Description
A two bedroom duplex apartment in Grade II* listed Keeling House, designed by Sir Denys Lasdun. The apartment is situated on the 10th and 11th floor with spectacular views across the city. The living area is open-plan and spans the entire width of the apartment, with a fitted kitchen at one end and the living area at the other, full-width glazing floods the apartment with natural light. The flat also benefits from a private balcony. Upstairs there are two double-bedrooms with plenty of storage, and a modern bathroom. There is also a useful utility room which houses the washing machine; newly-fitted app-controled smart heaters from Ecolec and superfast Hyperoptic broadband.
Keeling House benefits from concierge service during the week, as well as excellent security, a bike store and access to a gated car park. Claredale Street is ideally located within easy walking distance of both Bethnal Green underground (Central Line) and Cambridge Heath overground, there are also good bus links. It is situated in close proximity of Columbia Road flower market, Broadway Market and Shoreditch.
Rent is inclusive of water bill. The apartment is available from 14 September 2018 and is offered furnished.
History
Traditionally the East End of London had been an area with strong ties and values, but these were beginning to disappear following the damage caused by the Second World War. In an attempt to retain these ties architect Sir Denys Lasdun (1914–2001), one of Britain’s most celebrated architects, offered an alternative to the typical slab-blocks that were being built by local authorities in the 1950s. He essentially stood the traditional Victorian Street on its head by placing maisonettes on top of each other to create a ‘cluster block’.
In a cluster block all the noisy services such as the lifts, rubbish chutes, stairs and drying platforms are placed in a central core which has maisonette units grouped in four pairs around it. Having a small footprint, Keeling House required the demolishing of only six houses therefore avoiding disruption to the existing street pattern or character.
Completed in 1959, Keeling House stands at sixteen storeys high, all the flats were maisonettes except on the fifth floor (the maximum height of a fireman’s ladder) where there are one-bedroom flats. In 1993 Keeling was was Grade II* listed—the first tower block to be given such status. It was sold in 1999 to private developers who commissioned architects Munkenbeck + Marshall, with the approval of Lasdun, to refurbish the building. The highly praised renovation earned an RIBA award and a Civic Trust commendation.
