DOCUMENTATION ISSUES

Lawn Road Flats (The ) ing and meal deliveries from a staff kitchen sent up by a dumb waiter in the core of the — A New Vision of Urban Living building. Wells Coates’ parallel interest in boat building and product design is evident in the intricate fitting out of the interiors, BY JOHN ALLAN which aimed to cater for young professionals with a mobile lifestyle. The studio units are So much of modern architecture’s early history depended on a handful of courageous pioneers. only 25 m2 in area but include a kitchen, a One of the first Modern Movement buildings in England was the achievement of an unlikely trio dressing room and a bathroom alongside the — a plywood salesman and his psychotherapist wife, and a Canadian part-time journalist turned main living/sleeping space. The importance architect. This article and the accompanying text by Magnus Englund tell the extraordinary story of the dressing room with its built-in storage of the Lawn Road Flats in , – their origins and heyday, the linked program of was particularly stressed as a key factor furniture design, their declining postwar fortunes and ruination, and then their recent and remarkable that distinguished the Isokon units from the rescue and restoration to become a beacon of modern heritage and the epitome of progressive average student bedsitter with clothes and st 21 century urban living. clutter typically strewn over the furniture or crammed into a clumsy wardrobe. The experiment showed that existenzminimum could be elegant as well as economical. Ad- “after all the energy and diversity of the The pioneering Pritchards vance lettings were stimulated by exhibiting Continent, England seemed about 50 years a showflat mock-up in 1933, and the building behind, as though lost in a deep provincial Lawn Road Flats in Hampstead, north London was successfully occupied soon after com- sleep”. It is for this reason, in addition to its (also known as The Isokon) stood at the pletion in 1934. By this time refugees from unusually radical accommodation program cutting edge of modern architecture in Britain the political developments in Europe were and illustrious social associations, that the when the building was opened in July 1934. beginning to arrive in England, distinguished The project stemmed from the meeting of Jack Isokon – a manifesto of progressive urban 58 – 2018/1 émigrés including , Marcel living – occupies a unique place in the history and Rosemary (Molly) Pritchard, the clients, Breuer and László Moholy-Nagy all of whom of in Britain. with the Canadian architect Wells Coates were taken in by Pritchard – Gropius and his The detailed Lawn Road brief was largely (1895-1958), to whom they had been attracted wife Ise on a rent-free basis. Traveling light on account of his innovative work in show- developed by Molly Pritchard (1900-85) with docomomo with minimal possessions, such residents Coates and eventually produced the 4-storey room design and his inventive use of plywood. proved fortuitously to be the demographic gallery access block we see today. Formed in (1899-1992) had become the for whom the Isokon was ideally suited. British marketing manager for the Estonian monolithic reinforced concrete the building plywood company Venesta in 1925 and contained 22 single flats, 4 double flats, 3 stu- through had already engaged dio flats, staff quarters, kitchens and a large The Isobar – a social hub Charlotte Perriand to design an exhibition garage. The Pritchards and their children stand for the firm at Olympia, London in 1929. occupied the rooftop penthouses. Services In 1937 the staff kitchen, originally situated on That same year Jack and Molly acquired included shoe cleaning, laundry, bed-mak- the ground floor but insufficiently used, was

Documentation Issues the site in Lawn Road and initially consid- ered building a pair of conventional detached houses. But being increasingly interested in the progressive architectural developments on the Continent they soon abandoned this idea in favor of an altogether more radical program based on the existenzminimum dwell- ing experiments in Germany and promoted through the international organization CIAM. In 1930 clients and architect embarked on a European study tour and visited the Weisenhoff housing exhibition in Stuttgart, a summation of the progressive architectural design on the Continent since the war which showcased works by the leading modern architects Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, JJP Oud, Walter Gropius, Bruno Taut and others. At this point, apart from a few single villas in superficially modern style, there was nothing in England to compare with these European developments. As the Russian master (who arrived in London at this time) would later remark, 01 Wells Coates, Lawn Road Flats (The Isokon), London, uk, 1933-34. © John Maltby, Pritchard Papers, uea c. 1960.

