Churchill Gardens is a large housing estate in the Pimlico

Pimlico

Pimlico is a small area of central London in the City of Westminster. Like Belgravia, to which it was built as a southern extension, Pimlico is known for its grand garden squares and impressive Regency architecture....

 area of Westminster

Westminster

Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. The estate was developed between 1946 and 1962 to a design by the architects Powell

Philip Powell (architect)

Sir Arnold Joseph Philip Powell , usually known as Philip Powell, was a ground-breaking English post-war architect.He was educated at Epsom College and then the Architectural Association....

 and Moya

Hidalgo Moya

John Hidalgo Moya , sometimes known as Jacko Moya, was a famous American-born architect who worked largely in England. Moya was a native of California where he was born to an English mother and Mexican father but lived in England since he was an infant. He formed the architectural practice Powell &...

, replacing Victorian terraced houses extensively damaged during the Blitz.

Comprising 1,600 homes in 32 blocks, the estate is notable as the only housing project completed under the ambitious Abercrombie Plan

County of London Plan

The County of London Plan was prepared for the London County Council in 1943. Its authors were John Henry Forshaw and Sir Leslie Patrick Abercrombie ....

 to redevelop the capital on more "efficient" lines. Tall slabs of between nine and eleven storeys are enclosed by seven storey blocks and interspersed with maisonettes and terraces. A pioneering example of mixed development, it acted as a model for many subsequent public housing projects, although few matched its size and even fewer achieved its architectural distinction or social diversity.

The estate is also notable for its early and rare example of district heating

District heating

District heating is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating and water heating...

 in the UK. A glass-faced accumulator tower was built to collect the CHP

Cogeneration

Cogeneration is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat....

 by-product heat in hot water from the now-disused Battersea Power Station

Battersea Power Station

Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Battersea, South London. The station comprises two individual power stations, built in two stages in the form of a single building. Battersea A Power Station was built first in the...

 on the opposite side of the Thames, providing heat and hot water throughout the estate. The system was upgraded in 2006 to allow it to supply an additional 1400 homes.

Churchill Gardens was designated a conservation area

Conservation area

A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...

in 1990, and in 1998 six blocks and the Accumulator Tower were listed Grade II.

External Links

• Listing text for the Accumulator Tower and District Heating Workshop http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-472013-accumulator-tower-and-district-heating-w