
Southwyck House, also known as the Barrier Block, is a large housing project located in Brixton, South London, London. It was designed in 1968-70 and built from 1972 to 1981 in the brutalist style, having been approved by the Lambeth Borough Council and by a Planning Commission which included future Prime Minister John Major. Its residents - primarily impoverished Black Caribbean and African immigrants - were plagued with crime (burglary), heroin, and crack cocaine, and measures were taken to improve its security during the 1990s.