Port Sunlight and Letchworth Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Port Sunlight and Letchworth - Case Study Example They all had a common ending; they died and were named conservation areas. The two towns seem to have been built for the primary purpose of industries and improving the lives of the employees and their families. These industries created jobs for the people around it together with their families. Eventually there was a growth in population thus an increase in demand for housing, schools, hospitals and any other social amenities. One distinct thing about these two towns is that the pioneers had great ideas but all had to consult and involve architectures who would put the design on the ground in an even better way than the former. A William Hesketh Lever built the town for his employees who worked in his soap factory. He bought a land big enough to hold the factory and a garden village to house his employees. Though he participated a lot in designing and planning of the village, he hired architects to give put their best towards a beautiful village. Living houses were built together with other public buildings. Apart from the buildings and good living conditions for his workers, he went a step further to introduce schemes for his employees. They included welfare schemes and educational schemes. His main aim was to create an environment of coexistence and brotherhood. The architectures at Port Sunlight integrated a broad variety of features in their planning, borrowed from Europe and Britain a combination that came to be referred to as the Old English. The villages at Port Sunlight consisted of tremendous blocks of housing of low concentration and a number of public buildings such as gymnasiums, theatres and libraries that were surrounded by gardens and open green spaces. The village layout was designed in such a manner that it restricted any open view of the factory and of the inside. The houses were so uniquely built that their backs could not be visible. The factory was purposely built a one storey structure. This was primarily to provide aeration, enough light and a healthier environment for the workers and also to reduce its corporal impact on the village. In Letchworth, the situation was rather different. The planning was more impressive than that of Port Sunlight. The designing and planning of the town is owed a lot to a construction company, by then known as Garden city Company, who also remained the consultants for a long time. For many years the development of the town was controlled by this company. The streets were made beautiful with trees and beds of roses along them. There were a number of factories, unlike in Port Sunlight where factories grew much later. Therefore, in the planning the factories had to be placed in the correct relation to one another. The factories were placed into estates called industrial estates. Currently it is a very common idea but back then it was a world-shattering idea. But at the same time it was not easy for the town to attract other industries. This was because, the public buildings that had been put in the plan to surface around the town, did not really materialize for a long time. For this reas on the growth of the town was retarded. The shopping places were placed in the town centre and were served by wide enough pavements and ample parking sites. This gave the shoppers a