Open House Festival

8 Stoneleigh Terrace (Highgate New Town, Stage 1)

housing, residence

Camden Architects Department, Ken Adie, Peter Tábori, 1972

8 Stoneleigh Terrace, N19 5TY

Built during the golden era of Camden public housing under Borough Architect Sydney Cook. Peter Tábori studied with Ernő Goldfinger and worked with Denys Lasdun, and met Ken Adie when both were students at the Regent Street Polytechnic.

Getting there

Tube

Archway

Bus

4, C11

Access

Facilities

Accessibility notes

Unfortunately access is by stairs, half a storey down to the entrance, and 1 storey inside the flat

About

History

8 Stoneleigh Terrace is part of what was originally called Highgate New Town, Stage 1 and is now known as the Whittington Estate. It is a fine example of the designs produced by Camden Architects' Department under Borough Architect Sydney Cook. These belong to a brief golden era that grew out of the hopes and aspirations of the sixties when many architects fought for their belief that nothing was too good for social housing, using modern materials to create light-filled and exciting interior spaces.

273 dwellings were constructed, varying from one-bedroom two-person flats to a six-bedroom eight-person house.

The materials used were a substructure of in situ concrete; superstructure of load-bearing crosswalls; external walls of sand-coloured concrete blocks and precast concrete (mostly painted cream in 1995); all windows and joinery in stained timber.

Interior

8 Stoneleigh Terrace was designed as a four-person, two-bedroom maisonette. The interior planning shares many features with other Camden estates (especially Alexandra Road, which was designed and built at the same time).

The walls are divided into panels by storey-height doors articulated by stained-timber frames. Spaces can be opened into each other by means of double doors (between the hall and the living/dining area) and a sliding partition (between the kitchen and the living/dining area).

A fully-glazed wall, with heating concealed beneath a low wooden bench, separates the L-shaped living/dining area from the terrace. The bedrooms are below the living area, are of equal size and open onto a courtyard.

The internal window between the hall and the living area further dissolves the space (as well as providing borrowed light) and there is a large box room on the lower level.

Nearby

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