71 Whitney Drive and courtyard garden

Summary

71 Whitney Drive, a Modernist private dwelling with integrated garage and courtyard garden, built in 1966 to designs by the architect Derrick Shorten for himself and family.

Reasons for Designation

71 Whitney Drive and its courtyard garden, built in 1966 to designs by architect Derrick Shorten for himself and family, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* as the home of architect Derrick Shorten, designed by him for his family;
* for the elegant form, spatial quality and detailing of this Modernist house, which compares well with Shorten’s earlier design of Coventry Railway Station (1961-62), listed at Grade II;
* for the high proportion of survival of the original plan form and interior finishes;
* for the extension of the architectural space into the garden with a private brick-walled courtyard between the house and road.

History

Stevenage was Britain’s first post-war New Town, designated in 1946 and developed from the mid-1940s by Stevenage Development Corporation under Chief Architect Leonard Vincent. A network of residential streets known as Whitney Drive was constructed north of Stevenage town centre at Whitney Wood, between the old town and Lister Hospital in the mid-1960s. Whitney Drive is characterised by individual detached dwellings on spacious plots, set back from the road with off-road parking and front gardens. The dwellings are predominantly two storeys, with some bungalows.

71 Whitney Drive was built in 1966 to designs by architect Derrick Shorten (born about 1926), for the architect and his family. Shorten worked for the London Midland Region of British Railways as Project Architect, and with William Robert Headley, Regional Architect, designed Coventry railway station (built 1961-62); the station was listed at Grade II in 1995. Comparison has been drawn between the cantilevered forms, timber-boarded finishes and spatial quality of Coventry station and Shorten’s Stevenage home.

Details

71 Whitney Drive, a private dwelling and its courtyard garden, built in 1966 to designs by architect Derrick Shorten for himself and family.

MATERIALS: The structure is of load-bearing brick with some steel beams, timber joists and some timber cladding.

PLAN: The house is rectangular on plan, situated on the north side of Whitney Drive.

EXTERIOR: 71 Whitney Drive is a two-storey flat-roofed dwelling. The ground floor is wider on plan extending as a single-storey structure on the south side, while the first floor occupies only the north half of the building and is cantilevered over the west side, sheltering the entrance. The structure is of white painted, load-bearing brick with some structural steel beams and a horizontal-laid, cedar boarded fascia to each of the ground and first floors. The windows and doors are aluminium framed with a polyester powder coating. The west elevation has a central door and a pair of sliding doors to the north side of the door; the first floor bedroom has a large window occupying the width of the first floor and wraps around the north and south corners to provide a three-aspect window. The south elevation facing Whitney Drive has two sets of sliding doors overlooking a courtyard garden, and an up-and-over garage door (replaced) at the east end. The north and east elevations have a variety of doors and windows.

INTERIOR: The interior retains a high proportion of its original plan form and finishes. From the west entrance, a stair hall runs from west to east, off the north side of which are a dining room, kitchen, toilet, and bedroom (in which a shower was later added), and off the south side of which are a large lounge and integrated garage. The ground floor rooms generally retain cork floor tiles (which apparently replaced original vinyl tiles) and have wood panelling to their ceilings; the lounge retains square parquet tiles. At first floor level, the landing provides access to bedrooms at the east and west ends, and a smaller bedroom and family bathroom off the north side. The first floor retains exposed ceiling timbers, and the westernmost bedroom retains a triple-aspect window overlooking the gardens.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: Between the house and Whitney Drive is a part-enclosed U-plan courtyard constructed of London stock brick.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 6 September 2024 to amend details in the description

Sources

Books and journals
Twentieth Century Society, , Twentieth Century Architecture 4: Post War Houses, (2000), 85
Bettley, , Pevsner, , Cherry, , The Buildings of England: Hertfordshire, (2019), 542

Websites
Local Heritage Asset Register for the Borough of Stevenage, accessed 29 May 2024 from https://www.stevenage.gov.uk/documents/planning-policy/local-heritage-list-acc.pdf
Rightmove, Whitney Drive, accessed 29 May 2024 from https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145655066#/?channel=RES_BUY

End of official list entry

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