Mowlem In-situ Concrete House

Mowlem non-traditional construction house

The Mowlem Poured Concrete in-Situ House

  • Manufacturer: W Airey & Sons Ltd & R COSTAIN Ltd
  • Type: Precast Reinforced Concrete (PRC)
  • Designer: Sir Frederick Gibberd
  • Period of Construction: 1945-55
  • Numbers Built: 26,000

Build Types

  • Bungalows
  • Terraced
  • 2 Storey Semi Detached
  • 3 Storey Semi Detached

Construction Detail: Solid cavity wall. Cast in-situ concrete form of construction, first used in 1952 but mainly in the period 1962 to 1981. Construction substitutes mass concrete for the inner blockwork walls of traditional housing. Solid wall types 225mm thick cast in lightweight concrete, rendered externally. Cavity wall types with an ‘inner leaf of 100-­‐125mm thick concrete, separated by a 2″ cavity, reinforcement in both skins located in 4 horizontal bands above and below window openings.


  • Foundation: Concrete slab on strip foundation
  • Exterior Walls: Brick Outer. 2″ Cavity. 4″-5″ Aerated poured concrete inner wall
  • Roof: Trussed rafters & concrete tiles
  • Ground Floor: Concrete

The Mowlem house was built in a wide variety of variations which can often make identification difficult.

  • Flat roof on timber joists, woodwool slabs and asphalt.
  • External walls of 9″ no-fines concrete
  • RC ring beams at 1ST floor and eaves level.
  • Additional reinforcement above and below widow openings.
  • Render to external wall surface.
  • Hanging tiles to exterior upper elevation.
  • Horizontal timber boarding on timber battens to exterior upper elevation.
  • Concrete window sills.
  • Asbestos cement soffit boards.

Example Locations

Mistress LaneArmleyLS12 2HL 
Rossefield ApproachBramleyLS13 3RG 
Rossefield DriveBramleyLS13 3RP 
Rossefield GardensBramleyLS13 3RQ 
Rossefield GreenBramleyLS13 3RL 
Rossefield GroveBramleyLS13 3RF 
Rossefield ParadeBramleyLS13 3RN 
Rossefield PlaceBramleyLS13 3RJ 
Rossefield WalkBramleyLS13 3RH 
Rossefield WayBramleyLS13 3RS 
Spencer PlaceChapeltownLS7 4DQ  
Milner GardensCross GreenLS9 8NW  
Mullins CourtCross GreenLS9 8NN  
O’Grady SquareCross GreenLS9 8NJ  
Beckhill ApproachMeanwoodLS7 2RF  
Beckhill AvenueMeanwoodLS7 2RG  
Beckhill ChaseMeanwoodLS7 2RH  
Beckhill FoldMeanwoodLS7 2RJ  
Beckhill RowMeanwoodLS7 2RL  
Beckhill ValeMeanwoodLS7 2RN  
Beckhill WalkMeanwoodLS7 2RW  

Google Maps Location Example


Responses

  1. Hello Admin, This type of house is exactly one that I am trying to identify. The drawing is great and most things match the photos attached – including original thermoplastic tiles to the ground floor slab, a timber trussed roof, hanging mansard type tiles to the first floor elevation and pebble dash render to the ground floor elevations. The ground floor inside 100% feels like a concrete slab whilst the first floor suspended timber. What was really strange is that all of the internal door frames were made from metal. The property is located in the london borough of Newham. Do you think it is Mowlem house?

  2. Hi Will.

    I can’t find any Mowlem dwellings listed in the Council’s housing stock register. They may have once held Mowlem housing stock prior to the Government Right to Buy scheme, but that may be unlikely. As the Mowlem house was built using No-Fines concrete, the council may well have included them in that category, along with an array of other build names, including Wimpey No-Fines.

    The types of property that they do list, according to my research records, are:

    Brick Dry Lined
    Bison
    B.I.S.F
    Concrete
    Crosswall
    Easy Form
    Fram Gerrard
    Kencast
    Load Bearing Brick
    Lowton Cubbit
    No Fines
    Not known
    Other
    Reema
    Steel Frame
    Tarran
    Timber
    Unity
    Wimpey Brick Skimmed

    If you visit this link HERE, it will take you to my National list of all Council held, Non-Traditional housing stock in the UK.
    Unfortunately, Salford Council’s list, includes ALL of their housing stock, including standard brick constructions, so it’s quite long.

    Simply type in Salford in the search bar on the top of the table, and you can download the complete list, which is contained in a.xlsx format, which your browser should be able to open. They also provide a key to the abbreviations they use for each house type.

    Or just download the list direct, from HERE

    Let me know how you get on, or if you have any problems opening the file.

    Marc Smile