Three Blocks of 24 Flats, Gorton

FLATS IN GORTON - Messrs. Harry S. Fairhurst and Son, the architects of the Sutton Trust's new flats in Gorton. which members of the Society of Architects visited this evening, have used these new buildings a number of features which have been developed from their experience of the Seedley flats, and may make an improvement upon them. One of the chief difficulties in buildings of this kind is the prevention of infestation by beetles and every other kind of insect, and at Gorton this difficulty has been attacked by reducing the use of wood. Wooden floors and skirtings will be replaced by brown asphalt, which is rot-proof as well as vermin-proof and should reduce maintenance and mean easier cleaning. There will be no wooden picture-rails. Metal rails will be used instead. and it is proposed to thread a wireless aerial inside a picture-rail in each dwelling. The general appearance of the flats is different from that of the older blocks. The brick is a rippled brown, and the balconies are different in design. Three blocks of 24 flats each are being built, and tenants will be going in at the end of the year. The rents may possibly be a little higher than at Seedley, because the flats do not qualify for subsidy. In area and accommodation they are much the same as the others. [Manchester Guardian 2 August 1934 Page 11]

Reference           Manchester Guardian 2 August 1934 Page 11