82-102, KNIGHTSFIELD

The building comprises flats, maisonettes, and houses, two and three storeys in height, set back behind a green along Knightsfield and bisected by Digswell Road. Constructed between 1955 and 1956, the design is attributed to Louis de Soissons, Peacock, Hodges and Robertson. The building is constructed of yellow-grey brick in Flemish bond, with brown concrete pantiled roofs. The two-storey end section is oriented to present a gable facing the road, with a verge treated as an open pediment featuring projecting brick pilasters. The three-storey block, which contains semi-detached maisonettes above ground floor flats, has ridges running parallel to the road. It contains small paned timber casement windows, with occasional double-hung sashes. South-facing maisonettes feature first-floor balconies, with French windows and concave profiled metal canopies above, evoking a Regency style. The design represents a distinctive post-war scheme by de Soissons, continuing the elegant, simplified Georgian style of Welwyn Garden City into the era of the Development Corporation. The site is located on a hilltop, crossed by Digswell Road, the primary route from the north into the centre of Welwyn Garden City, and contributes significantly to the townscape. Numbers 82-102 (even) are part of a unified composition alongside numbers 104-124 (even), 83-103, and 105-125 (odd).