Isokon Building
Lawn Road, London NW3

SOLD

Architect: Wells Coates

Register for similar homes

A very rare opportunity to acquire a one-bedroom apartment on the ground floor of the Isokon Building, widely recognised as one of the finest achievements of Modern Movement architecture. Designed by the eminent architect Wells Coates and completed in 1934, the Isokon has been given a Grade I listing by English Heritage, placing it among the most historically important buildings in Britain. It has an outstanding location on a quiet road in Belsize Park.

This apartment is favourably situated on the end of the building, with its own front door. To one side of the entrance hall is a galley kitchen, and to the other a south-facing reception room. Original sliding doors link to the bedroom, allowing it to be opened up or closed off as required. This space has windows to two aspects, giving leafy views onto trees and shrubs in the communal garden. There is also a modern bathroom with a utility area. The flat is offered for sale in good condition, having been newly carpeted and decorated. The communal garden has a patio area and attractive planting.

With its curved forms and pale render, the Isokon Building (also known as Lawn Road Flats) has been likened to an ocean liner. The first block ever to be built chiefly using reinforced concrete, it was the subject of an exemplary restoration by Avant Architects in 2004. The building’s list of illustrious former residents includes Agatha Christie, Marcel Breuer and Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus. J.M. Richards, the architectural critic, wrote that it was “more like the machine a habiter than anything Le Corbusier ever designed”.

Lawn Road is a residential street within a short walk of Belsize Park Underground (Northern Line), and all of the shops and restaurants on Haverstock Hill and England’s Lane. It has easy access to huge amounts of green space, with Hampstead Heath to the north, and Primrose Hill and Regent’s Park to the south.

Please note that all areas, measurements and distances given in these particulars are approximate and rounded. The text, photographs and floor plans are for general guidance only. The Modern House has not tested any services, appliances or specific fittings — prospective purchasers are advised to inspect the property themselves. All fixtures, fittings and furniture not specifically itemised within these particulars are deemed removable by the vendor.


History

Designed by Wells Coates for Jack and Molly Pritchard, the Isokon Building (or Lawn Road Flats) opened in 1934 as a progressive experiment in new ways of urban living. It was the first block ever to be built chiefly using reinforced concrete.

Coates was inspired by Le Corbusier, who believed that buildings should be “machines for living”, and as a result the 32 flats were designed to create the greatest possible utility and comfort out of constricted dimensions. They had simple built-in plywood furniture. Early advertising stated: “All you have to bring with you is a rug, an armchair and a picture.”

There was a communal kitchen for the preparation of meals, connected to the residential floors via a dumb waiter (which meant that most of the flats had small galley kitchens). This was later converted into the Isobar restaurant, to a design by Marcel Breuer. Other on-site services included shoe cleaning and bed-making.

The Isokon’s ground-floor bar became a well-known hangout for the local and émigré intelligentsia of the time. The building was home to Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus, Marcel Breuer, designer of modernist furniture, and Laszlo Maholy-Nagy, head teacher of art at the Bauhaus school. It also attracted artists, architects (including James Stirling), Soviet spy Arnold Deutsch, and writers including Agatha Christie, who lived there between 1941 and 1947, writing her only spy novel, N or M, there.

In 1969, the building was sold to the New Statesman magazine, and the Isobar was converted into flats. Three years later it was acquired by Camden Borough Council, and it gradually deteriorated until the 1990s, when it was abandoned completely. Avanti Architects, specialists in refurbishing modernist buildings, beautifully restored the Isokon in 2004, and many of the flats now provide accommodation for key workers under a co-ownership scheme.

Recently the Isokon Gallery Trust has been established by John Allan and Fiona Lamb of Avanti Architects, and Magnus Englund, MD and co-founder of the design retailer Skandium. With the help of the National Trust, and to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the building, they have created an exhibition space on the ground floor, which tells the remarkable story of its architecture, its residents and its iconic Isokon furniture. For more details and opening times, click here.

The Isokon has been given an extremely rare Grade I listing by English Heritage, making it one of the heavily protected and historically significant buildings in the UK.

With special thanks to Magnus Englund of Skandium for supplying the archive images

 

Related stories


Related sales


Recently Viewed