1-8 Dryden Court

Stepped terrace of eight flats arranged in two blocks, each housing four flats. Built in 1954-5 by architect Eric Lyons for Bargood Estates Limited, subsequently Span Developments Limited. Geoffrey Paulson Townsend was the developer, G Scoble the project architect, and Wates the builders.

The buildings are constructed with brick cross- and partition walls, concrete, thermalite blocks, and tile hanging to the facades. The roofs are flat with felted finish. Brick stacks stand near each end of both blocks. The structures are two storeys high.

Each block is rectangular in plan with a central entrance and stairs. Nos. 1-4 stand forward of Nos. 5-8. Nos. 1-4 comprise five bays while Nos. 5-8 comprise six bays, with divisions marked by brick strips. The main facades feature full-width windows of three square windows per bay, some with top-opening timber casements. The storeys are divided by tile hanging.

The entrance (south) facade of Nos. 1-4 has a timber screen to the left of the entrance, divided by a horizontal panel inset with flat numbers. The bays either side have two deeper windows divided at sill level with window boxes on each storey. The rear (north) facade contains a ground-floor entrance with a vertical staircase window of two lights serving the first floor, and louvres at both storeys. Other bays are arranged in mirrored composition about this centre, with the innermost windows having central top-opening casements and blind lights in the centre of end bays. Nos. 5-8 are identical to Nos. 1-4 except for an extra bay to the east, with the two easternmost bays having identical end bay glazing patterns.

Staircases feature steel balustrades with timber panels to the first flight and first-floor landing. Blue-glazed doors serve store areas. The flats originally had wooden floors and some had sliding living room partitions, though interiors have not been inspected.

Dryden Court forms an integral part of the Parkleys Estate, the first and largest of Eric Lyons's influential projects for Span. The development stands on the site of a nursery; the blocks were carefully laid out to preserve existing trees, and the nursery stock and its gardener were taken over as part of the scheme. The estate is laid out as a series of cul-de-sacs, with Dryden Court framing the entrance to the spine road of Parkleys and other blocks set out in pedestrian quadrangles. The combination of two and three-storey blocks is distinctive to Parkleys, as is the use of brick and tile hanging, a material combination later repeated in subsequent Span works, particularly at Blackheath.

Eric Lyons and Geoffrey Townsend met in the late 1930s and renewed their partnership after wartime service. They developed a number of select private developments in south-west London and the Surrey borders until 1954, when Townsend established himself as a developer and was forced to relinquish his RIBA membership. Dryden Court represents their first mature work and their first as Span Developments Limited.

The mixture of old materials used in a modern manner created a particularly humane environment that attracted considerable admiration. Lyons's squares and terraces offered a modern vernacular response to the Georgian tradition of central London, set within lush suburban landscaping but at relatively high densities of about eighty persons per acre, which frequently brought Span into dispute with planning authorities.

Parkleys was developed for first-time buyers, and Span was among the first companies to promote the endowment mortgage. It was also the first example of the residents' management company system established by Span, which has kept most of their developments in exceptional condition. Each leaseholder contributes to the funding of paid maintenance staff and holds membership in the management company that runs the estate.

Eric Lyons was admired for bridging the gap between speculative work and the creativity most architects of his generation found only in the public sector. The close partnership with one developer enabled Lyons to pursue his own ideas in materials, layout, and design. However, designs had to remain simple; as Townsend reminded the Architects' Journal in January 1955, "The architect has to design and organise so that buildings can be produced at the same cost as a builder's scheme providing the same accommodation." The mid-1950s saw extensive speculative housing development, little of which achieved architectural quality.