78 02 with Ise and Walter Gropius at the Isokon's 1st birthday party, 1935. 04 Wells Coates, Lawn Road Flats (The Isokon), © Pritchard Papers, uea. London, uk, 1933-34. Typical Studio plan and section. © The Architectural Review. 58 – 2018/1 docomomo

03 Wells Coates, Lawn Road Flats (The Isokon), London, uk, 1933-34. Typical Studio 05 Isokon Typical Dressing Room, 1934. interior, 1934. © Pritchard Papers, uea. © Pritchard Papers, uea. reconfigured as a restaurant and bar, designed Wartime and after pius and Marcel Breuer were read out. Wells Documentation Issues by Marcel Breuer with F.R.S. Yorke and named Coates, as well as many pre-war residents, the Isobar with a decked outdoor area at the Gropius, whose time in England was frustrat- attended the event. rear of the building. Its manager was Philip ed by constant lack of sufficient work, was Finding the responsibilities for its upkeep Harben, who after WWII became the BBC’s to leave for Harvard in 1937, with Breuer fol- increasingly onerous the Pritchards sold the firstTV celebrity chef. The building and its lowing shortly afterwards. But Jack Pritchard building in 1969 to the New Statesman mag- club became a magnet for intellectual life in stayed in London during WWII while Molly azine, who converted the Isobar into flats. north London. Famous residents included Pritchard and their two sons Jonathan and They proved to be less than ideal owners and novelist Agatha Christie and her husband, the Jeremy left for the United States and later in turn sold it on to Camden Council in 1972. archaeologist , the Soviet NKVD Canada. Being made of reinforced concrete It was listed Grade II by in spy Arnold Deutsch who was controller of the the Isokon building remained popular and 1974 and raised to Grade I in 1999. Despite Cambridge Spy Ring, the German-born econ- despite several bombs in the near vicinity, this statutory protection it was poorly main- omist and Soviet spy Jürgen Kuczynski, author survived the Blitz. It was repainted brown as tained and began to deteriorate badly. Had Nicholas Monserrat, textile designers Jacques it was feared its distinctive form could serve the building not been listed it would almost and Jacqueline Groag, architects Egon Riss, as a navigation aid for German bombers. certainly have been demolished and the site Arthur Korn and later James Stirling. Regulars Although the 1930s would prove to be the redeveloped. However, after a dedicated at the Isobar also included sculptors Henry Isokon’s “golden years”, normal life (albeit campaign to save the building (in which Moore and , painter Ben with rationing) resumed after the war and in docomomo UK was a key participant) it Nicholson, whose studios were nearby, and 1955 the Pritchards staged a 21st-birthday par- was sold to the Notting Hill Housing Group, Sir , secretary of the Zoological ty for the building at which the architectural a progressive London-based social landlord, Society of London. Indeed, if Hampstead was writer (who would later who undertook the major restoration project the center of 1930s intellectual life in London, be instrumental in the listing of the building) with Avanti Architects which is described in then the Isobar was the epicenter. made a speech, and letters from Walter Gro- the next part of this essay.

79 06 Wells Coates, Lawn Road Flats (The Isokon), London, uk, 1933-34. 07 Wells Coates, Lawn Road Flats (The Isokon), London, uk, 1933-34. Condition before restoration work began. © Avanti Architects, 2000. Restoration completed by Avanti Architects. © Nicholas Kane, courtesy Avanti Architects, 2005.

Ruin and rescue Inevitably the concrete envelope was in need substitutes, all of which in our project were of major renovation. The original structure replaced again with steel framed low E, ar- By the early years of this century the Isokon consisted of 10 cm monolithic reinforced gon-filled double-glazed units to the original was emptied of its remaining residents concrete walls supported on a 3.25 m internal fenestration pattern. These were polyester and became uninhabitable. The block was column grid with tee beams supporting powder-coated to the original color, this be- boarded up and services cut off. Pre-contract hollow pot floors. These features were all ing discovered by taking paint scrapes from expressed internally in order to maintain the matching steel door frames which had

58 – 2018/1 survey work by Avanti indicated that every aspect of the building inside and out would the streamlined exterior image. The external survived (albeit damaged and overpainted) require considerable repair and upgrade. façades were cast against standardized metal on account of having been cast in with the However, the guiding principle of the project panels, whilst internally a lining of 2.5 cm monolithic concrete walls. compressed cork insulation was used as per- To achieve the requisite standard of fire

