View from living room window – open quadrangle below
The Oaklands Estate on Poynders Road comprises nearly three acres and is located just south of Clapham Common. The name "Oaklands" is taken from the large house and grounds, which formerly occupied the site. The scheme was designed by the London County Council architect, E. P. Wheeler, who was responsible for many of the inter war public housing estates. Built during 1935 and 1936. This project was one of the first to qualify for the Government subsidy payable under the Housing Act of 1935, introduced to provide housing for the relief of overcrowding. 'Up with the houses and down with the slums' was the Labour Party slogan in 1934, when for the first time the Party, gained control of the LCC.
Slum clearance and new public housing had been taking place for decades but the demand for land from private builders and local opposition to the presence of public housing meant that the L.C.C. rebuilding programme was only able to operate effectively in a few areas. Almost half of the L.C.C.'s new tenement blocks constructed in the 1930's were put up in only four boroughs Southwark, Lewisham, Wandsworth and Lambeth. These boroughs were politically sympathetic and land was still available at reasonable prices.
E. P. Wheeler designed Oaklands Estate in true 1930's Cunard ocean liner style with strong sweeping balconies curving round the facade. A strikingly moderne style which was at its peak of popularity by the mid 1930's.
The layout of the scheme is in the form of two open quadrangles, so that the living rooms generally have a southerly aspect and overlook Poynders Road. The blocks are five storeys high, with the top two storeys designed as maisonettes. The total accommodation comprises 185 flats, of which 25 have two rooms, 113 three rooms, 42 four rooms and 5 five rooms, housing, originally, approximately 900 people.
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