Chamberlain House Chamberlain House Including Shops

A block of council flats, built between 1927 and 1929, with shops on the ground floor. It forms part of the Ossulston Estate and fronts Phoenix Road, Ossulston Street, and Chalton Street. The building was designed by the London County Council Architect's department, under G Topham Forrest. The exterior is loadbearing brickwork rendered with roughcast, channelled at ground floor to resemble stone, and incorporates reinforced concrete balconies. The roofs are pantiled and hipped, with tall chimney stacks.

The plan is courtyard-shaped, with the main entrance from Phoenix Road. The Phoenix Road frontage features a central entrance flanked by two-story and attic pavilion blocks, each with three tripartite sash windows and hipped roofs with dormers and overhanging eaves. The row continues on either side with four-story blocks including ground floor shops and tripartite sash windows to the upper floors. The other street facades are similarly styled. A courtyard block displays balconies designed to appear like openings in the building, with central rectangular balconies featuring shields at the top floor, and long, rectangular voids grouped in threes on each floor. The ground floor is designed with a round-arched arcade and a central entrance accessed by curved steps, with a similar design extending to the western bays.

The interiors have not been inspected. Chamberlain House is part of a group which includes Levita House, Ossulston Street, and the southern block of Walker House, Phoenix Road, which itself includes The Cock Tavern.

Historically, the Ossulston Estate is considered the most significant inner-city estate from the interwar period. It reflects the LCC’s attempt to innovate in inner-city housing, influenced by Viennese housing designs. The foundation stone of Chamberlain House was laid by Neville Chamberlain, then Minister of Health.