Eashing Point

Eashing Point is a block of 42 flats built between 1952 and 1955 as part of the London County Council's housing program. The design was 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 were the engineers. The building’s structure is a reinforced concrete frame faced with grey 'clinker block' brickwork, with the concrete floors visually expressed as horizontal bands in the design. It features a flat roof and a prominent, rounded service tower.

The asymmetrical plan accommodates three flats on the ground floor and four on each upper floor, with one-bedroom and three two-bedroom units situated in the corners, each featuring a projecting balcony. A central lift lobby runs through the building, containing two pairs of lifts serving alternate floors and two staircases, originally brightly coloured. The ground floor is partially set back and painted, with storerooms (originally also a laundry) retaining their original galvanised steel windows. Windows to the flats have been replaced with UPVC-coated aluminium, but remain within original openings and retain the original pattern, although some mullions have been removed. The balconies retain their original panelled fronts. The entrances are distinguished by patterned tilework, using white and two varieties of black-and-white speckled tiles to create a contrasting grey and near-black effect; at Eashing Point, these tiles form cross shapes. The hallways are lined with grey marble tiles, and an original tiled sign marks the entrance.

The flats at Alton East, including Eashing Point, were the first public housing in Britain to incorporate mechanically ventilated lavatories and bathrooms and central heating. The interiors of the flats themselves are not of particular architectural interest. Boulders are arranged at the base of the block as part of the picturesque setting.

The point block design at Alton East was a pioneering approach to tall flat design, with inspiration drawn from the Swedish ‘punkthus,’ English housing traditions, earlier LCC work, and the desires of potential tenants. The picturesque massing takes advantage of the sloping site, retains and enhances existing Victorian planting from former gardens and villas, and shields traffic noise. The name "point block" was coined by the Alton East team. The complex represents a significant example of humanist post-war British architecture.