Brandon Estate: Neon mammoth design on outside wall of the Brandon Library
When the Brandon Estate was completed in 1960 it was celebrated for its innovative design. Despite the height of the 18-storey 'point' blocks at the centre of the estate, the Architecture and Building News praised their “humane scale" and "greater architectural sophistication than earlier points". The article also praised the mix of concrete finishes used on the estate, although the writer also noted that “an exaggerated fear of monotony” led to “some strangely inconsistent and unprincipled detailing”.
Many of these details were designed by Anthony Hollaway and Lynn Easthope, who were employed by the London County Council (LCC) as “consultants for decorative treatment on housing estates”. As shown in this photograph, Hollaway’s Hairy Mammoth took pride of place in the shopping precinct, marking the discovery of a fossilised mammoth tooth during the site excavation. As well as the shopping centre, plans for the estate also included a doctor’s surgery, library, housing area office and 13 play spaces to serve the estate’s 3,800 residents. As the Architect’s Journal noted at the time, the Brandon was “an important essay by the LCC to create a community in the true sense of the word, rather than a mere housing estate”.
The highs and lows of life on the estate in the early 1980s were captured in Tony Parker's The People of Providence (1983), a compilation of interviews with residents. Down the years, the optimism of the planners that shaped the Brandon Estate has proved to be idealistic. Despite their attempts to provide for residents' needs, they were unable to anticipate the social and economic changes which were to come.
