Heathcroft

Heathcroft is a group of linked blocks of flats and a caretaker’s cottage, constructed between 1923 and 1924 to designs by J B F Cowper. The buildings are in a Neo-Georgian style and represent group value. The construction is primarily red-brown brick with orange dressings, featuring hipped tiled roofs, partly concealed by parapets, with dormers and tall brick chimneystacks that incorporate blind arched recesses with moulded caps. The windows are timber casements with small panes, heavier section mullions, and transoms.

The complex comprises nine linked blocks arranged around a large inverted 'T'-shaped courtyard. A single-storey caretaker’s cottage is centrally located on the front elevation, flanked by taller three and four-storey blocks to the left and right. Architectural features include projecting doorways, canted bays, and recessed balconies designed to break up the building's mass. Detailing incorporates brick "vanishing" pilasters with moulded bases and caps, projecting flat rubbed brick voussoir arches, and integrated gable chimneys with ramped parapets. The design reveals influences from the work of Sir Edwin Lutyens and early Georgian patternbooks.

Heathcroft is a dominant yet skillfully articulated mass facing the Hampstead Heath Extension across Hampstead Way. Cowper became a specialist designer of flats following his success in a 1923 competition organised by the developers, Second Hampstead Tenants Ltd.