Mowlem In-situ Concrete 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 Lane | Armley | LS12 2HL |
| Rossefield Approach | Bramley | LS13 3RG |
| Rossefield Drive | Bramley | LS13 3RP |
| Rossefield Gardens | Bramley | LS13 3RQ |
| Rossefield Green | Bramley | LS13 3RL |
| Rossefield Grove | Bramley | LS13 3RF |
| Rossefield Parade | Bramley | LS13 3RN |
| Rossefield Place | Bramley | LS13 3RJ |
| Rossefield Walk | Bramley | LS13 3RH |
| Rossefield Way | Bramley | LS13 3RS |
| Spencer Place | Chapeltown | LS7 4DQ |
| Milner Gardens | Cross Green | LS9 8NW |
| Mullins Court | Cross Green | LS9 8NN |
| O’Grady Square | Cross Green | LS9 8NJ |
| Beckhill Approach | Meanwood | LS7 2RF |
| Beckhill Avenue | Meanwood | LS7 2RG |
| Beckhill Chase | Meanwood | LS7 2RH |
| Beckhill Fold | Meanwood | LS7 2RJ |
| Beckhill Row | Meanwood | LS7 2RL |
| Beckhill Vale | Meanwood | LS7 2RN |
| Beckhill Walk | Meanwood | LS7 2RW |
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?
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
Hi,
Does anyone know if any Mowlem type houses were constructed in the Salford area? Also, any photographs of the internal face of the gable apex/party wall would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks.