🚨BREAKING NEWS: We're absolutely delighted that Lambeth Council Cabinet members have just voted to save Central Hill Estate and Cressingham Gardens from a planned demolition. This follows a near 15 year-long battle led by residents and the @SaveCressingham and @savecentralhill campaigns, with four separate judicial reviews and an independent inquiry. The Council found a comprehensive redevelopment of the two 1960s estates to no longer be financially viable and have instead promised an approach that will 'maintain existing homes, return empty properties to use and deliver genuinely affordable homes while respecting the borough’s architectural heritage.' The surprising development follows a change in control at the Council after the May local elections, with the Green Party winning the most seats. The council was previously taking forward their Estate Renewal Programme through the development company Homes for Lambeth. The 2022 Kerslake Review recommended closing down the company and the programme was brought back in-house under direct council control. The pair of post-war social housing schemes have been C20's Risk List since 2017 and 2021 respectively, and were the subject of several unsuccessful listing applications by the Society as far back as 2016. The Society's Director, Catherine Croft, commented: "We are overjoyed that good sense has finally prevailed. Both estates show post-war social housing at its most humane and sensitive; understated yet intelligently detailed and making the most of beautiful, verdant sites. While the work of Camden architect Neave Brown has long been celebrated and recognised with numerous listing designations and conservation areas, the work of Ted Hollamby and his team at Lambeth (including Rosemary Stjernstedt, Roger Westman, and Charles Attwood) has been bafflingly overlooked. Not only are these buildings of great historic interest, but they are much loved, practical homes which could serve as exemplar for today’s housing crisis. They now need to be appropriately upgraded and cared for, so they can continue to can continue to serve and bring pleasure to future generations."

Egyptomania: Restored 📍Reliance Arcade, Brixton, Lambeth - Andrews and Peascod, 1923-25 Grade II listed in 2010 with support from C20 Society. Restored in 2020 by @HOLTofLondon with a donation from Mishcon de Reya. The @HistoricEngland list entry credits the architectural interest in the “early use of the Egyptian style in the façade of buff faience with polychrome detailing” and # historic interest in “the clearest architectural manifestation of the major wave of immigration that had such an important impact on the cultural and social landscape of post-war Britain.”