The development company Span built 30 housing estates across the UK between 1948 and 1984. In his book The Spirit of Span Housing, James Strike says: “Span housing was the inspiration of two young men, who, during the 1930s, met as architectural students at the Regent Street Polytechnic. Eric Lyons and Geoffrey Townsend both had a keen interest in modern architecture… They believed that there was a market for well-designed houses in carefully designed landscapes for the sort of people who recognised good design when they saw it – and they were right.”

In 2006, Span housing was the subject of an exhibition at the RIBA, and the accompanying book, entitled Eric Lyons & Span (ed. Barbara Simms), gives a comprehensive survey of its history. “The work of the architect Eric Lyons,” it states, “is as well-loved now as it was vibrantly successful when first constructed. Built almost entirely for Span Developments, its mission was to provide an affordable environment ‘that gave people a lift’.”

New Ash Green is perhaps the most ambitious project ever undertaken by Span. The company put up approximately half of the houses in the village and did much of the design of the environment. Cordula Zeidler of the 20th Century Society describes the village as “Span heaven”. She also writes as follows about New Ash Green:

“Architect Eric Lyons and Span Developments Ltd… got planning permission to build houses for 5-6,000 people, arranged in neighbourhoods and bound together by landscaping. The centre of this new town was built in the same spirit; a picturesquely arranged group of shops, featuring the typical Span materials and shapes, and served by an organically bent pedestrian street.”