226-228, SYDENHAM ROAD

These are a semi-detached pair of houses dating circa 1881. While the design is attributed to Norman Shaw, it is more likely that Ernest Newton, one of his pupils, developed the design. The houses were constructed by the contractor W H Lascelles, who employed a patented system in 1875 using dyed red concrete slabs – following earlier use of concrete in the 1860s and even earlier in France.

Each house is two storeys high with two casement windows. The outer windows are incorporated into gabled projections featuring jettied upper storeys and decorative bargeboards. Above a prominent cornice, the upper storey has raised concrete strips intended to mimic terracotta panelling between roughcast panels, and decorative gables. The roofs are tiled, and the stacks are also of concrete.

Internally, the through sitting room is supported by concrete and iron joists, while the dining room has moulded floral ceiling panels, with good-quality joinery throughout the houses. The pair is significant for its technological interest, with a notable application of early concrete construction techniques. Nos. 237-9 are also Shaw-Lascelles concrete houses but are of lesser architectural interest.