In April 1964 Beatles were flying high in the US singles chart and April 1964 we looked at a prefabricated hexagonal house
Let’s party
We all know that housebuilding is picking up and the housebuilders are cashing in at last. Building recently published figures that show that new-build completions for February 2014 stood at 8,102 - compared with 6,822 the previous February. Still, you can’t help thinking there’s a way to go. This week in 1964, The Builder reported rather more impressive figures. The number of completions for February 1964 was 27,339. Of the completions for the first three months that year, 31,745 were carried out by private builders and 22,227 by public authorities.
Ah, those were the days. Of course, prefabricated housing was all the rage back then which must have boosted the completion figures. In the same 10 April 1964 issue that published the housing stats, is found a prototype of a 801ft2 prefabricated hexagonal house (above). It conformed to Parker Morris recommendations and the main benefit of its unusual shape was that party walls were reduced to a minimum. Presumably then, residents would be less likely to be disturbed by their neighbours playing the latest Beatles singles - the group held the top five positions in the US Top 40 that week.
To read the full article, go to www.building.co.uk/archive
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