docomomo was that the original layout and character of the building should be honored and restored manent shuttering and plastered. This build- separation and acoustic insulation required as authentically as possible. Thus, whilst up fell woefully short of current thermal insu- removal and rebuilding of the party walls. the minimal size of the studio units might lation standards and had also been damaged These had comprised thin skins of pumice otherwise have suggested they be conjoined by a combination of weather ingress, trapped blockwork, but were replaced on the same to form larger 1-bedroom flats, it was deemed moisture behind the many external layers gridlines with twinned walls of metal stud essential to retain the original plan form of non-vapor-permeable coatings, and con- fireproof plasterboard partition. Other inter- developed by Coates and the Pritchards as densation occurring between the cork and nal linings had been formed in an expanded an element of intrinsic heritage significance. the internal concrete wall-face. All surfaces metal lathe material called Bricanion, which Documentation Issues Only the penthouse plan was altered by needed to be stripped back to the concrete had deteriorated and also required replace- the removal of a non-original partition that substrate, followed by local repairs in areas ment with metal studwork and plasterboard. had been introduced after the Pritchards’ of spalling and damaged rebar, re-facing with The extensive interior joinery and cabine- departure to form an additional bedroom. fairing mortar and finishing with elastomeric try work was in various states of disrepair. This unique unit has thus now been restored anti-carbonation coatings. Cracks in several Wherever found in a salvageable condition to its original form. locations were re-formed as joints, using scrim it was retained and refurbished; elsewhere it The scope of repair and upgrade work “bandages” and elastomeric pointing materi- was replaced to identical details and profiles. throughout the building was comprehen- als. A small area showing the successive layers Minute plan adjustments were made to sive but was all undertaken within the of overcoating during the building’s lifetime accommodate standard-sized fridges and protocols of Grade I listing and in close was retained and protected below the escape washing machines within the kitchens and collaboration with English Heritage. Such staircase as a historic record. An aspect of par- dressing rooms respectively. projects invariably begin with the roof, and ticular interest to local observers and Modern All the building services required renewal. the Isokon was no exception. The defective Movement historians was the restoration of A particular challenge was the heating and original coverings were all removed and the authentic façade color – which was not hot water system. The original central heating local repairs carried out to the concrete slab. white as many had assumed from pre-war system had long since been dismantled and New tapered cellular glass insulation was black-and-white photography and subsequent clumsily replaced by an array of externally laid on the structural deck and new asphalt over-coating, but a subtle shade of pink. The mounted heating distribution pipes – removal layers installed with enhanced drainage interior was re-lined with a high-performance of which had been an insistent stipulation of channels, re-formed rainwater outlets and thermal laminate board, then skimmed and English Heritage. Eventually after detailed curb upstands. The galleries and balconies decorated, achieving an insulation value consideration of electric and gas alternatives were relaid in paving quality asphalt, while consistent with current regulations. we settled on a system of individual gas-fired the penthouse terrace was finished with The original windows had already been combination boilers mounted within new promenade paviors. replaced in 1979 with poor quality aluminum casings above the bathroom toilets, thereby

80 enabling each resident to control and monitor it has remained fully occupied with minimal Lessons of Lawn Road their own energy consumption. This solution turnover in the resident community and any also avoided the cost of a new sub-station, vacancies being filled instantly – such is the The rescue of Lawn Road Flats demonstrates which would have been required to meet the attraction of the block in its restored state. that even early Modern Movement icons in additional load of an electric based system and extremities of dereliction are capable of reha- severely challenged our budget. A small but The Isokon Gallery bilitation to become viable 21st century prop- satisfying detail was the bespoke flue terminal erties that can satisfy current expectations of to each boiler devised with the approval of the The original Avanti Architects’ scheme, and amenity and comfort while at the same time gas supply authority. This avoided the conspic- a part of the Planning and Listed Building honoring the heritage significance for which uous protrusions of conventional balanced flue Consent, had included a proposal to convert they are celebrated. This building, sometimes fittings and enabled reuse of the original venti- the garage into a small museum. This was referred to as London’s Narkomfin, was like lation apertures in the rear wall. Other features motivated by the desire to secure a communal Ginzburg’s Moscow icon, a beacon of modern such as Wells Coates’ sliding doors and original element in compensation for the lost Isobar, design that has now become modern again. D handles, or the characteristic Best & Lloyd which it had been impossible to reinstate in But beyond the technical proofs, Lawn dressing room wall lights, were either retained the main rescue project – partly for financial Road/The Isokon also has other lessons. In the and refurbished or, in the case of the lights, re- and partly for regulatory reasons. A new ve- current housing crisis that is poisoning Lon- sourced from the original manufacturers. hicle was created for this purpose, the Isokon don, as many other major cities, one cannot The Pritchards’ penthouse had been fitted Gallery Trust (Chairman John Allan, Director but reflect on its significance as a brave exam- out with extensive use of plywood to further Magnus Englund, Treasurer Fiona Lamb) and ple of what can be achieved when altruism Venesta’s promotional agenda. Wall and floor in July 2014 on the 80th anniversary of the and commitment combine with progressive paneling was employed in the main rooms, original building launch the Isokon Gallery design ideas about urban living. The empty with an elaborate array of fitted cupboards in opened with an exhibition that tells in detail promises of successive UK governments the bedroom incorporating ingenious retract- the story of the building, its residents, its res- reveal the utter failure of political will or able pull-out ply flaps to bring items in deep cue, the plywood connection and the Isokon imagination to address the demand for gen- storage to the front. These installations were in Furniture Company. It is staffed by volunteers uinely affordable social housing. Meanwhile, various states of repair, but where salvage- with free entry 11 am to 4 pm every Saturday private developers and volume house-build- able were all restored to a viable condition, and Sunday from March through October ers, profiting from perpetual shortage, have with missing fragments being matched and each year. neither the interest nor the incentive to solve pieced in. This work was carried out by Nick The permanent exhibition is supplemented the problem, and most local authorities are 58 – 2018/1 (grandson of the architect Ernö by a changing seasonal display reflecting some either politically indisposed or economically Goldfinger) an expert restorer and cabi- aspect of, or anniversary in, the building’s too weak to pursue any meaningful social net-maker, further enriching the Isokon story. history. In 2015 Marcel Breuer was featured to housing programs. The Isokon’s contribution

