A moribund Robin Hood Gardens, Woolmore Street

Image: © Stephen Richards Taken: 18 Sep 2017

The protracted death throes of the Smithson estate are finally nearing their end (Image]). Redevelopment of the site has been on the cards for at least ten years. Campaigns to have it listed have failed; a succession of starchitects proclaiming the estate to be the best building since the Parthenon have left the powers that be unmoved. As to what the current residents think, you can find an opinion poll to support demolition and another to preserve the estate. The western block (here) is now empty and largely boarded up behind hoardings; the eastern will follow in a few months. The pile of rubble in front was Anderson House, a 1950s block at the north of the site. The replacement development, Blackwall Reach, looks to be offering bog-standard fare, in many ways inferior to RHG, but will at least have the merit of providing more housing than is being demolished. That is a novelty. It seems unlikely, however, that many current residents will be able to remain in the area. One would not have to be overly cynical to suspect that that is not an accident.

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