Haringey
Haringey, created from the municipal boroughs of Tottenham, Hornsey and Wood Green, is a borough of two halves; the rich, leafy uplands of Highgate and Muswell Hill and the poorer, urban lowlands of Tottenham and Wood Green. Correspondingly it has a mix of architectural styles and purposes; gleaming modernist homes and brutalist council blocks mixed with bespoke artist studios and Art Deco factories. Most of the housing stock, and many other buildings, in the borough date from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, when the area developed after the expansion of the Great Northern Railway. There are plenty of interwar modernist buildings, including Berthold Lubetkin & Tecton’s Highpoint I+II apartments in Highgate, one of the best modernist buildings in Britain. Down the hill are the start of the Piccadilly Line extension stations to Cockfosters, the beginning of Charles Holden and Frank Pick’s modernisation of the underground network.
After World War II, building continued in both the rich and poor parts of the borough. In Highgate and Muswell Hill, modernist houses and private estates appeared, like the Southwood Park estate by Douglas Stephen. In areas like Wood Green and Tottenham, the 1960’s and 70’s saw a big building programme, creating thousands of new council homes and facilities like libraries and community centres. The boroughs architects department was one of the most innovative in London, building a variety of housing types, including housing for single people and the disabled, as well as large scale estates such as Broadwater Farm.
After World War II, building continued in both the rich and poor parts of the borough. In Highgate and Muswell Hill, modernist houses and private estates appeared, like the Southwood Park estate by Douglas Stephen. In areas like Wood Green and Tottenham, the 1960’s and 70’s saw a big building programme, creating thousands of new council homes and facilities like libraries and community centres. The boroughs architects department was one of the most innovative in London, building a variety of housing types, including housing for single people and the disabled, as well as large scale estates such as Broadwater Farm.