Ernö Goldfinger’s own house, 2 Willow Road, mark the 80th anniversary of his arrival at the may be numerically modest, but its enduring docomomo now owned by the and also Isokon in 1935. The following year the theme integrity and optimism stand as a shaming restored by Avanti Architects, is a short walk was penguins – the international publishing rebuke to today’s urban planners and politi- away in Hampstead. house founded by Allen Lane, the celebrat- cians – a challenge to do better. A key factor in the winning bid had been ed pool designed by Lubetkin at London the retention of the majority of units for social Zoo, and the Penguin Donkey – one of the References housing, a proposal that aligned closely with “Apartmenthaus in London”, Detail, Munich, November classic pieces in the Isokon furniture program 2006,1254-1256. Camden Council’s planning policies and also designed by Egon Riss to carry up to 80 “Hampstead – Lawn Road Flats, NW3”, The Architectural reflected the ethos of the Pritchards’ original volumes of the new paperback books. In 2017 Review, London, September, 1934. Documentation Issues vision. Re-opened in 2004 the Isokon thus now the display featured Walter Gropius whose ALLAN, John, et.al., Isokon Gallery: The Story of a New Vision of Urban Living, London, Isokon Gallery contains 36 flats, 24 of which (the studios) stay at the Isokon ended 80 years earlier when Trust, 2016. are occupied on a shared equity basis by key he emigrated to the USA. In the four seasons CANTACUZINO, Sherban, Wells Coates: a monograph, workers such as nurses and teachers, who since it opened the Gallery has received over London, Gordon Fraser Gallery, 1978. otherwise could not hope to live in this area of COHN, Laura, The Door to a Secret Room: A Portrait of 10,000 visitors from all corners of the world. Wells Coates, Farnham, Ashgate Publishing, 1999. London. The remaining units were marketed All are welcome and members of docomomo CROFT, Catherine, “Isokon”, The Architects’ Journal, for sale to help balance the project budget. In International are particularly encouraged to London, 30 March 2006, 25-37. the 14 years since the Isokon was re-opened DARLING, Elizabeth, Wells Coates, London, RIBA visit the Gallery when they are in London. Enterprises, 2012. GRIEVE, Alastair, “Isokon”, Modern Britain 1929-1939, London, The , 1999. PRITCHARD, Jack, View from a Long Chair, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984. YORKE, FRS & Gibberd, Frederick, The Modern Flat, London, The Architectural Press, 1937, 153-154.

John Allan (b. UK, 1945). MA, University of Edinburgh. Honorary doctorate, University of Sheffield. As Director of Avanti Architects (1983-2011) – he is now consultant to the practice – John Allan has led all Avanti’s Modern Movement conservation projects and studies. He was the first Chair ofdocomomo UK (1989-1991) and is currently the Chair of The Isokon Gallery Trust. Author of the award-winning Berthold Lubetkin – Architecture and the Tradition of Progress (RIBA Publications, 1992; 08 Wells Coates, Lawn Road Flats (The Isokon), London, uk, 1933-34. Restoration by Avanti Architects. Artifice, 2012). © Tom de Gay, courtesy Avanti Architects, 2014.

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