Peartree Lane
London E1W
Architect: Richard MacCormac
Register for similar homes"Wharfism incarnate, the recollection of the grand nineteenth-century tradition of industrial buildings in the docks… around a huge public realm made of water, a maritime square, a blue piazza” - Charles Jencks
This fantastic two-bedroom house is positioned on Peartree Lane and was designed by the late Sir Richard MacCormac for his architectural practise MJP, in 1988. Internal space extends to 1,025 sq ft including beautiful double-height ceilings and two balconies affording views of London’s skyline over the waters of Shadwell Basin and the River Thames. The Shadwell Basin development was awarded a Grade II listing by English Heritage in 2018, in recognition of its outstanding Postmodern architecture.
An early example of MacCormac’s uniquely subtle Postmodern approach, the waterfront houses around Shadwell Basin were featured in ‘Postmodern Triumphs of London’ published by Charles Jencks in 1991. Jencks described the houses as, “Wharfism incarnate, the recollection of the grand nineteenth-century tradition of industrial buildings in the docks… arches, porthole windows, pyramidal forms, colonnades and red and blue steel syncopate their way around a huge public realm made of water, a maritime square, a blue piazza.”
MacCormac’s design specifically draws on the architecture of Victorian docks with arches inspired by the Albert Dock in Liverpool, which in turn was modelled on the Basilica Palladiana in Vicenza. The detailing across this specific house references ports and marine forms including porthole windows, crane cabins and gantries.
Internal accommodation is configured across two storeys. Access is gained on the ground floor, via a private front garden. The ground floor is occupied by a large master bedroom with en-suite bathroom, built-in wardrobes and glazed doors backing onto the wharf walkway at lower level. There is also a second bedroom with double-height ceiling, family bathroom and multiple storage spaces on this floor. Access to a large boathouse-style basement is gained through the second bedroom.
The first floor is arguably the most impressive area of the house; it has a double-height, shallow-pitched ceiling with exposed RSJs and full-width glazing on both east and west aspects, which flood the entire floor in wonderful levels of natural light. The spaces are arranged in an open-plan and incorporate a modern kitchen, living and dining areas and two balconies. The easterly view is over the waters of Shadwell Basin, the westerly view offers a glimpse of the Thames.
The basin itself measures over two acres and was utilised by MacCormac as an essential facet of the design of these houses, ensuring they were afforded a spacious and scenic context in which to sit. To one side of the Basin, he preserved a green space as a communal garden for residents, bordering onto Grade II* listed St Paul’s Church, designed by John Walters.
Richard MacCormac was one of Britain’s foremost post-war architects, perhaps best known for Southwark Tube station, Lancaster’s Ruskin Library and his partially completed design for the BBC’s Broadcasting House on Portland Place. Peartree Lane reflects his Postmodern influences, apparent in the use of high-quality brick and the scheme’s bold colours of red steel and dark blue balconies and windows.
Peartree Lane is well served for transport links. Shadwell station is under ten minutes’ walk and runs DLR and London Overground service citywide. Wapping station is the same distance by foot and runs London Overground services. Two local bus services run to Liverpool Street and Canary Wharf respectively. Canary Wharf is accessible on foot or by bike, via the Thames path.
Nearby green spaces include Wapping Woods, on the opposite side of the basin; a favourite local spot for dog-walkers, sunbathers and wildlife spotters. King Edward VI park lies minutes from the front door with tennis courts, children’s play areas, all adjacent to the banks of the Thames. Swedenborg Gardens, Wapping Gardens and St George’s Gardens are also close by.
Peartree Lane is two minutes from the River Thames via a steel bascule bridge, past a beautiful Victorian pumphouse. The Thames path winds east through Wapping and takes in wonderful views, converted dock warehouses and pubs, including the local Prospect of Whitby, a firm favourite with Dockland enthusiasts, tourists and locals alike.
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
A former president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Richard MacCormac made his name in the socialist modernist field of design, influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement and the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. He worked on social housing schemes in south-west London before starting his own practice, MacCormac Jamieson Prichard (now known as MJP) with Peter Jamieson and David Prichard, in 1972.
A case study of MacCormac’s attitude and approach to Postmodernism is the housing scheme he designed for the London Docklands Commission on Shadwell Basin. The development has recently been listed as an example of Postmodern architecture.
The scheme is, in some ways, typical of its period, in that it was designed in the 1980s and breaks with the tenets of Modernism which proceeded it. The houses and flats surrounding Shadwell Basion are informed by history and contained identifiable historical references, but they do not succumb to the baubles, irony and in-jokes that often define more effusive architectural examples from the same period.
In 1983, MacCormac Jamieson Prichard was commissioned by Ted Hollamby to produce what was described as a ‘guideline study’ to Stage C for the development of Shadwell Basin, part of the old London docks complex.
Hollamby had been impressed by a proposal for docklands’ housing which MacCormac had published in the Architectural Review in January 1982 which was based on a conflation of his interest on nineteenth-century dock design with an interest in vernacular canal-side housing in Venice. Hollamby wanted to establish an effective vocabulary for docklands’ housing developments which was not purely pastiche nor routinely suburban and MacCormac’s proposals, which provided for deep interiors and a view out onto water, provided a possible answer.
MacCormac proposed, on the west side, three-storey apartment buildings, which were given architectural character by round-headed arches resting on straight concrete columns and, on the north side, four storeys, as on the east, with a playfully split pediment.
Although MJP was retained as architect, the detailed drawings were done by another practice, which changed some of the detailing, including introducing a brighter, more primary red to the paintwork instead of the original Venetian red oxide which Richard had wanted, and reducing the height of the buildings in the north-east corner near the church so as not to interfere with the wind for the sailing school. The overall vocabulary, the massing and the classical round arches and columns was MacCormac’s, based on the design of Jesse Hartley’s Albert Dock in Liverpool.
Just as MacCormac was a representative of a generation who had been brought up as orthodox Modernists, so it was almost certainly impossible for him wholly to escape some of the ambiguities and uncertainties about Modernism, which so many of his generation experienced during the 1970s, particularly for someone who was so independent minded, so reflective about the nature of architecture, and so interested in its history.
