10, REGENTS PARK ROAD

Details

CAMDEN

TQ2883NW REGENT'S PARK ROAD
798-1/75/1904 (North side)
22/12/98 No.10

II

Block of flats and studios. 1954-6 by Erno Goldfinger,
assisted by Miss BA James, for the Regent's Park Housing
Society Ltd. Reinforced concrete construction with three
parallel load-bearing walls (at the rear and to either side of
the stairs) with a beam and column construction at the front.
The columns exposed and board-marked. In-situ concrete slab
floors, externally expressed and wire-brushed to expose
aggregate. The deep cornice similarly treated. Red brick
infill. Cantilevered concrete balconies with precast panel
fronts; precast balustrade to roof terrace.
EXTERIOR: 4 storeys and attic, each originally with two flats
per floor; those to ground floor and attic are studios, set
behind garages and roof terrace respectively. Flats C and D
are now combined. Basement laundry, garden room and storage
areas.
The principal elevation is a symmetrical composition above the
ground floor, which has entrance offset by double garage to
left. These and garage to right have varnished timber doors.
Door and surrounds glazed with Georgian wired glass. Flats
have continuous metal casement windows. Balconies are angled,
with metal balustrades to side contrasting with precast panels
to front. The whole facade a careful composition of
contrasting materials and finishes. Rear facade simple, but
ground-floor studios with similar balconies to those on front.
Ten letter boxes arranged in two rows.
INTERIOR: is also of interest. Entrance hall with quarry tile
floor leads to staircase set in central structural well.
Cantilevered staircase without risers, the slender steel
balustrades springing from the side of the treads in a manner
comparable to that found in the spiral stair of Goldfinger's
demolished Player House. The first floor with two 2-bedroom
flats, the second and third floors each with one 1-bedroom and
one 3-bedroom flat, all originally with folding screens
between living room, dining area and kitchen with fitted
cupboards, and with mahogany veneered fitted bedroom
cupboards. Goldfinger originally provided tiled bathrooms, and
specified bathroom fittings and suggested colour schemes.
Living rooms and studios originally with thermoplastic
acotiles tiled floors similar to those in Goldfinger's own
Willow Road. These features may be of interest where they


survive.
HISTORICAL NOTE: in 1952 a group of people formed themselves
into a co-operative to build themselves homes under the 1936
Housing Act, which allowed Housing Societies or Associations
to raise a loan or mortgage through local authorities. The
flats were collectively owned by the Society, which elected
officers to represent them in dealing with the architect,
builder and St Pancras council, through whom they obtained the
90% mortgage. Few such societies were formed because of
potential legal difficulties, though they were the most common
way of building in eg. Scandanavia at the time, and the
venture attracted considerable interest. The design and
fittings, though simple, were of high quality at a time when
building licences were still restricted for private building.
The planning is compact but skillful. No.10 Regent's Park Road
is a single gap caused by bomb damage set into a long mid-C19
terrace. Goldfinger linked his cornice through with those of
the adjoining stuccoed houses. As these adjoining houses were
parallel but not level with each other, the face of the new
block was built to line up with the face of the house on the
right, with the balconies projecting to line up with the house
on the left.
No.10 Regent's Park Road is one of Goldfinger's first post-war
works. It marks the first stage of his progression from the
restrained modern classicism of his Willow Road terrace (here
as there brick is still the dominant material), towards the
tougher, exposed grid - which is first seen here - and which
was to go on to dominate his late, great projects. The bold
expression of the balconies, with their mannered, pre-cast
panels, is seen particularly as a foretaste both of
Goldfinger's later works and the general development of a
tougher architectural idiom in brick and concrete by younger
architects from 1958 onwards. The contrast of red brick and
concrete with the neighbouring stuccoed terraces is
remarkable. The flats are also important in their own right as
one of Goldfinger's most successful and least altered domestic
works, and as a most interesting example of how ten flats
could be provided on a tiny gap site.
(Architectural Design: April 1954: 105; House and Garden:
August 1956: 30-33; Architectural Design: September 1956:
280-282; Architectural Design: June 1961: 262; Dunnett J and
Stamp G: Erno Goldfinger: Architectural Association: 1983-:
77, 93; Elwall R: Erno Goldfinger: London: 1996-: 72).




Listing NGR: TQ2839383761

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

477844

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Elwall, R, Erno Goldfinger, (1996), 72
Dunnett, James, Stamp, Gavin, Erno Goldfinger, (1983), 77,93
Architectural Design in April, (1954), 105
House and Garden in August, (1956), 30-33
Architectural Design in June, (1961), 262
Architectural Design in September, (1956), 280-282

End of official list entry

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