Designs for the Spa Green Estate, Rosebery Avenue, Finsbury, London: details of the Garchey system for refuse disposal

NOTES: The Spa Green Estate initiated a mass housing programme for the London borough of Finsbury. The design as executed differed little from that first proposed by Tecton to the Borough Council in 1938 although this was conceived as part of a much wider plan to provide the borough with a whole range of much needed facilities, including the Finsbury Health Centre. Immediately after World War II the Finsbury Plan was abandoned and efforts were concentrated on alleviating the chronic housing shortage. The design for the estate was a development of the one which Tecton had submitted to the competition for working-class flats in 1935 and incorporated a number of new features including the Garchey system for refuse disposal (used in England only once before - at Quarry Hill, Leeds), and an aerofoil-shaped section in the roof to allow clothes to dry. This latter idea was developed in conjunction with the scientist, Hyman Levy. The estate was completed in 1950 by Skinner Bailey & Lubetkin.