Isokon Flats, also known as Lawn Road Flats and the Isokon building, on Lawn Road in the Belsize Park district of the London Borough of Camden, is a reinforced concrete block of 36 flats (originally 32), designed by Canadian engineer Wells Coates for Molly and Jack Pritchard.
Opened in 1934, the Isokon building was one of Britain’s first block of Modernist flats. Britain, at the time was architecturally quite conservative at the time. While most architectural projects were for private, exclusive villas for the rich industrialists, the Isokon building was radical for introducing a block of flats with communal services for cooking and cleaning—aimed at the intellectual working middle class.
Jack Pritchard, at the time worked as the marketing manager for Venesta, the world’s largest plywood manufacturer at the time. Coates had also used Venesta plywood extensively on a project for BBC. This most likely contributed to the extensive use of Venesta plywood in each Isokon flat, including the furniture pieces.
Photo credit: The Modern House
