Description

In contrast to Scharoun’s Men’s and Women’s Hostel, the Isokon Building remained largely in operation as a boarding house over the course of several decades.[1] Built in 1933 in northern London by Canadian architect Wells Coates, the Isokon Building, also known as Lawn Road Flats, contains 32 standardized small housing units supplemented by a few collective living spaces.[2] The Isokon Building was initiated by Molly and Jack Pritchard, active participants in the progressive social life of the inter-war years, who aimed to provide suitable housing for young men and women.[3] The married couple lived in a small penthouse apartment in the building, and the architect in a small unit on a standard floor. The apartments ranged from 32 to 49 m² and were fully equipped with a bathroom, kitchenette, and dressing room, although everything was designed with the most economic use of space possible. The small dwellings were reached via an access balcony, intended to encourage communication and community between residents.[4] In terms of housing typology, the Boarding House type was merged with that of the Central-Kitchen House, with a dumbwaiter leading directly from the central kitchen into some apartments. Nevertheless, Isokon Flats was a typical Boarding House, with the motivation for sharing rooted in the services, not in the collectivization of the household or even in shared living together. Extensive services were available, including a porter in the lobby, a meal service, and cleaning and laundry services. The common areas consisted of a tennis court, downstairs restaurant, and a bar, the Isobar, designed by Marcel Breuer, to which only designated club members were admitted.[5]

The Isokon Flats were mostly inhabited by residents without children, though it is known that the owners lived in the conventionally furnished penthouse with their two children. In any case, this new form of housing attracted a rather illustrious population of artists and culture creators of the upper middle class.[6] However, the effects of National Socialism and World War II left their marks on the Isokon Building, extinguishing its dynamic liveliness. Many residents left not only the building but the country and continent, and shared areas were no longer kept in operation. After the war, the building served as an ordinary apartment house and was sold in the early 1970s by the Pritchard couple. As refurbishments were never undertaken, the building increasingly disintegrated, and was not restored until 2 003. The Isokon Building is currently man – aged as an apartment building with a museum section.[7]

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Originally published in: Susanne Schmid, Dietmar Eberle, Margrit Hugentobler (eds.), A History of Collective Living. Forms of Shared Housing, Birkhäuser, 2019. Translation by Word Up!, LLC, edited for Building Types Online.