“Golden Lane straddles the boundary between the picturesque and the formal, its rectilinear plan and hard landscaping eased by the changes in level, natural materials and circular bastion” – Elain Harwood

By 1951, only 5,000 residents remained in the City of London following the devastation of World War II. Concerned that people working in vital industries such as hospitals and the police force needed housing in the centre of the city, the City of London Corporation announced an architectural competition for schemes to provide new homes. The brief was to provide quality, high-density housing for singles and couples, using economical methods of construction with as little steel as possible – after shortages due to the war. Each apartment was to have heating and hot water included in the rent, and it was stipulated that there should be plenty of natural light. There was to be a community centre, sports facilities and a playground, to encourage a distinct and sustainable community.

One of the most important post-war architectural practices, Chamberlin, Powell & Bon, was born out of this opportunity. Having separately submitted proposals and agreeing that whoever won would join forces with the others, Geoffrey Powell, Christoph Bon and John Chamberlin jointly designed the Golden Lane Estate. Many of the ideas that define their later and better-known project at the Barbican had their genesis in The Golden Lane Estate. The design embraces the urban environment; the blocks look inward over landscaped courtyard gardens, while pedestrian walkways connect the buildings and replace the pre-war road patterns. The celebratory use of bold colours on the outside of the buildings was integral to the estate’s design, and each block has a slightly different take on the combination of colour, concrete and glass.