The British public has been busy admiring Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes in the BBC’s Bodyguard, the most successful new drama for a decade. But the most recent episode had much to swoon over for lovers of Brutalist architecture in particular.

Keen fans of modernist housing estates (there are lots of us, actually) will have recognised the home of Madden’s character, David Budd, as the Whittington in London. Also known as the Highgate New Estate, the six-terraced estate was designed by the Hungarian architect Peter Tabori in the 1970s and is now highly sought after, with one-bedroom flats going for £450,000.

Whittington is just one of many housing estatesbuilt in the postwar years after bombing destroyed much housing in London and other cities, such as Sheffield. There was also a need to replace slum housing and tenement buildings, which were in poor condition and often did not have bathrooms. In particular, the borough of Camden saw a “golden age” of modernist estates in the 1960s and 1970s under the council’s head architect, Sydney Cook.

Often influenced by the style of the French architect Le Corbusier, brutalism from the 1950s onwards was defined by its béton brut (raw concrete), repetitive features and often ziggurat levels, meeting utopian ideals such as community, space and light.

The zeitgeist for brutalism in the UK extended to public use buildings. Denys Lasdun’s National Theatre is one such gem, and remains much loved; less so Birmingham’s Central Library, which was demolished – one might say criminally – in 2015. But it’s the residential spaces, mostly social housing, that have the richest histories –the high-rise buildings such as Ernő Goldfinger’s grade II* (for buildings of “more than special interest”) listed Trellick Tower that became known as “streets in the sky”, for example; or the low-rise, high-density housing of Neave Brown.

We’ve lost many of these estates. Many became hot spots for crime as they fell into disrepair, and concrete proved to not age well. Prince Charles and others denounced the aesthetics, while Margaret Thatcher’s right-to-buy policy meant community ties weakened as flats shifted to private hands.

But as newbuild homes have become smaller and smaller, brutalist homes have become desirable again for their spaciousness and light – not to mention the recent hipster-ish embrace of vintage design. As brutalist buildings have become fashionable and snapped up by creative – and affluent – professionals, there have been concerns that original tenants have been pushed out.

Here are some important examples still standing in the UK, and still in use as residential housing.

Alexandra and Ainsworth Estate, St John’s Wood, London

Often simply referred to as Rowley Way, the Alexandra and Ainsworth estate is one of the last remaining gems of Camden’s golden age, designed by Neave Brown in 1968 and constructed between 1972 and 1978. The estate was the first postwar example to be grade II* listed, in 1993. Not everyone was happy, though – the Conservatives launched a public enquiry in the year of the estate’s completion after the project hugely overshot its Labour council budget.

The development is notable for each dwelling’s access to private outdoor space, and – following the collapse of Ronan Point, a key example of en vogue tower blocks – a low height build. The estate also has a distinctive crescent that follows the curve of the adjacent rail tracks.

Rowley Way is probably the best-known brutalist estate, thanks to its popularity as a film shoot location. Episodes of Spooks, Silent Witness, London Spy and New Tricks have all been filmed here, as have music videos for Foals and the 1975.

The Alexandra and Ainsworth Estate, also known as Rowley Way, in London. Photograph: Sam Mellish/In Pictures via Getty Images

Park Hill, Sheffield

Built between 1957 and 1961, the Park Hill estate was awarded grade II* listed status in 1998. The idea to build the flats was originally mooted post-1930s, when the Park Hill area – mostly of densely-packed tenement housing – was known as “Little Chicago” for its high crime rate. The outbreak of the war postponed planning, which recommenced in 1953.

The Park Hill estate in Sheffield, with its deck access, wide enough for milk floats. Photograph: Photofusion/UIG via Getty Images

Park Hill, designed by Ivor Smith and Jack Lynn, was highly influenced by Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation concept, especially visible in the colours and the deck access, wide enough to accommodate milk floats. The estate originally incorporated 995 flats and maisonettes. In 2011, “I Love You Will U Marry Me” was graffitied on to one of the bridges – and subsequently immortalised in neon. Its first stage of renovation was nominated for the RIBA Stirling prize in 2013. The latest stage of development will include student accommodation.

