Samuda Estate

Housing estate in Cubitt Town, London

The Samuda Estate is on the east side of Manchester Road, in Cubitt Town on the Isle of Dogs. With 505 dwellings it is home to about 1,500 people and covers .

The estate is named for the shipbuilding company of the Samuda Brothers, Jacob and Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda, who formerly occupied the site. Admiral Togo did his work experience here in 1877 working on the construction of the Fusō. The estate was designed by Gordon Tait of the Worshipful Company of Masons, and built by Tersons Ltd for the London County Council in two phases, commencing in 1965. Work was completed by the Greater London Council and the estate subsequently became part of the Tower Hamlets council housing stock. Upon completion in 1967, the total cost of construction was £2,879,424 – including the cost of rebuilding the river wall, and the removal of massive concrete foundations on the former ship yard.

Graffiti: the SELMO participated in the Greater London Authority's investigation into graffiti, explaining that graffiti was not seen as a major problem for the estate, appearing mainly in the communal stairwells. Caretakers were usually able to remove it quickly. When it presented problems, SELMO used specialist services to remove it. In light of far more pressing problems on the estate SELMO had worried about looking into alternative ways of dealing with graffiti.

The innovative You Have Been Watched (Media Arts Project, 2002) was filmed in one day on the estate using CCTV cameras. See some images here. This involved a high level of resident involvement, which was reflected in the narrative structure which involved the local Community television station having its data hijacked by another organisation. When this becomes generally known, the residents organise a protest which leads to the public mock execution of the ones responsible. The film has been subject to critical attention in transgender studies. It has also been used as a location for a number of films and TV Dramas, including Dirty Pretty Things, England Expects, Top Boy, The Face and Red Light Runners an uncompleted film scheduled to star Harvey Keitel. Netflix series, Top Boy was filmed on the Samuda Estate under the fictional name "Summerhouse Estate".