409, Wake Green Road

This is a 1945 prefabricated bungalow, constructed under the Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act by the Ministry of Works, with the City Council providing the site and foundations. The design, known as "Phoenix," features a welded steel tube frame clad in cream-painted corrugated asbestos sheeting with internal timber lining and partitions. It has a shallow-pitched corrugated asbestos roof with felt lining, a central apex, and a low chimney. The bungalow is single-story and based on the dimensions of the 1944 Portal bungalow prototype (32 feet 4 inches by 21 feet 3 inches), incorporating two bedrooms to the left of the hall, a living room to the right, and a standard Portal kitchen and bathroom unit, which was delivered to the site ready assembled. The windows are timber with metal opening casements and toplights; the living room features distinctive double casements mirrored around a central mullion. A renewed central door is sheltered by a curved metal porch, an idiosyncratic feature of the Phoenix design, with similar casement windows to the rear. A shed, of identical date and construction, is located at the rear. The interior was designed to be fully fitted out, reflecting the post-war shortages of furniture and kitchen fixtures. The principal bedroom (at the rear) has fitted cupboards, while the living room includes fitted shelving. The kitchen, bathroom, and separate WC are combined as a single unit, designed by the Ministry of Works, with some original features remaining. Approximately 2,428 Phoenix prefabs were built in the United Kingdom as part of the Temporary Housing Programme, a scheme devised by Lord Portal, Minister of Works, to address the post-war housing shortage. As one of the rarest of the eleven approved types, and one of the most substantially constructed, the Phoenix bungalows are notable for their fully fitted interiors, which included novel appliances such as fitted kitchens with washing machines and refrigerators, and their careful layout. They are distinguished from other prefabricated housing by their well-planned design, internal fixtures, historical interest, and detached setting. This particular bungalow, along with the group in Wake Green Road, represents an unusual and well-preserved example.