Dunhill Point

Details

TQ 22 73 WANDSWORTH, LB DILTON GARDENS
(south east side)

1207/11/10063 Dunhill Point

GV II

Point block of 41 flats. 1952-5 by London County Council's Architect's Department Housing Division; Rosemary Stjernstedt Architect in Charge, A W Cleeve Barr and Oliver Cox principal job architects. Ove Arup and Partners engineers. Reinforced concrete frame, clad in grey 'clinker block' brickwork, with some expression of the concrete floors as bands in the composition. Flat roof with projecting service tower expressed as rounded sculptural form. Three flats on ground floor, four on each upper floor (one 1-bedroom and three 2-bedroom units) set in corners of picturesquely asymmetrical plan, with partially projecting balconies at corners. Lift lobby runs through centre of building, with pair of lifts serving alternate floors and two escape staircases, once brightly painted. Ground floor partially set back and painted, with storerooms (initially also laundry) which retain their original galvanised steel fenestration, as do the staircases. Windows to flats renewed in UPVC-coated aluminium within original openings and to similar pattern (some mullions eliminated). Balconies with original panelled fronts. Each block denoted by different patterned tilework at entrance, though Dunhill Point lacks the long flank wall found elsewhere and has only a small band of grey marble tiles. Original sign made of tiles.
The point blocks at Alton East were the first public housing in Britain to have mechanically ventilated lavatories and bathrooms, and the first high housing to be centrally heated. The interiors of the flats not of special interest save for their plan.
The LCC's earlier experiments with point block design had been too expensive, later variants were more mechanical; these are included as the best examples of their pioneering work in designing groups of tall flats. The name point block was coined by the Alton East team and is derived from the Swedish 'punkthus', a source of their inspiration. Others were the English housing tradition, which led to their use of brick, respect for earlier LCC work nearby and an interest in what prospective tenants wanted. Alton East is remarkable for its picturesque massing, which maximises its slopingsite and the retention and enhancement of Victorian planting from the gardens to villas previously there, by grouping the points at the top of the rise (where they also shield traffic noise) and setting the contrasting red-brick houses and maisonettes round them. It epitomises the humanist tradition in post-war British architecture.

Listing NGR: TQ2252073250

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

472028

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Concrete Quarterly in January March, (1956), 8-14
Housing Review in September October, (1980), 167-172

End of official list entry

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