83-103, KNIGHTSFIELD

Flats, maisonettes, and houses were built between 1955 and 1956 by Louis de Soissons, Peacock, Hodges and Robertson, and are set back behind a green along Knightsfield, bisected by Digswell Road. The buildings are two or three storeys high. They are constructed of yellow-grey brick in a Flemish bond pattern, with brown concrete pantiled roofs. The two-storey end block is turned to face the road, with a gable featuring a verge treated as an open pediment and projecting brick pilasters. The three-storey block incorporates semi-detached maisonettes above ground-floor flats, with ridges parallel to the road. The windows are small-paned timber casement windows, with occasional double-hung sashes. South-facing maisonettes have first-floor balconies with French windows and concave profiled metal canopies above, creating a Regency-style appearance. This architectural scheme is considered one of the most distinctive post-war designs by de Soissons, continuing the elegant, simplified Georgian style of Welwyn Garden City into the Development Corporation era. Due to its location on a hill, crossed by Digswell Road, the principal route into Welwyn Garden City from the north, the scheme is important both for its design and its contribution to the townscape. Nos. 83-103 (the odd numbers) are part of a unified design with Nos. 82-124 (the even numbers) and 105-125 (the odd numbers).