Description

In the entry for:
COLUMBIA ROAD
TQ 3382 (south side)

788-/8/10036 nos. 2-12 (Leopold
Buildings with stores and
attached railings)

II

the address shall be amended to read: 'nos. 2-12 and Leopold Buildings (including stores and
attached railings)'.

------------------------------------
The following building shall be added:
COLUMBIA ROAD
TQ 3382 (south side)

788-/8/10036 nos. 2-12 (Leopold
Buildings with stores and
attached railings)

II

Philanthropic flatted accommodation with attached shops and lower blocks at the Hackney Road
end; built by Sydney Waterlow's Improved Industrial Dwellings Company; designed by Waterlow
and constructed with the help of a builder, Matthew Allen. 1872. Brick in Flemish bond with
cement dressings and some concrete construction to floors. Roofs parapetted. Four storeys and four
storeys with attic, stepping down to nos. 2-12 which were built at the same time to a slightly
different design. Nos. 2-12 have tripartite windows to no. 2, 6, 8, 12, the rest paired windows;
broken join with taller blocks; lintel bands and dressings similar to larger block; pierced parapet.
Leopold Buildings proper (consisting of flats no. 1-79) fronted by broad half-basement area, railed
and spanned by stone steps at five points, at the foot of the full-height, open-well stairs. Recessed
four-storey ranges, alternating with four-storey with attic ranges, creating a movemented parapet
line by recessed and railed balcony ranges that are characteristic of all IIDC designs. Each balcony
recess flanked by canted bays with panelled spandrels rising from basement through first floors to
finish in a second-floor balcony; tripartite windows to bay ranges. All openings flat arched. Lintel
band to first floor; bracketed entablature and corbel table to third floor and attic storey; pierced
parapet to flat roof Each recessed balcony range of two bays, with central brick pier having metal
filigree spandrels to floor slabs. Flat-arched openings to balcony range. Rear elevation in plain,
utilitarian style, dominated by rear projections originally designed to contain sculleries and WCs.
The high, sheer bulk and simple style typical of IIDC blocks is here relieved by the varying heights
and the termination of the block in lower commercial ranges to Hackney Road. A lively
counterpoint to the jagged silhouette of the main elevation provided by standard IIDC
balcony-stair well recesses. Leopold Buildings is a distinctive architectural whole that produces a
dramatic and memorable streetscape. The IIDC, founded in 1863 from the housing experiments
of Sydney Waterlow, was one of two main providers of inexpensive working-class housing in late
C19 London, the other being the Peabody Trust. Leopold Buildings is representative of the IIDC
formula, in which blocks were fitted into -existing streetscapes; the Peabody Trust; by contrast, built
courtyard estates.

Listing NGR: TQ3356482758

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Leopold Buildings at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q6526918

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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