Sutton Dwellings Seedley Road Salford

SALFORD’S SCHEME OF FLATS –ARCHITECT’S DESCRIPTION. Mr Fairhurst, the Manchester architect commissioned by the Sutton Trust to plan the Seedley Road flats, described the tenements. There would be 256 of from two to five rooms each with complete household facilities. The living rooms would be placed so as to get the maximum amount of sunshine and these would have balconies. The flats would be four storeys high: but the top flats would have bedrooms above them, making the building actually a five storey one. In the centre of the flats would be a large space for the children, and there would be accommodation for perambulators on the ground floor. In addition, it was hoped to convert an acre of land on the opposite side of Seedley Road into a playing field for the children of the flats. Tenants of these flats would be carefully picked, and only those who are steady workers with low wages would be accepted. [Manchester Guardian 27 January 1932 page 6]

WORKING CLASS FLATS: PLANS OF SALFORD SCHEME APPROVED - The plans of a block of 256 flats which the Sutton Trust propose to build in the Seedley Road district of Salford for working class tenants was approved by the Salford Building and Improvement Committee yesterday. The five storey building will consist of flats of two to five rooms with all the latest domestic conveniences, and the living rooms will have balconies and will be so placed as to eceive the maximum amount of sunshine. In the centre of the block will be a large open playing space for the children, and accommodation will be provided on the ground level for perambulators. The plans have been prepared by Mr S Fairhurst, the Manchester architect. [Manchester Guardian 23 March 1932 page 11]

FLATS ON A LARGE SCALE - All the formalities and negotiations which are necessary to a large housing scheme have been completed in the preparation of plans for the flats which Messrs Harry S Fairhurst and Son have designed for the Sutton Trust, in Salford. The work has now begun. This lot of flats, 256 in number, is apparently the biggest single lot of flats to be built or even to be planned in this neighbourhood, and there are few examples even of smaller work to be seen. The work has, therefore, some value as an example which may help to solve local housing problems. It is the more important in this respect because the contract price makes the average cost of the flat less than £400. It is a figure that, appears to be substantially lower than estimates lately produced in Manchester. The buildings have five storeys and have been designed so that as little room as possible is lost by the space required by the chimneys for the coal fires which are to be used. This provision has some relevance to local difficulties. The fifth storey is in reality a storey of bedrooms only and cannot be classed correctly as an additional floor. This particular disposal of space was planned to satisfy local building regulations. It will be noticed that the architects have not used the chute system of rubbish disposal. They examined many examples and decided that It was better to have rubbish carried to an outside container than to allow Its fragments to accumulate in any Inside chute. [Manchester Guardian 20 January 1933 page 11]

THE SEEDLEY FLATS – Within three weeks or within a month at most, one of the blocks of flats designed by Messrs Harry S Fairhurst and Son for the Sutton Trust in Seedley Road will be occupied by its first group of thirty-two tenants. The six other blocks will be handed over to tenants at the rate of one a fortnight after that, and so the whole of the 256 dwellings will be occupied by the end of February. There are over 200 workmen employed there at present, and the plot appears extremely busy. One of the works now in hand is the levelling of the ground between the two rows of buildings. There is a slight fall in the level, which is being reduced so that asphalted playgrounds can be made. When the first block is complete the playground and perambulator sheds for it will be finished too. The inner court is the centre of activity at present. The front elevation, to Seedley Road, is more or less complete everywhere, and looks tidy and attractive. The base of the work is of blue engineering brick, and the main walls are of red Huncoats brick, whose face is smoother than the popular rustic brick and should resist dirt better. Upon this red brick the noticeable features are the six courses of upstanding bricks, the grey concrete dressings, and the bright blue paint with which Mr Fairhurst has covered the metal casement windows. The Union Jack flies from a flag-post over the large horse-shoe entrance in the centre. The dwellings composed behind the face are of four capacities. The largest have three bedrooms, one in the mansard and two upon the floor below; most are true flats with two bedrooms, some have one bedroom, and a few have a bed-sitting room alone. The upper flats are entered from balcony passages protected by reinforced concrete parapets, and many of the flats have their own small balconies. The balcony doors are steel with a pane of glass. Where the doors adjoin the windows an addition of light is provided in these well-lighted rooms. There were 2,700 applications for tenancies of the flats. These have all been examined by the trust so that the accommodation can be rightly used. [Manchester Guardian 28 September 1933 page 11]

Reference           Manchester Guardian 20 January 1933 page 4 - typical plan and elevation

Reference           Manchester Guardian 20 January 1933 page 11

FLATS ON A LARGE SCALE – All the formalities and negotiations which are necessary to a large housing scheme have been completed in the preparation of plans for the flats which Messrs Harry S Fairhurst and Son have designed for the Sutton Trust in Salford. The work has now begun. This lot of flats, 256 in number, is apparently the biggest single lot of flats to be built or even to be planned in this neighbourhood, and there are few examples even of smaller work to be seen. The work has, therefore, some value as an example which may help to solve local housing problems. It is the more important in this respect because the contract price makes the average cost of the flats less than £400. It is a figure that appears to be substantially lower than estimates lately produced in Manchester. The buildings have five storeys and have been designed so that as little room as possible is lost by the space required by the chimneys for the coal fires which are to be used. This provision has some relevance to local difficulties. The fifth storey is in reality a storey of bedrooms only and cannot be classified correctly as an additional floor. This particular disposal of space was planned to satisfy local building regulations. It will be noticed that the architects have not used the chute system of rubbish disposal. They examined many examples and decided that it was better to have rubbish to be carried to an outside container than to allow its fragments to accumulate in any inside chute.

Reference        Manchester Guardian 23 March 1932 page 11 – plans approved
Reference        Manchester Guardian 27 January 1932 page 6
Reference        Manchester Guardian 20 January 1933 page 4 - typical plan and elevation
Reference        Manchester Guardian 20 January 1933 page 11
Reference        Manchester Guardian 28 September 1933 page 11
Reference        Manchester Guardian 12 December 1933 page 7 – Professor C H Reilly
Reference        Manchester Guardian 12 December 1933 page 9 - photograph