Conservation

Oct 20th, 2010 | | Conservation | Exterior | Portfolio | Recent projects | 2 Comments

Arnold Circus Bandstand

Patrick Baty carried out the analysis of the paint on the bandstand at Arnold Circus

The Boundary Estate is a housing development, formally opened in 1900, in the East End of London. It is situated in the north western corner of Bethnal Green in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and on the boundary with Shoreditch, in the London Borough of Hackney.

The estate, constructed from 1890, was one of the earliest social housing schemes, and was built by the London County Council as the world’s first council housing, replacing the Friars Mount slum in the Old Nichol. The demolition rubble was used to construct a mound in the middle of Arnold Circus at the centre of the development, housing a still extant bandstand. The estate consists of multi-story brick structures, surrounding the central mound.

This bandstand, which was built in ca.1910 had been badly vandalised and the local authority wished to restore it as part of a major redevelopment scheme.

I established that both it and the surrounding railings had first been painted in a deep Brunswick green colour and that a gloss varnish had originally been applied to the paint on the bandstand.

See a short slideshow of the project – before and after.

See the Conservation plan produced by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets – Boundary Estate Conservation Area

See also this very interesting TV review

Some time after the event The Telegraph used the photograph above as the basis for a cartoon of me:

Cartoon of PRB in Telegraph




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Comments (2)

Reply
Laura VaughanNo Gravatar » 17. Mar, 2013

What a great film. Have you seen the BBC 2 programme on ‘The Secret History of Our Streets’? It’s last episode focused on the Circus http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01kvkw6. See blog too: http://urbanformation.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/tv-review-our-secret-streets-episode-6-arnold-circus/

Reply
PatrickNo Gravatar » 17. Mar, 2013

Laura, I hadn’t. Many thanks. I hope that it’s okay, but I’ve added a link to your very helpful review.