FLATS

See Also: DISTRICT CHANGE; HOUSING; MENU

Albany

In 1792 Frederick Duke of York & Albany exchanged his Whitehall townhouse (Dover House) for the 1^st Viscount Melbourne's residence on the northern side of the eastern end of Piccadilly. The latter building soon became known as Albany. In 1802 Alexander Copland bought the property. He commissioned the architect Henry Holland to draw up plans for the building's conversion into a series of private residential chambers.

Albany now consists of two rows of chambers that were built in the house's garden and linked by a covered passage. Flats in the complex are known as sets . Originally, the 69 sets were rented out to either bachelors or widowers. It used to be the case that no women were admitted to the site unless they were the close relatives of residents. In 1919 women were allowed to live with their husbands.

Location: Albany Court Yard, W1J 0HB (orange, purple)

See Also: WINE El Vino

Albert Hall Mansions

In the 1840s Kensington was regarded by wealthy people as not being a desirable area in which to reside; the Great Exhibition of 1851 prompted them to start regarding the area favourably. Albert Hall Mansions (1879) were designed by Norman Shaw. The development was a response to the scarcity of building land in the district.¹ The Mansions apartment were spread over a number of floors so that employers would not have to sleep on the same storey as their servants.

Some of the original flats have been divided.

Location: Kensington Gore, SW7 2AE (red, blue)

¹. Flats already existed but were in the form of tenements for the working classes.

Class

The development of tenement buildings by Peabody, etc. for working-class people made middle-class people wary of them. Therefore, they had a marked preference for houses. Middle-class flats tended to be termed mansion blocks.

See Also: CLASS

Dolphin Square

In the early 1960s the residents of Dolphin Square were concerned that the complex might be converted into a hotel. Sir Alan Datwry (1915-2018), a resident and the Town Clerk of Westminster, persuaded the local authority to buy it for 4.5m and lease to a non-profit making company.

Location: Chichester Street, SW1V 3LX (purple, red)

Website: www.dolphinsquare.co.uk

Florin Court

Florin Court is an Art Deco building.

Location: 6-9 Charterhouse Square, EC1M 6EU (red, brown)

Highfort Court

The architect Ernest Trobridge was a Swedenborgian. He designed the Highfort Court flats (1936) in order to provide symbolic illustration for his beliefs. The building's entrance is a drawbridge and its chimneys are turrets.

Location: Buck Lane, NW9 0QG

Highpoint

Sigmund Gestetner (1897-1956) headed a duplicating machine business. He commissioned the construction of Highpoint in Highgate as housing for some of his employees. First one (1935) was admired by Corbusier. The second one (1938) far more surreal. Neither ended up furnishing accommodation for Gestetner staff.

Location: North Hill, N6 4BA

The Isokon Building

Jack Pritchard's business interests involved design. They included being the British representative of Venesta, a Baltic ply manufacturer. He set up Ioskon to make plywood furniture. The individuals who designed for it included Marcel Breuer and Walter Gropius, both of whom had been involved in the Bauhaus school

The Isokon Building (1934) consisted of 32 flats, plus servants quarters. They were the first deck-access apartments to be built in Britain. Pritchard and his wife Molly took the penthouse flat.

The Isokon Gallery was opened to celebrate the era in which the building was constructed and some its inhabitants. The space is on the ground floor and occupies what was the garage.

Location: Lawn Road Flats, 3 Lawn Road, NW3 2XD

Website: https://isokongallery.org www.uea.ac.uk/library/library-archives-and-collections/archives-a-z (Isokon Trust)

David Backhouse 2024