Hundreds of visitors flocked to the Isokon building in Camden this month as part of Open House, where fascinating buildings across the country open their doors to the public.
The historic building, which we revived having bought it in 2002, was the UK’s first experiment in communal, high-density living when it was built in 1934, and attracted an artistic clientele.
It was frequented by the likes of writer Agatha Christie, sculptors Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, and designer Walter Gropious, who would meet and socialise in its communal kitchen and bar.
Working closely with English Heritage, the Isokon Trust and Avanti Architects, we maintained the modern and minimalist original design while we developed 35 homes for key workers.
The board of The Isokon Trust welcomed 600 people over two days during Open House and showed four flats. Visitors queued on average for an hour to enjoy this piece of London history, and some had been waiting for two hours before we opened the doors to make sure they were first in.
In 2018 the building was given a blue plaque to mark three legendary designers who lived there. German Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy from Hungary, were visionary designers and teachers from the influential Bauhaus art school in Germany. They all lived and worked at the iconic venue during the 1930s.
The building also has a free gallery which is open to visitors on weekends 11am-4pm from March until the end of October.
