Barn Field

BARN FIELD, Upper Park Road

A block of 46 flats and maisonettes, built between 1947 and 1949 by architect Donald Hanks McMorran of the practice Farquharson and McMorran, commissioned by Hampstead Metropolitan Borough Council. The building was constructed to replace houses destroyed by bombing on 9 September 1940, the first bomb to land on the borough. The scheme was conceived in 1943 as Hampstead's contribution to addressing the post-war housing shortage, and was designed to reflect the traditional eighteenth-century architecture for which Hampstead is noted.

The block is arranged as a tripartite terrace of three and four-storey sections built over basements on sloping ground. It is constructed of brown Leicestershire brick with concrete floors, tiled and asphalted roofs, and brick stacks. The three four-storey blocks feature white rendered gable ends. The building is arranged so that maisonettes occupy the upper floors, while small flats and bedsits intended for the elderly are positioned at the end of the blocks. With the exception of these smaller flats, all living rooms and kitchens face west, set behind balconies, while all bedrooms face east, positioned over basement stores and a covered arcaded play area. Seven staircases and five lifts are distributed throughout, eliminating the need for galleries.

The five main staircases with lifts are accessed through doors set within stone architrave surrounds, topped with flat hoods featuring square entablature and supported on curved console brackets, with large staircase windows above. Balconies are set within the line of the block, supported on openwork steel girders with steel balustrades. All windows are timber sashes with small regular panes; those to the living rooms feature margin lights and are suspended on steel chains. Fourth-floor windows are finished with keystones. The smaller flats at the end returns have their own entrances and staircases. The east elevation overlooks the arcaded play area, with projecting balconies serving the living rooms of the upper small flats at the ends and the bedrooms of the third-floor penthouse sections in the centre.

The design exemplifies McMorran's distinctive neo-classical style, combining Soanic and Scandinavian architectural devices to create a lean, spare but exceptionally well-proportioned classicism. A carved plaque by Sidney Pool commemorates the opening of the flats on St George's Day, 23 April 1949, by the Hon John Fremantle, Chairman of Hampstead Borough Council's Housing Committee.

Interiors feature staircases with steel balustrading. Many living rooms retain their original corner tiled fireplaces. Built-in cupboards and heated airing cupboards were incorporated throughout the development from completion.

The building was exceptionally well equipped for its date, with both lifts and staircases—exceptional for a four-storey block—and high-quality internal fittings. The scheme was exhibited at the Royal Academy Exhibition in May 1946, with perspectives showing it much as built. It was awarded the RIBA's London Architecture Medal for the best building of 1948. The names Barn Field and Wood Field derive from old field names that once existed on the site.