Arlington House, Margate

Arlington Tower with its wave-like facade. Photograph: Hannah Jane Parkinson/The Guardian

Completed in 1964, the tower has 18 floors and 142 apartments. As was usual at the time of construction, the complex included a shopping parade, restaurant, theatre, pub, petrol station and rooftop swimming pool. Located in between the rail station and the Dreamland amusement park, the block affords amazing views of the sea from huge windows facing the beach and wraparound views to the town. A “BLOCK BREXIT” sign displayed in one window was recently a hit on Instagram.

Designed by Russell Diplock & Associates, Arlington House’s undulating facade is said to mirror the sea’s waves. . The tower divides opinion, but has an active residents’ association that managed to quash a 2014 attempt to develop a Tesco store on the square.

However, the landlords Freshwater and Thanet District council, which owns the land, have neglected the tower.

The Brunswick, Bloomsbury, London

The multi-purpose Brunswick centre in Bloomsbury, London. Photograph: Hannah Jane Parkinson/The Guardian

Designed by Patrick Hodgkinson, the Brunswick was originally intended as a private development. Built between 1967 and 1972, the residential element of the mixed-use complex was leased to Camden council for social housing. In 2000, the Brunswick was awarded grade II (for buildings of “special interest”) listed status. It remains a popular venue for shops, restaurants, markets and a cinema.

New Court, Christ’s College, Cambridge

Not a housing estate, but a halls of residence for the University of Cambridge. Designed by brutalist poster boy Denys Lasdun in 1966, New Court is affectionally (or not) known as the Typewriter, for obvious reasons – it is basically a concrete Smith Corona. New Court originally included 66 student bedrooms and six fellows’ apartments, as well as common rooms, a squash court and gym. The planned gardens on each level did not come to fruition (though there are balconies), and the en-suite bathrooms have not always been the most watertight, but a £6.5m refurbishment has secured the building’s future.

Lasdun’s ‘Typewriter’ designed in 1966 to house Christ’s College students. Photograph: Alamy

Cables Wynd House, Edinburgh

Scotland’s premier example of brutalist housing, Cables Wynd House, is better known as the Banana Block because of its curved structure. Built between 1962-1965, the block contains 212 flats, with all but five well maintained and still in public ownership as of 2015. Residents now have access to a 24-hour concierge and extensive security. Irvine Welsh chose the Banana Block as the childhood home of Sick Boy in Trainspotting. It was awarded a Category A listing by Historic Environment Scotland in 2017.

Banana Block in Edinburgh. Photograph: Alamy

Thamesmead estate, London

Thamesmeadis familiar to film lovers as the place Alex terrorised in A Clockwork Orange during his bursts of dystopian ultraviolence. Ironically it was envisaged as a utopian ideal for communal living in the 1960s. Originally built by the Greater London Council (GLC), now with the advent of Crossrail the “town of 45,000 people” is undergoing a £1bn mass renovation by Peabody housing association, which will hopefully shake off the estate’s ongoing reputation for violence.

The Thamesmead estate. Photograph: Peter Johns/The Guardian

Barbican estate, London

Perhaps the most famous brutalist residential estate in the country, the Barbican is an outlier in this list, because although it was constructed for the council, flats were rented at market rates to meet the need for homes for city workers. Designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon (also responsible for the nearby Golden Lane estate of subsidised housing), the Barbican was built between 1966 and 1976, and is often voted the UK’s ugliest building. But the Queen described the arts centre as “one of the modern wonders of the world” when it was completed in 1982 and it was grade II listed in 2001.

Shakespeare Tower, a housing block on the Barbican Estate, part of the Barbican centre, London. Photograph: David Sillitoe/The Guardian

The tower blocks remain a distinctive element of London’s skyline. The complex houses, the world-renowned arts venue (simply known as the Barbican), the independent City of London School for Girls, ornamental lakes, recreational grounds and a conservatory.

The estate consists of 13 terraced blocks (seven floors each) and three towers blocks: Cromwell, Shakespeare and Lauderdale, all rising to 42 storeys. In total, there are 2,000 dwellings. In the 1980s the Housing Act saw tenants snap up the flats. Penthouses now go for up to £4m, with eye-watering service charges of thousands per year and star tenants such as the fashion designer Giles Deacon.

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