Pioneer Centre IV
St Mary's Road, London SE15
Architect: Sir Owen Williams
Register for similar homes“With its vast banks of windows, it was hailed as ‘Britain’s best new building’ by Walter Gropius when it was built”
This two-bedroom split-level apartment lies within Sir Owen William’s 1935 Pioneer Centre on St Mary’s Road in Peckham. It has a private rear terrace, which makes a wonderfully peaceful retreat. The Grade II-listed Art Deco building is characterised by expansive banks of windows that fill the rooms with light. Originally designed to house a health centre, residents have access to unrivalled facilities, including a striking 1930s swimming pool, tennis courts, gym and gated grounds. For more information, please see the History section below.
The Tour
The entrance to the apartment is on the first floor, which can be accessed by both a lift and stairs; the communal corridor has fantastic views of the indoor swimming pool. The apartment unfolds across the ground and first floors and is positioned in the corner of the building, ensuring it feels wonderfully private. Making use of an upside-down plan, the living areas occupy the first floor, with the two bedrooms positioned on the ground floor. Underfloor heating runs throughout, easily controlled via panels on the wall.
Entry is to the open-plan kitchen, living and dining room. Here, an entire wall of glazing opens directly to the private terrace and the greenery beyond, ensuring an easy sense of indoor-outdoor living. New engineered oak flooring runs throughout, and the space is brilliantly sociable due to its open nature. Running along one wall are bookshelves and low-level cabinetry; both are built-in and bespoke.
The kitchen has granite worktops with plenty of storage concealed in the dark grey cupboards beneath. Oriented in a U-shape, the space seamlessly connects to the dining and living areas at the front of the plan. There is a Neff double oven, a built-in fridge-freezer and an induction hob. A shuttered roll-down door conceals a pantry area above the workbench.
An original spiral staircase descends to the ground floor, where the two bedrooms lie. There is a large central hallway, which the current owners use as an office-library space, although the versatile area would suit a variety of uses. There is a wall of built-in wardrobes, plus a utility cupboard and a double cupboard for further storage. The main bathroom can be accessed here, with a built-in bath and glazed black and white tiles.
Both bedrooms are bright, generous rooms with windows onto greenery beyond. The main bedroom has plenty of space for a desk and an en suite shower room. The second bedroom is divided from the hallway by blue glass sliding doors, which currently create a playroom area between the spaces.
The apartment comes with an allocated parking space.
Outdoor Space
Sheets of glazing open onto a private terrace, with a wonderfully green outlook onto elderflower and apple trees beyond. There is ample space for a seating area; the current owners have arranged potted plants around the border, including yucca trees that provide privacy. The terrace makes for a wonderfully secluded spot away from the activity of Peckham beyond, where birdsong can be heard and the morning sun enjoyed.
The Pioneer Centre was designed as the antithesis of corridor-dominated health facilities. Instead, Williams favoured large spans of uninterrupted space. On the outside, two square corners book-end a gently rounded middle section with rhythmic panelled windows. There were few internal walls, except ones made of glass, and this sense of airiness prevails now.
The Area
The Pioneer Centre is excellently located between the thriving areas of Queens Road Peckham and Nunhead. Recent developments along Queens Road continue to contribute to the area, notably the Blackbird Bakery under the railway arches, Mama Dough’s pizza restaurant, and a number of new independent bars. Nunhead Lane has a village-like feel, with a greengrocer, a fishmonger, a deli, a café and a new community centre by AOC architects. Popular local pubs include the Old Nuns Head, The Telegraph and Beer Shop.
The nearby Bellenden Road has become a centre for some excellent independent restaurants, bars, and shops, including Artusi, The Begging Bowl and Flock & Herd butchers. The Bussey Building, off Rye Lane, hosts an active and varied programme of yoga/dance classes and workshops, along with a residency from the Royal Court theatre. Peckham Levels hosts street food, bars and cafes, along with live music. The green spaces of Telegraph Hill, with wonderful views over the city, and Peckham Rye Park are a short walk away.
Queens Road Peckham is the nearest station, just a five-minute walk away, running London Overground services to Shoreditch High Street and Dalston Junction in one direction and Clapham Junction in the other. Connections to the Jubilee Line can be reached at Canada Water (10 minutes) and the Northern Line at Clapham High Street (11 minutes). Southern trains run services to London Bridge with a journey time of around 7 minutes. Nunhead station is a seven-minute walk away with connections to Victoria (in 15 minutes) and King’s Cross St Pancras (in 25 minutes).
Tenure: Leasehold
Lease Length: approx. 103 years remaining
Service Charge: approx. £3,500 per annum
Ground Rent: approx. £125 per annum
Council Tax Band: C
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
The Pioneer Centre was purpose-built for what became known as ‘The Peckham Experiment’. Two doctors, George Scott Williamson and Innes Hope Pearse chose Peckham because the “populace roughly represents a cross-section of the total populace of the nation with as widely differing a cultural admixture as it is possible to find in any circumscribed metropolitan area”. The doctors believed that medical practice was overly focused on curing disease, rather than on cultivating good health and preventing illness. Instead, they believed that given the right tools, people would take responsibility for their own well-being.
The experiment began in 1926, using a house on Queen’s Road SE5 as its base. For the new Pioneer Centre, Sir Owen Williams devised large open spaces to allow the Centre’s doctors to properly observe the members. Williams was formally trained as an engineer and is best known for his design of the Express Building in Manchester, along with forward thinking designs for Britain’s motorways including ‘Spaghetti Junction’. Using concrete and steel allowed the architect to realise ambitious shapes that housed a gymnasium, lecture hall and rest and recreation rooms. At the centre of the building is the swimming pool, whose glazed roof allows in as much natural light as possible, along with windows that could be fully opened to circulate fresh air into the building. Cork floors encouraged people to walk barefoot.
The doctors paid members one shilling a week, and they had access to organised activities, games and workshops as well as yearly medical examinations to keep track of progress. Central to the Pioneer Centre’s philosophy was the belief that left to themselves people would begin to organise in a creative way, which indeed happened. The centre closed in 1950 despite public support, as its innovative approach did not fit with the tenants of the newly formed NHS. However, its ideals inspired further projects in the field of social biology.
