Councils were keen to clear away old low-quality housing and build medium- and high-rise blocks of flats with more living space and better facilities. A new style of ‘modernist’ architecture was developed which had minimal decoration and which could be built quickly using reinforced concrete and prefabricated panels.

The Market Estate occupied the northern part of the old Caledonian Market, and opened in the late 1960s. Like many modernist projects it had problems later with limited maintenance and poor construction which led to antisocial behaviour.