Blendworth Point

Blendworth Point is a block of 42 flats, constructed between 1952 and 1955 as part of the Alton East estate in Wandsworth, London, designed by the London County Council Architect's Department Housing Division. Rosemary Stjernstedt was the architect in charge, with A W Cleeve Barr and Oliver Cox serving as principal job architects, and Ove Arup and Partners as engineers. The building's structure is a reinforced concrete frame clad in grey 'clinker block' brickwork, with concrete floors expressed as bands in the design. It features a flat roof and a projecting service tower designed as a rounded, sculptural form. The plan is picturesquely asymmetrical, with three flats on the ground floor and four on each upper floor, arranged in corners, each with partially projecting balconies.

The building incorporates a central lift lobby containing a pair of lifts serving alternate floors, and two escape staircases that were originally brightly coloured. The ground floor is partially set back and painted, with storerooms retaining their original galvanised steel windows. Flat windows have been replaced with UPVC-coated aluminium within the original openings, maintaining the original pattern although some mullions have been removed. Balconies retain their original panelled fronts. A distinctive patterned tilework adorns each entrance, using white and two varieties of black and white speckled tiles arranged in a cross shape outlined with near-black, reflecting the building’s name. The original tile signage remains.

Blendworth Point was significant as the first public housing in Britain to incorporate mechanically-ventilated lavatories and bathrooms, and central heating. The flat interiors themselves are not of significant architectural interest beyond their plan. These point blocks represent a pioneering design, being the first cluster in Britain, with inspiration drawn from the Swedish ‘punkthus’ and the English housing tradition. The design reflects an interest in earlier LCC work nearby and an understanding of prospective tenants' preferences.

The Alton East estate is notable for its picturesque arrangement on a sloping site, retaining and enhancing Victorian planting from former gardens and villas. The point blocks are grouped on the highest ground to shield traffic noise, with contrasting red-brick houses and maisonettes arranged around them. The overall design exemplifies the humanist tradition in post-war British architecture.