Mid century design masterpiece the ISOKON, home to Tom Broughton the founder of Cubitts, London

so we're at the iceon building uh the official name of the lawn red Flats which was built in 1934 open so coming up to 90 years old uh and originally this plot of land in Biz Park was used for it was going to be a family home so a couple called Jack and Molly Pritchard bought it in the 30s and initially their idea was to build a family home very much inspired by the modern movement uh a lot of influences from the the bow house but instead of doing that they decided they were going to build a block of flats and the block of flats was the idea was that they were going to be designed as a modern Progressive uh approach to how people are living their lives young professionals living their lives in the 1930s so it's designed in a very different um and quite controversial way at the start so the flats themselves are really tiny uh most the the minimum dwelling flat is about 25 square meters but the idea was that outside the flat you had all of these facilities that help you live a live a live a better life so there was an on-site um restaurant and bar called the ISA bar so you could either eat in the bar or have meals delivered to your flat um the furniture was all provided so the isacon furniture company made everything from tea trolleys to sofas to um kitchen um things in the kitchen and so and the original adverts used to say things like you all you need to bring is a rug and a piece of art and then you're ready to go um the way the building was designed was really interesting too so it um faces a little wood Bells siiz wood um and they wanted to make it so that there were no windows on the road side so on the lawn road side there's very few you can see the the amazing staircase and all the front doors but all the windows are put on on the wood Woodside for that sense of calm and sense of Serenity I think there something really special about the idea that a lot of those designs that were put into place by um the architect Wells cops um 90 years ago are still probably even more relevant now than they' ever been moving into the building you have to make certain compromises so you know we're on the fifth floor there's you know there's so five flights of stairs to go up every day there's no lift but you know because he Wells cats wanted to keep as much of the space in the areas where he spent the most time um things like the kitchen and because it had the onsite restaurant the kitchen is Tiny there's no dishwasher um it is there's no space for a freezer that you do have to adapt to um some of those kind of 90y old designs but I think that more than sets itself with uh the architectural Vision that yeah he had in the 30s that contribute to it being a beautiful calm Timeless place to spend your time so the inside obviously the most probably defining feature of it is the the plywood walls so Jack Pritchard was really he worked for a a plywood company called vanesta and he wanted the flap to be I guess to Showcase with the possibilities of plywood and material which at the time in the 30s was seen as a inferior version of uh solid wood and so it creates this very much it's almost the feeling of being on a ship uh but it creates that you can see the incredible patina that it's created but the architect as well as using this what was at the time very modern material he wanted um to give that sense of calm and serenity um away from the kind of hust and bust the rest of London he did think like you can see you got beautiful um window the single window which directs your attention onto the wood he didn't believe in a Hu in ceiling lighting generally so there's a very few ceiling lights that the one over there uh one of the few exceptions he he believed that lighting should generally be be below the level of a person so the lighting came up again under that sense of calm and it just creates a beautiful flow from the front door right through to the the Terrace and I think you know the fact that probably 75 80% of the entire flat floor space is in this one single really versatile room where you can have you know dining and relaxation you know um I think uh yeah it's a really really special place I've been here now for 5 years I think the things that I've surprised surprised me so much is how well a a modernist concrete structure works within the environment so you're in this on one side you've got a wood and then there's a bit of a valley in in in Hamed into bellside park and down towards kenish town and like the way that you know you have birds flying between the trees you have flocks of geese that come over the building it becomes this incredible uh ecosystem and habitat which when you look at a concrete building you don't naturally think uh would work and that sense of uh surrender I think feels feeds feeds into the way that the residents live their lives are including me for

Channel: Anatome London

Views: 6,786

Keywords:

Id: WBOfYDL456k

Length: 6min 16sec (376 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 29 2024