Burns House, Caledonian Estate

ISLINGTON

TQ3084NW CALEDONIAN ROAD 635-1/44/121 (East side) Nos.408-416 (Consecutive) Burns House, Caledonian Estate

GV II

Block of flats forming part of the Caledonian Estate, designed and built c.1904-6 by the Housing of the Working Classes Branch of the London County Council Architect's Department, the architect responsible being, probably, J.G.Stephenson. The Caledonian Estate consists of five blocks: Carrick House to the west, overlooking Caledonian Road, and then four blocks at the back of the site, forming a square, Irvine House to the west and Wallace House to the east being longer than Burns House to the north and Scott House to the south; apart from the entrance arch in Irvine House, the opposite blocks in the square match each other; and they are linked by brick arcades of three round arches. Burns House is of red brick in English bond with dressings of glazed brick and plaster, wrought iron, cast iron and reinforced concrete, roof of tiles. Five storeys. All windows are segmental-arched sash windows, except where stated, and all have late C20 glazing which echoes the arrangement of the original sashes and casements. The front facing into the square is symmetrical, and made up of five elements. There is a centrepiece with two windows, those to the fourth floor flat-arched casements with a buttress-like strip between them, the gable having a double curve and 'shoulders'. On either side of this there is a 'balcony' range, the ground floor in the form of a buttressed screen with segmental-arched openings to ground-floor flats and the staircase, the parapet of the screen acting as a balustrade to the first-floor balcony; on the first, second, third and fourth floors the flats are set back, and have flat-arched entrances and windows under segmental arches, one of the three entrances on each balcony now blocked; on the second, third and fourth floors the balcony is of reinforced concrete, and they are linked vertically by iron pipes terminating in brackets at fourth-floor level. The outer ranges have one window from ground to third floors, the third-floor window being flat-arched under a round arch; the corners are chamfered, and on the fourth floor the return to the balcony is also chamfered, so that the fourth floor is polygonal in plan, with three flat-arched casements, and parapeted. Hipped roof, central ridge stacks, stacks to rear slope and corbelled external stacks, the latter truncated. The north elevation has a central range of four windows, flat-arched to the fourth floor under a double-curved 'shouldered' gable; ranges of two windows to either side under eaves, the fourth-floor windows flat-arched casements; then outer ranges of three windows under a hipped roof between 'shoulders', the windows to the first, second and third floors under a round arch at third floor level, and flat-arched to the fourth floor. (Historians' file, English Heritage London Division).

Listing NGR: TQ3066884731