105-125, KNIGHTSFIELD

Flats, maisonettes, and houses, dating from 1955-56 and designed by Louis de Soissons, Peacock, Hodges and Robertson, are set back behind a green along Knightsfield and divided by Digswell Road. The building is two and three storeys high. The construction utilises yellow-grey brick in a Flemish bond pattern, topped with brown concrete pantiled roofs. One end of the building is two storeys with a gable facing the road; the verge of this gable is treated as an open pediment with projecting brick pilasters. The three-storey block accommodates semi-detached maisonettes above ground-floor flats, with linking ridges parallel to the road. Windows are small-paned timber casements, with some double-hung sashes. South-facing maisonettes feature first-floor balconies, accessed by French windows and covered by concave profiled metal canopies, which impart a Regency character. This scheme is noteworthy as a distinctive post-war design by de Soissons, continuing the elegant, simplified Georgian style of the Garden City into the Development Corporation era. Situated on a hilltop, crossed by Digswell Road – the main approach to Welwyn Garden City from the north – the design is valued for both its aesthetic qualities and its contribution to the townscape. Nos. 105-125 (odd) form part of a unified composition with Nos. 83-103 (odd) and Nos. 82-124 (even).