the late 1970s and formed SPAN Environments Ltd, working once more with Lyons and Cunningham as consultant architects, with Gostling, the builder from New Ash Green, doing the construction. Together they constructed four further developments in Blackheath and New Mallard Place in Teddington. The latter was conceived before Lyons' death in 1980 and completed in 1984, by which time Townsend was in his early 70s.[3][19]

List of developments

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List of Span developments
Name Description Location Coords Constructed References
Parkleys 169 flats in 15 2-storey and 3-storey blocks, 6 shops Ham, London 51°25′54″N 0°18′18″W / 51.431537°N 0.305096°W / 51.431537; -0.305096 1954–1955 [9][20][21]
The Priory 61 flats Blackheath 51°27′41″N 0°00′44″E / 51.461384°N 0.012124°E / 51.461384; 0.012124 1956 [22]
Park Gate 48 flats in two 4-storey L-shaped blocks Hove 50°49′45″N 0°09′30″W / 50.829216°N 0.158351°W / 50.829216; -0.158351 1956 [23]
The Keep 44 houses (T2) Blackheath 51°28′03″N 0°01′00″E / 51.467369°N 0.016563°E / 51.467369; 0.016563 1957 [24]
Hallgate 26 flats, grade 2 listed Blackheath 51°27′52″N 0°00′54″E / 51.464396°N 0.015013°E / 51.464396; 0.015013 1957 [25]
Highsett 31 flats, 6 duplexes, 17 T7/T8 houses, 31 R-type townhouses. Grade II listed Cambridge 52°11′45″N 0°07′56″E / 52.195791°N 0.132301°E / 52.195791; 0.132301 1959-1964 [26]
Fieldend 51 houses Strawberry Hill, London 51°25′59″N 0°20′08″W / 51.433107°N 0.335481°W / 51.433107; -0.335481 1960 [27]
3-35 South Row 33 flats Blackheath 51°28′10″N 0°00′43″E / 51.4695°N 0.012°E / 51.4695; 0.012 1963 [28]
Templemere 65 houses Oatlands 51°22′35″N 0°26′17″W / 51.376269°N 0.437991°W / 51.376269; -0.437991 1963 [29]
Verney Close & The Verneys Residential Housing Cheltenham [30] 1961-63 [31]
Weymede 141 houses West Byfleet 51°20′30″N 0°28′07″W / 51.341630°N 0.468517°W / 51.341630; -0.468517 1963–1966 [32]
The Lane 39 terraced houses Blackheath 51°27′54″N 0°01′10″E / 51.465029°N 0.019342°E / 51.465029; 0.019342 1964 [33]
Cedar Chase 24 houses (C30) in 5 blocks Taplow 51°31′52″N 0°41′26″W / 51.53112°N 0.69045°W / 51.53112; -0.69045 1964-1966 [34][17][35]
Lakeside nineteen 3-storey town houses Weybridge 51°22′51″N 0°25′54″W / 51.380904°N 0.431609°W / 51.380904; -0.431609 1965 [36]
Castle Green 22 houses Oatlands 51°22′28″N 0°26′06″E / 51.374307°N 0.435010°E / 51.374307; 0.435010 1965 [37]
Marsham Lodge 25 houses Gerrards Cross 51°35′05″N 0°33′05″W / 51.584731°N 0.551408°W / 51.584731; -0.551408 1969 [18]
New Ash Green Village Sevenoaks 51°22′12″N 0°18′12″E / 51.370°N 0.3034°E / 51.370; 0.3034 1967–1971 [1][38]
Mallard Place 120 properties Teddington 51°26′11″N 0°19′49″W / 51.436440°N 0.330213°W / 51.436440; -0.330213 1984 [39]
The Paddox 24 properties Oxford 51°47′02″N 1°16′11″W / 51.7839°N 1.2697°W / 51.7839; -1.2697 1967

References

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  1. ^ a b Casciani, Dominic (9 November 2006). "A house like no other?". BBC.
  2. ^ a b Williams, Austin (July 2009). Eric Lyons & Span - video from NBS. NBS. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  3. ^ a b Simms, Barbara (April 2011). Landscape Conservation on Span Estates (PDF). Proceedings of the DOCOMOMO ISC Urbanism + Landscape Conference. Landscapes of the Recent Future: Conserving the Twentieth Century’s Landscape Design Legacy. Docomomo International. pp. 34–36.
  4. ^ "Corner Green". Groundplan. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Profiles". SPAN Kent. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  6. ^ "Park Gate". 24 February 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  7. ^ a b c Strike, James (2005). The Spirit of Span Housing. Strike Print. ISBN 9780954982201.
  8. ^ Fison, Vanessa (2009). The Matchless Vale: the story of Ham and Petersham and their people. Ham and Petersham Association. pp. 44–45. ISBN 9780956324405.
  9. ^ a b c Historic England. "Brooke Court (1051028)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 August 2015. Sequence to id 1051042.
  10. ^ a b "The Plantation". London Gardens Online. London Parks and Gardens Trust. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  11. ^ Cook, Paul (4 April 2007). "Obituary: Ivor Cunningham". The Guardian.
  12. ^ a b Curl, James Stevens; Wilson, Susan (2015). Eric Lyons (3 ed.). Oxford: OUP. p. 455. ISBN 9780191053856. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  13. ^ The Statue And The Fuss. Pathé. 1 October 1956. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  14. ^ "CA67 Parkleys Estate Ham" (PDF). London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. 2003.
  15. ^ "The Priory". London Gardens Online. London Parks and Gardens Trust. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  16. ^ Moggridge, Hal (14 March 2012). "Obituary: Preben Jakobsen (1934–2012)". Landscape Institute. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  17. ^ a b "Taplow Village Conservation Area Character Appraisal" (PDF). South Bucks District Council. June 2008. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  18. ^ a b "Marsham Lodge". Marsham Lodge Residents Society. Retrieved 23 May 2007.
  19. ^ "SPAN difficulty & legacy". SPAN Kent. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  20. ^ "Character Appraisal & Management Plan Conservation Areas – Petersham no.6, Ham Common no.7, Ham House no.23 & Parkleys Estate no.67" (PDF). London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. July 2008. p. 23. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  21. ^ "Span - Parkleys". Modern Architecture London. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  22. ^ "Span Blackheath - The Priory". Modern Architecture London. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  23. ^ "History Park Gate". Park Gate Residents’ Society. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  24. ^ "Span Blackheath - The Keep". Modern Architecture London. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  25. ^ "1958: Hallgate, London — The Twentieth Century Society". www.c20society.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
  26. ^ "About Highsett". Highsett Residents’ Society. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  27. ^ "Fieldend". Fieldend Residents' Association. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
  28. ^ "South Row". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 21 Jun 2020.
  29. ^ "Templemere". Templemere Residents’ Society. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  30. ^ "Verney Close". Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  31. ^ "Verney Close". Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  32. ^ "Weymede". Weymede Residents Society. Retrieved 20 November 2006.
  33. ^ "The Lane". CABE. Archived from the original on 18 January 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  34. ^ "Cedar Chase 40th Anniversary". Hitcham and Taplow Society. October 2006. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  35. ^ "Cedar Chase Handbook". Cedar Chase Residents Society. May 2014. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  36. ^ "Lakeside". Lakesiders. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
  37. ^ "Castle Green". RIBA. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  38. ^ "New Ash Green". SPAN Kent. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  39. ^ "Mallard Place". RIPA Residents Society. Retrieved 12 February 2014.

Bibliography

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