Demolition & Regeneration

Demolition started in 2011 with Munro Mews and Faraday House being the first buildings to be knocked down. The masterplan for Portobello Square envisaged the creation of 1000 new mixed tenure houses over a decade, including the replacement of all existing affordable housing properties.

Changes? Nobody likes changes. We was all in uproar when we heard they were going to knock it down. And I love my little flat so I'm hoping they'll run out of money by the time they get to me, but I know that's not going to happen.”

 

Cheryl Thomas
Resident of Wornington Green Estate
Picture of a partially demolished Faraday House revealing the inside blue wallpaper of a residents former home. In the foreground rubble, is an orange demolition machine. In the background are trees from the original Athlone Gardens. Photo taken from window of glass and jewellery workshops in Wornington College. Photo by Ken MacDonald, 2011.
View from the 1st floor of No 8 Wheatstone House. A building site that has replaced Athlone Gardens in preparation for the building of Portobello Square. In the background are orange diggers and excavating machinery. Photo by Natasha Langridge, 2014.
A silhouette photo of an excavator digging on the site of the demolished Lionel House and preparing the ground to create the new Athlone Gardens. The sun sets behind the clouds above. Photo 2014.
A tree surgeon in Athlone Gardens is high up in an Ash tree cutting its branches off in preparation for felling. In the background is a crane and the construction of a new housing block as part of the Portobello Square development. Photo circa 2014 - 2015.
The new builds of Portobello Square on Faraday Road being constructed. A builder leans on a scaffold support between the concrete floors and support walls. In the background are two cranes. Photo by Junior Tomlin, 2014.
A sales and marketing sign stands on the pavement on Faraday Road. Behind this are the newly constructed show flats and houses of Portobello Square. Photo 2015.
The top floor flats at Murchison House with the doors of number 14 and 15 boarded up prior to demolition. In the background, Treverton Tower is lit up at nightfall. Photo taken by Patrick Gorman, 2019.
The boarded up main entrance to Rendle, Wells and Murchison Houses on Portobello Road at night time. The entrance has a curved glass facade that was added onto the original brick entrance in the 1990s. Photo by Patrick Gorman, 2018.
A shower of bricks filling the amphitheatre at the back of Murchison House which is in the process of being demolished. In the background is Wells House. Photo by Natasha Langridge, 2018.
A Gaywood Demolition machine is half way through knocking down the top floor of Murchison House. To the left is the empty building site. The blue sky and white clouds frame the scene. Photo by Sanya Mihaylovic, 2019.
A Gaywood Demolition machine ripping through Murchison house flats revealing their multicoloured painted walls and concrete/steel wire mesh. Photo by Micky Pallant, 2019.
Natasha Langridge filming the foundations being prepared for the construction of a new road and housing block in front of Olive Blythe House. The empty site was where Murchison House previously stood. Photo by Constantine Gras, 2020.
Newly completed cream-coloured Bond Mansions on Wornington Road opposite Venture Playground.
Photo depicts a group of residents and Labour party councillors protesting against the demolition of Wornington Green Estate by declaring independence from their housing association, Kensington Housing Trust (KHT). They are holding up a constitution of the Republic of Peplar House on a white board. Four residents have raised fists. Photo reproduced from The United Estate of Wornington Green website.