Span Developments

Span Developments Limited was a British property development company formed in the late 1950s by Eric Lyons and Geoffrey Townsend. They teamed up, as developer and architect, with landscape designer Ivor Cunningham. During its most successful period in the sixties, Span built over 2,000 homes in London and Kent - mainly two and three bedroom single-family homes and apartment buildings.

The developments combine modernist design with attention to detail and harmony with the suburban environment. Span houses typically have modernist features such as flat roofs, open-plan interiors and large windows. However, this is combined with traditional features including hung tiles and stock brick work. The Span ethos was to build 'homes within a garden' so most developments include large landscape communal gardens to the front of the properties.

Marsham Lodge in Gerrards Cross is the last Span Development to be completed (in 1969). It comprises 25 houses in communal gardens. The development was opposed by many in this affluent town but is now seen as an example of good post-war design.

The exterior space is a recognised feature and many Span developments are car-free - a radical difference from other post war developments.

External links

• New Ash Green
• Weymede
• Marsham Lodge