Westmark Point

Westmark Point is a block of 42 flats constructed between 1952 and 1955 by the London County Council Architect’s Department Housing Division, with Rosemary Stjernstedt as Architect in Charge and A W Cleeve Barr and Oliver Cox as principal job architects. Ove Arup and Partners provided engineering services. The building is based on an in-situ reinforced concrete frame, faced with grey 'clinker block' brickwork, with concrete floors expressed as bands in the design. It features a flat roof and a projecting service tower with a rounded, sculptural form. The arrangement includes three flats on the ground floor and four on each upper floor, with one-bedroom and three two-bedroom units set within a picturesquely asymmetrical plan. Partially projecting balconies are located at the corners. A central lift lobby contains a pair of lifts serving alternate floors and two escape stairwells, the stairwells originally brightly painted. The ground floor is partially set back and painted, and incorporates storerooms (initially also a laundry), retaining their original galvanised steel windows. Windows to the flats have been renewed in UPVC-coated aluminium within the original openings, maintaining a similar pattern, though some mullions have been eliminated. The balconies retain their original panelled fronts. Different patterned tilework originally distinguished each block entrance, but this has been removed, though the original tiled sign remains.

Westmark Point was notable for being the first public housing in Britain with mechanically ventilated lavatories and bathrooms, as well as the first high-rise housing to be centrally heated. The flats’ interiors are not of specific architectural interest beyond their plan.

The development represents a significant example of the London County Council’s pioneering work in designing groups of tall flats. The term “point block” was coined by the team at Alton East, derived from the Swedish “punkthus,” acknowledging Swedish architectural influence alongside English housing tradition, respect for nearby LCC work, and consideration of prospective tenants' preferences. The site’s sloping topography is maximized through picturesque massing, Victorian planting is retained and enhanced, and the blocks shield traffic noise by their position on the rise. The red-brick houses and maisonettes are set around the point blocks.