Bedford Park London, 1963, Richard Norman Shaw

Kisairis Espinal 

Bedford Park London

 Bedford Park is located in a suburban area that is on the west part of London. This park is a very special place and its categorized as being the first Garden Suburb. This is the best suburban living, the way everything aligns, the attractive houses and the easy commute to central London. One of the biggest festival is held annually with live music, performances and kid’s activities. Bedford park has become a historical place with many former famous resident’s stories. When you exit the station there's a church and across from it is "Turnham Green was opened by the London & South Western Railway in 1869. The Anglo-Catholic Church of St Michael & All Angels was designed by Norman Shaw in 1879. The north aisle and hall (1887) and All Souls Chapel (1909) were added by Maurice B Adams. It is worth viewing the interior of the church which is usually open during the day. Opposite is the Tabard pub with tiles by William De Morgan and Walter Crane which was restored in 1971 and now includes a theatre. The buildings alongside of 1880 were formerly stores" (Victorian Architecture). 
When the brothers Joathan Carr and J commyns Carr bought the 24 acres in 1875 the land was just north of Turnham Green station which was constructed 6 six years earlier. This site was only 30 minutes by train from the city of London, this site had the best of both worlds. This project was presented to many architects and finally the architect that took the lead was Richard Norman Shaw was a Scottish architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s he known for his commercial buildings and his country houses. When this project was handed to him the layout of the park had already been done. However, Shaw had this idea and in creating an impression of great variety with a limited number of house type. By the 1800s Bedford park had already become a small plaza which became the height of fashion. Many famous actors and actress lived in this complex. Within time Bedford park lost its value, due to the fact that it became multi occupiable. In 1963 local resident decided to form a society because they were concern about the future of Bedford Park due to the fact that they had demolish The Bramptons which was a path for old people. Later on the society was able to protect the amenity of the garden suburb nut had nothing to do with resident’s association.  

     In the plan above we see this hierarchy between all three floors, the cloumn all align and divide each space giving it a nice layout. This layout makes people want to experience each space to see where it will led you to.  The construction system used for this project is brick masonry its located in a temperate climate. The whole purpose of this design was to help maximize the potential of your outdoor space, however they wanted it to be functional. Bedford park was meant to be a community of inspiration for later garden suburb and cities. Even though their purpose lacked what they envision Carr tried to provide many activities with this community in other words there was no need to leave the community.

Sources:

-Curl, James Stevens. Victorian Architecture. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1990.

-"A Guide to Bedford Park: The First Garden Suburb." Viewed 24 September 2008.

-Turnor, Reginald. Nineteenth Century Architecture in Britain. London: Batsford, 1950.

-Weinreb, Ben, and Christopher Hibbert, eds. The London Encyclopaedia. Rev. ed. London: Macmillan, 1992