Architecture

VI. Brixton Studio, London, UK

1/26/2020

In September 2019 I traveled to London as part of an Urban Design Studio. The site in question was left open for students to select, but was generally focused on Brixton, a neighborhood in South London (Google Maps). The neighborhood is an historically Black community which dates back to the post-war era, when large numbers of Afro-Carribean people immigrated to fill the void in the service sectors that was left after so many died in the war. Read more about the "Windrush Generation" and the scandal that accompanied the attempt to revoke their citizenship on Wikipedia.

In the last few years, development pressure has eroded the heart of the community in a place known colloquially as the "arches," where low cost rents at one time could be found underneath the rail lines. When Network Rail sold the ground rights to a developer, many long term tenants were forced out, never to return. You can get a sense of the fight on the front lines from the Brixton Buzz. This problem is not confined to Brixton, either, as Network Rail might sell off as many as 4,500 occupied "arches" across the UK (The Guardian).

The master plan below proposes a strategy to relieve the economic pressure in the core business district of Brixton by providing much needed retail, office, and residential square footage. The plan seeks to take advantage of a linear park known as "Rush Common" which terminates just south of the Arches district. Currently, Rush Common is discontinuous and chopped into various public and private parcels, but it is still protected by an historical covenant that prohibits development. By returning this asset completely to the public realm it can be programmed it as a pedestrian circulation network, including a "cycle super highway" to link in with the rest of London's bicycle network. When these efforts are combined with traffic calming efforts along Brixton Hill Road (a road diet with phased reduction in types of vehicle usage), there is the possibility for a synergetic relationship between the park and the commercial corridor, each serving the other.

Click on any image below to view the master plan in high resolution, as a JPEG (13mb), or a PDF (17mb).

Site Context: click to view full size (9mb).

Brixton Boulevard Strategic Overview:

Brixton is an attractive, vibrant, community.
1. Brixton plays an important role in London’s history.
2. Brixton has a unique cultural heritage (critical diversity).
However, Brixton is under threat from external economic forces:
1. Opportunistic developers are targeting cheap land close to the downtown core.
2. Affordable housing supply is succumbing to demand pressure.
3. Limited commercial & retail space is hindering businesses from operating locally.
Additionally, Brixton suffers from infrastructural issues that compromise its ability to develop naturally in the right way. LBL should be proactive.
1. Brixton Hill road cuts like a chainsaw through the heart of Brixton.
  1. Pollution statistic
  2. Traffic statistic
2. Rush Common is a travesty of the park that it was meant to be.
  1. It is protected by an historical covenant.
  2. It is discontinuous (overgrown lots, cut up by driveways)
  3. It is poorly connected to its “entrance” at Windrush Square
  4. It is under-programmed.
  5. It lacks lateral connection to retail, office and residential users.
3. Brixton Underground station entrance / exit is poorly located.
  1. Riders are deposited directly into a congested, dangerous highway.
  2. As a terminal station on a line unlikely to be extended, it should have multiple collection points, including links to other rail lines.
The loss of the historic, local character of Brixton’s Afro-Carribean community would be a loss for Brixton (obviously) and London alike. Given what is at stake, combined with the infrastructural & economic hurdles, a planned intervention is warranted.
This intervention would target the threats outlined above, while also leveraging a number of undervalued assets to create a synergistic effect (that brings life and activity from the core of Brixton south to Streatham).
1. Windrush Square — perfectly located as central gateway to Brixton.
  1. Across from Lambeth Borough London (LBL) Town Hall
  2. Positioned at Northern Terminus of Rush Common
  3. Activate closed-off area of St. Mathew's Churchyard by reconfiguring streets.
2. Olive Morris House
  1. Already owned by LBL
  2. Part of development plan to pay for LBL Hall renovation
  3. Key first stop to draw people south from Windrush Square
3. HMP Brixton (Old Prison Site).
  1. Includes Windmill Park & open farmland
  2. Prison building stock can be repurposed for housing
  3. Historic pub structure at the entrance can be recommissioned
4. “The Tram Shed” — unused siding shed for historic streetcar.
  1. Owned by Transport For London
  2. Opportunity for Market / Food Hall
  3. Opposite to vacant corner lot, proposed commercial space
  4. Ideal location for Southern Gateway of Brixton Hill Boulevard.
The New Brixton Hill Boulevard: A significant intervention is required to calm traffic along Brixton Hill Road, which does not serve Brixton and is destroying economic activity along the street and enjoyment of the park.
1. Proposal A: Road Diet
  1. Pros: cheaper
  2. Cons: pushes traffic elsewhere, will be congested
2. Proposal B: Cut and Cap
  1. Pros: enables more severe calming strategies above
  2. Cons: expensive, will require removing some historic trees
3. Proposal C (Worst): Do Nothing
  1. Pros: inexpensive in the short term, easy
  2. Cons: long term economic and cultural capital of Brixton is sacrificed due to lack of vision and political will.
Moving Forward:
1. A [15] year phased plan is proposed. Phases will progress from North South, as each step provides a critical link to the downtown core.
2. Partnerships with Transport For London (TFL) will be required reconfigure Brixton Hill Boulevard.
3. Tax-Incentivized-Financing from new commercial properties can be used strategically to finance public amenities.
4. Co-operative housing entities will be established, potentially in partnership with Coin Street Builders, to renovate HMP Brixton.
Concluding Thoughts:
1. The easiest thing is to do nothing, but a laissez-faire approach will be catastrophic in the long term. The economic pressure exerted on a neighborhood so close to downtown London, complete with a Tube station, will be too great for any community to sustain without a strategic plan to maintain control of its growth.
2. Any plan that fails to remediate the traffic barreling down Brixton Hill Road will condemn Rush Common to continued underuse, and destroy the possibility of a lively economic activity along the commercial corridor. The two are intrinsically interlinked.
3. The flip-side of this mutual relationship is positive though: by remediating the scourge of traffic and prioritizing pedestrian activity, both the park and the businesses will be revitalized. This can be leveraged even further by strategic placement and programming of park activities and lightweight structures that support them, as well as a community oriented and managed maintenance program.
4. Investing in people means investing in infrastructure. What we pay for today buys the health, safety, and livelihood of communities tomorrow. We must make calculated, human-scaled decisions, but we must at the same time act boldly and with vision. Big cities require big thinking. There is no reason Rush Common cannot be bustling with the same life, color and activity as we find on Atlantic Avenue, but this will not happen by default or on its own.

SITE PHOTOS: Taken north to south along Brixton Hill Road, beginning near Brixton Station (Victoria Line) and ending at the intersection of A-205 / Christchurch Road.