Flats At Park Gate, Hove. Eric Lyons & Span Developments

During a recent visit to Brighton and Hove, I visited an old friend who recently bought a 3-bedroom flat in the Park Gate development in Hove designed by Eric Lyons and built by Span Developments.

I have written elsewhere in this blog about how I worked for Eric Lyons for a year before going to school of architecture and about his practice and its relationship with Span Developments which I will not repeat here.  Suffice it to say that the relationship was very successful and most of their developments are still standing in good order and are well loved and highly valued.

Parkgate is located on a suburban site accessed off Somerhill Road in Hove and was completed in 1960.  It consists of two, 4-storey, H-shaped blocks (each with one extended arm) of two- and three-bedroom flats built around a landscaped courtyard.  The entrance to the development is through the ground floor lobby of the block facing onto Somerhill Road and the entrance to the flats in each of the blocks is in the cross arm of the H which also contains the stairs to the upper floors and a lift. There is a garage court at one end of the site.

There are 47 flats and the site area is 1.3 acres giving a density of about 90 dwellings a square hectare which was about double the density recommended by the government at the time.  It does not however, feel over-developed.

The buildings are constructed of load-bearing cross walls with flat roofs and the main facades have near continuous bands of glazing with continuous tile hanging panels below the windows.  All flats are dual aspect with windows facing onto the courtyard and onto either Somerhill Road or the other side of the site.

Our friend’s flat is on the first floor of the block facing Somerhill Road and has an entrance off the entrance and staircase lobby.  Immediately outside the flat is a small utility room accessed via its own door with space for storage and a washing machine.  There is also a cupboard for deliveries next to the entrance door.  Inside the entrance door there is a short corridor with built-in storage on the wall dividing the corridor from the kitchen. This corridor leads to the dining/sitting room with access to the kitchen (which originally was closed off from the dining area by a wall and a door).  A second short central corridor leads off the dining/sitting room to the small bathroom and the three bedrooms.

All rooms are light and bright due to the extensive glazing to both main elevations.  The windows have been changed but maintain the original pattern of glazing.  The floors to the entrance lobbies (and to the stair treads) still have the original terrazzo finish which is generally in very good condition.  The buildings were generally built to a very good standard even though the standard of insulation to walls and roofs was not what it is today.

Park Gate, even after more than 60 years, is still a very good example of what low-rise high-density urban living can offer if the buildings and very importantly, the planting and landscaping, is well designed.  So much better than most of the similar developments being constructed today.  The landscaping design was probably carried out by Ivor Cunningham who went on to be a partner in the firm.

More details of the work of Eric Lyons and Span Developments can be found in ‘Eric Lyons and Span’ edited by Barbara Simms and published by RIBA Publishing.

Photos of the development can be seen in the photo gallery below.

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Architecture in Developing Countries: A Resource

The design and construction of appropriate, low-cost buildings for education and health in rural areas of the developing world.

Nigel Wakeham is an architect who lived for 23 years in Southern and West Africa and the SW Pacific working on education, health and other projects. He has since worked for over 20 years as a consultant for national governments and agencies such as the World Bank, DFID, ADB and AfDB on the implementation of the construction components of education and health projects in many countries in the developing world.​

​The objective of this website will be to provide the benefit of more than 45 years of experience of working in developing countries to architects and other construction professionals involved in the design and construction of appropriate, low-cost buildings for education and health. It will provide reference material from the projects that Nigel has worked on and technical information on the design, construction and maintenance of educational and health facilities and other relevant topics and these will be added to from time to time.

I am happy to be contacted by anyone requiring further information on any of the projects or resources referred to in this website or by anyone wishing to discuss work possibilities.

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