Red Road Flats

Today the demolition of the iconic Red Road Flats did not go totally to plan. There was a delay in the morning due to some residents not leaving their homes close to the high rise flats.  At 3.15pm there was the big bang, but two of the six blocks are still partially upright.  

When they were built between 1964 and 1969, the Red Road Flats were the highest in Europe at 292ft (89 metres). The flats eventually became the symbol to some of all that failed in the city’s high rise experiment, associated with isolation, anti-social behaviour and crime.

Last year they were at the centre of a controversy when plans were announced to demolish the Red Road flats as part of the Commonwealth Games 2014 opening ceremony. This was eventually ditched after 17,000 people signed a petition against the action.