Sir Malcolm Stewart Trust Common Room, Stewartby

Sir Malcolm Stewart Trust Common Room

Built in 1955–6, this common room was designed by Sir Albert Richardson working with his son-in-law E A S Houfe. The building was created to provide a gathering space for the Sir Malcolm Stewart Homes estate at Stewartby, a settlement built by the London Brick Company.

The structure is principally constructed from mass-produced, narrow two-inch-by-nine Fletton bricks manufactured by the neighbouring London Brick Company, laid in Flemish bond with a finely-grooved texture giving a rustic appearance. Cast-iron columns on stone plinths support a timber tongue-and-groove panelled veranda ceiling and a green copper roof.

The plan comprises a rectangular double-height hall with a covered verandah walkway running around the perimeter of the building, bordered by an apsidal terrace situated to the south. The external walls are set back from slender columns that run all round the building and support a bell-cast roof capped by a thin Scandinavian topknot or finial. The screen of columns marks out a slightly raised paved terrace which runs the perimeter to form the covered verandah.

The principal frontage features a set of double-doors with a substantial neo-classical door surround framed by pilasters and a corniced architrave, which integrates margin windows and a band of upper lights. Directly above the doors is a relief-cast plaque carrying the inscription 'SIR MALCOLM STEWART HOMES / THESE HOMES WERE ERECTED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF / A GENERAL CHARITABLE TRUST FOUNDED BY THE LATE SIR P. MALCOLM STEWART BT., O.B.E., HON. LL.D., D.L., J.P., / FORMER CHAIRMAN OF LONDON BRICK COMPANY LIMITED / FOR THE OCCUPATION OF OLD SERVANTS OF THE COMPANY / THE HOMES WERE OPENED ON WEDNESDAY 23rd MAY BY / BEATRICE LADY STEWART'. Above this plaque is a thin, delicately carved acanthus leaf detail. To the left of the doorway is a relief-carved stone panel of the Stewart family coat of arms, reset on the frontage after the building's opening in 1956.

The side elevations to the west and east are identical, both of seven bays. The first six bays feature double-height windows; the final bay includes a projecting bay window with heavy moulded cornice surmounted by a small porthole window at first-floor level. The rear elevation has a central door with an upper-band of five lights within a simple moulded stone door surround, set beneath a Diocletian window and flanked by a pair of six-over-six sash windows.

The interior comprises a principal double-height central hall accessed by an entrance lobby at the front, which also leads to male and female toilets to the west and east respectively. To the rear there is a small library room on the west side and a kitchen on the east side, above which is a first-floor area originally intended as a warden's office, now principally used for storage. This is reached by a straight flight of stairs rising from the east side. The central area of the rear portion is occupied by a service entrance providing additional access to the kitchen.

The entrance lobby contains a set of double-doors with finely detailed neo-classical door surround featuring projecting pilasters and a moulded cornice, supporting a gilt model of a sailing galleon, reset from its original position on the roof finial following a storm. The lobby doors lead to a five-bay hall with dado-level panelling incorporating radiators behind fretted covers for the original oil-fired central heating. The radiators are set between double-height windows shielded by curtains in deep pelmets under a simple cornice. The windows are oak-framed casement types with unusual internal secondary glazed casements offering additional insulation.

The south end of the hall features a cambered arch recess with a broad stone fireplace, above which is a large portrait of Sir Malcolm Stewart. Bronze busts of Sir Malcolm Stewart (1872–1951), his father Sir Halley Stewart (1838–1937) and his son Sir Ronald Compton Stewart (1903–99) are positioned on wall brackets along the back and west walls. The room contains original furniture designed by Richardson and intricate hanging lights in an antique style incorporating both candles and semi-concealed light bulbs.

Other internal features include the original internal wooden doors and fixtures throughout, cupboards and fittings in the kitchen, and the original staircase with moulded handrail. Both the male and female toilets retain original latrines, cubicles, basins and floor tiles.

To the south of the common room is an apsidal paved terrace marked by low-set brick walls interspersed with iron railings, flanking a central lock-up storage structure with a copper-clad concrete roof and wooden doors.