Stop the car and get out

Often on the way home from places we pass this building and I'm always intrigued by the hexagon stairwell design. It's hard to make out in this picture but have a look anyway.

The other day I finally stopped and went in to have a closer look.

It's cool, isn't it? The photographs don't do it justice but it looks particularly good lit up at night. (It's obviously pretty drafty too, which is a major oversight.)

You often see this kind of interesting but slightly odd detail in public architecture built just after the war. Stuff funded by the Government and (I assume) designed, built and approved fairly rapidly. I have no basis for this statement that's just how it appears to me.

There's something interesting about the post war momentum and public funding and the strength of British design talent around at the time. Something.

The hexagons continue onto the floor tiles.

The internet turns up a little bit more information and revealed that Wates, the famous construction company responsible for lots of post war London stuff, commissioned Reginald Brill to make this mural when the block was built in the mid 60s.

Is it just me, or does a part of that look like the Mac Windows icon?

Anyway.

Wates also commissioned some sculpture for outside the flats, which sits on land owned by the Dulwich Estate. At the unveiling ceremony Mr Charles Pearce, Chairman of the Governors, described Wates as "not only builders but benefactors'. Hard to see any developers building flats being described as benefactors these days. (Stadiums and stuff - maybe, flats in cities - no.)

Reginald Brill was the principal of the Kingston School of Art and seemingly quite well known.

He worked on some stamp designs in 1965 with, among others, David Gentleman who then went on to design some innovative stamps commissioned by Postmaster General Tony Benn. British design talent, public funded projects, strong leaders. Again, something.

And there you go. Interesting. I would never found out any of that if I hadn't bothered to stop the car and get out.

 

 

Comments

[Jbaldwin]

"Mac Windows icon"? You mean "Mac OS", surely? You know you could have your designer's license withdrawn for that, don't you? ;)

[Ben]

Oh crikey! Yes.

[D]

Lovely. The mural also reminds me of the urban artist Invader.

[David Brown]

It's quite surprising to see that the mural has survived this long. You'd have thought it would have been vandalised or been graffitied over. Must be a nice part of town.
On a similar note, I went into an exhibition not so long ago having walk past a few times and discovered that Eric Gill designed the A.R.P. badge! http://www.dartfordarchive.org.uk/20th_century/magnified/arp_badge.jpg
He was a funny old bugger. I understand many (most) of his other government commissions were rejected because he kept putting subversive messages and imagery into them. Maybe he thought no one would notice till it was too late. He also did a lot of stamp designs but only two made it into production.