40-57, LAMMAS GREEN

A block of eighteen flats 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 building is constructed of hand-made Essex bricks, with weatherboarded gables and pantiled roofs. It is arranged over three storeys, containing one- and two-bedroom flats paired either side of staircases; the outermost flats forming a mirrored pair, the central staircase serving only the two-bedroom flats.

The design is symmetrical, with living rooms facing the front, featuring square sash windows with small panes, and smaller windows to the staircases and bathrooms which are set under moulded heads with incised voussoirs. These large windows are repeated on the side and rear elevations, which face Sydenham Hill. Staircase halls are entered via arched openings. The roof is well set back behind high parapets, featuring six very tall stacks. The interiors are not considered to be of special interest.

Donald McMorran is recognised as a significant architect working in a traditional style during the 1950s and displayed a willingness to design public housing and schools while maintaining traditional compositional principles, proportions and textures, placing him closer in style to Giles Scott than to Raymond Erith; he also drew influence from Vincent Harris, for whom he worked between 1927 and 1935. This scheme is the smallest but most accomplished of four housing developments by McMorran, two commissioned by the City Corporation. The layout comprises three terraces around a village green, with views of the North Downs, and the flats are positioned as a buffer to the road. The density of dwellings is 57 per acre, lower than the maximum allowed, to support a cohesive community. The contrast between the flats, characterised by their fine brickwork and traditional proportions, and the colourwashed cottages is a notable feature.