Housing – 17 Camden Road, NW1
August 20th, 2011
At the end of a busy week photographing housing schemes in London I found myself in a wet and crowded Camden Town standing on the bank of a canal, brolly wedged under one arm, digital camera precariously balanced in the other hand and trying to avoid fast moving bicycles threatening to knock me into the canal.
Despite this I managed to get a few damp photos and the text is courtesy of the wonderful RIBA Book of British Housing.
The futuristic design of this small row of houses caused a sensation when it was first built. Camden Borough Council had long wished to see the site redeveloped with mixed uses. After protracted negotiations, permission was given for the building of a Sainsbury’s supermarket, workshops and a terrace of houses fronting the Regent’s Canal (Fig. 2.20). These were single aspect, facing north over the canal and backed on to Sainsbury’s car park. A private path runs along the edge of the canal giving access to the front doors that lead to the entrance hall and a ground floor bedroom/study. On the first floor are the living, kitchen and dining areas.
The dining area is a double-height space with a completely glazed wall looking out over the canal. Glazed strips in the roof above the double-height space allow sunlight to penetrate. Part of the interest these houses caused was the possibility that the lower part of the glazed wall could be raised electronically so that the space could flow out to a balcony perched over the canal. Added to this were the curved aluminium walls and thin window slots to the living room and master bedrooms. [my emphasis – Ed.]
When we passed this location on a day out with C20th earlier this year, the venerable Alan Powers was heard to state that the architect of the supermarket had originally wanted the ceiling full height to expose the structure but Sainsburys were having none of it. As a result some of the joy of the building is lost. I didn’t photograph the supermarket, I was more interested in the houses.
More photos on Flickr, follow this link:-
https://www.flickr.com/photos/singleaspect/sets/72157627570111120/
n.b. There is no truth in the rumour that I only drink in Wetherspoons. I eat there too sometimes. If you’re buying I’ll drink anywhere.
Here are a few images I pulled off the Brits Who Built the Modern World – The Power of the Past.
UPDATE 27/3/15: The Guardian have published an article about this scheme