30-39, LAMMAS GREEN

A terrace of ten houses at 30-39 Lammas Green, built between 1955 and 1957 by Donald McMorran of Farquharson and McMorran, with Peter Nuttall as assistant, for the Corporation of the City of London. The houses are constructed of brick, colourwashed, with pantiled roofs and brick stacks. The design incorporates the houses set in pairs, stepping forward down the slope, with a group of three at the bottom. Each house is of two storeys and has three bedrooms. The pairs consist of a more compact plan, featuring a dining kitchen and dormer windows, separated from a wider house by a round-arched entry. The windows are metal with side-opening casements and toplights; those at numbers 34 and 38 have been replaced but retain the original pattern. Timber doors are set within timber porches with pointed hoods mirroring the styling of the dormers.

Internally, the living rooms have picture rails, and the staircases feature timber balustrades. A selection of fitted cupboards is found in the principal rooms. The kitchen and bathroom fittings are not of particular interest.

Donald McMorran is recognised as a significant architect working in a traditional style during the 1950s, combining established principles of composition, proportion, and texture with progressive building types such as public housing. His work reflects influences from Vincent Harris, for whom he worked previously, and shares similarities with the work of Tayler and Green, adapted to an urban setting.

This is the smallest but finest of four housing schemes designed by McMorran for the City Corporation. The layout, with its three terraces around a village green and views of the North Downs, is intended to be idyllic, with blocks of flats providing a visual buffer from the road. The density is set at 57 dwellings per acre, lower than the maximum allowed, to foster a community. The contrast between the colourwashed terraces and the flats is considered particularly distinguished.