Goodyer House

Goodyer House is a detached block of seven maisonettes with seven associated patio flats above, constructed between 1967 and 1970. The design, by John Darbourne and later developed with Geoffrey Darke, won a competition in 1961 as part of phase II of the Lillington Gardens redevelopment for Westminster City Council. The building is constructed of in-situ reinforced concrete beams and floors, exposed on the elevations, with load-bearing brick crosswalls. The exterior is faced with multi-red, hand-made bricks with raked joints, and the roof is flat and felted.

The complex plan features two-storey, four-bedroom maisonettes arranged with a "scissor" plan, where the rear rooms are set a half-floor lower than those facing the street. Each maisonette has a walled garden to both the front and rear. Above the maisonettes are the bedsit flats, accessed via an external stair and a rooftop walkway. The front elevation is set back behind forecourt walls, with both the first and second floors slightly overhanging. The rear elevations feature projecting garden walls and alternate projecting bedroom windows on the first floor. Bedsits are accessed via a rebuilt access stair, set with paviours and a short external stair to the front doors. Original dark-stained timber double-glazed windows with vertical opening casements remain, as do most of the original black-stained timber doors. Original metal signage with black lettering on silvered backgrounds is also present. The interiors are not of special interest.

The garden and courtyard walls, including black gates and double gates for cars, form an integral part of the overall composition. The design of Lillington Gardens drew inspiration from the nearby, grade I listed Church of St James the Less, mirroring its striking red brickwork. The scheme was groundbreaking for its use of brick and concrete on such a scale, and for its exploration of low-rise, high-density public housing, significantly influencing council housing design from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s. The development received multiple awards, including a Housing Design award, Ministry of Housing and Local Government award, and RIBA Architecture Award.