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"Beyond the stately Neo-Georgian facade, lies an exceptionally bright and voluminous set of living spaces, which still bear their signature full-height Crittal-framed windows."
This wonderfully bright two-bedroom apartment is brilliantly located close to the centre of Kentish Town within the elegant No.1 Prince of Wales Road building. Originally built in 1929 as premises for the North London Polytechnic, the building was converted into apartments in 1998, to a RIBA-award winning design by Allies and Morrison architects.
Prince of Wales Road
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History
One Prince of Wales occupies the former building of the North London Polytechnic. Mr. W. E. Riley, late architect to the London County Council, was responsible for the design and plans which were finalised in 1927. Construction of the building was completed in 1929.
The general layout was designed with the object of securing the maximum amount of light for the various laboratories and classrooms which comprised the building. As such, two large light wells and spacious corridors were designed to give access to various rooms and increase the flow of light.
The ground floor on which this apartment is positioned was taken up by the Chemical, Physical and Engineering Laboratories, Machinery Shop, Drawing Offices, Woodwork and Metalwork Shops, Forge Room, Art Room and Tool Rooms, constituting a Junior Technical School for Boys.
The Polytechnic was converted into housing in the 1990s. Steven Bates has remarked of the conversion,
"To the passer-by there is little evidence that architect have been at work and even less that the building now provides some 60 home. New work to the elevation has seemingly engaged with ideas of continuity and restoration. The most visible addition is the new glazed entrance.
"While in the courtyards the combination of existing and new materials, dirty and clean stock bricks, painted render, river washed pebbles, rolled concrete, coarsely textured metal-work and silvered timber, develops as a single whole, in the apartments the articulation of the new is more apparent against the old. The inherent spaces are tall and care has been taken to introduce smaller spaces without creating a compression of volume. The principal room in most cases extends across the full width of the space, marking out the extent of the original structure bay. As a result the proportion of the space feels natural and generous. Alongside, a new core space contains kitchen, bathrooms and storage."
For more information on One Prince of Wales Road, please visit www.oneprinceofwales.co.uk for a comprehensive history and photo diary.
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