Lansbury Estate at 75: Study day and walk
Lansbury Estate at 75: Study day and walk
Saturday 16 May 2026
Start time/place: 10.00am/Cowcross Street Gallery (EC1M 6EJ)
Finish time/place: 17.30pm/Festival Inn (E14 6AD)
The Lansbury Estate is the largest council estate in Poplar. Mostly built in four phases between 1949 and 1982 (with some parts currently being redeveloped and extended), it illustrates the shifting trends in post-war council housing design and layout. As the Survey of London notes, 'the interest of the estate lies as much, if not more, in the story of its planning and construction as in what was actually built'.
This is especially true of its first phase, which formed the basis of the Live Architecture Exhibition during the Festival of Britain. It opened on 3 May 1951 - one day ahead of the main South Bank celebrations. The origins of the Lansbury Estate can be traced to the County of London Plan of 1943, commissioned by the London County Council. The area had suffered severely during the war, with around 24 per cent of buildings destroyed or seriously damaged.
The C20 Society is organising a study day on 16 May 2026 to celebrate the Lansbury Estate’s 75th birthday.
The event will consist of two parts: a morning and early-afternoon programme of talks at the Gallery in Cowcross Street – confirmed speakers including John Allan, John Boughton, Catherine Croft, Miles Glendinning, Owen Hatherley, Ruth Lang, Otto Saumarez Smith and Claire Titley.
This will be followed by an afternoon guided tour, led by the event organiser Thaddeus Zupančič, of all phases of the estate. The tour will begin at Market Square (with its listed clock tower by Frederick Gibberd) and will also visit the Pigott Street phase (designed by Shepheard Epstein & Hunter with John Allan), which in 1982 completed the “Lansbury development,” as the plaque on one of the houses records. The tour ends in the original 1951 pub Festival Inn.
C20 Members’ price: £25
Non-members’ price: £35
Young C20: £10*
*For Young C20 members, please email lukas@c20society.org.uk to secure a place.
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The Twentieth Century Society is an IHBC (Institute of Historic Building conservation) recognised CPD provider.
Twentieth Century Society is a registered charity, no 1110244
Image: St Mary and Joseph Church, Lansbury Estate, 1961. Courtesy of London Metropolitain Archive.