Point Royal

Point Royal is an 18-story residential block built between 1961 and 1964, designed by Philip Dowson and Derek Sugden of Arup Associates. It comprises 102 flats above a ground floor entrance podium. The building’s design features an irregular split-hexagon plan, with six flats on each floor, a central lift lobby, and a ground floor entrance that has been subsequently altered and recessed beneath the block above. A circular ground floor terrace sits above a ha-ha, beneath which is a partly underground parking garage open at the sides.

The structure is primarily reinforced concrete, partly precast and partly in situ. The car park and ground floor are constructed in board-marked shuttered reinforced in situ poured concrete, with sloping brick sides to the ha-ha. The detailing highlights the modelling potential of the concrete with features such as rainwater gargoyles, circular columns, slab support walls, and splayed soffits. Above the ground floor, the block rises from a cantilevered reinforced concrete slab, supported by reinforced concrete walls and floors, topped with a roof. An exposed precast reinforced concrete frame forms the exterior, behind which are set-back flat walls. A narrow escape gallery runs between the outer wall and the frame, providing perimeter access to a single staircase located on the north side of the block.

Originally, each flat featured generous glazing with precast mullions incorporating vertically sliding and top-hung softwood sashes; these have since been replaced with upvc. The precast handrail units have also been replaced with a deeper, enclosed, dark-green-coated metal and glazed balustrade. More recently, the ground floor entrance has been brick-clad and enlarged for improved security, and the open sides of the parking garage have been closed with galvanised steel security fencing. A small gazebo has been added to the podium to house an escape stair from the garage.

While these alterations have affected the building's appearance, they are considered comparatively minor and have not fundamentally compromised its integrity. Point Royal is notable for its bold sculptural form, its integrated design, and the refined quality of the precast external frame. It has strong landmark character in Bracknell and is a distinctive architectural feature of the English New Towns, with landscaping further enhancing this character.