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The History and Architectural Inspiration of the Isokon Building

On the 9th of July 1934, the Lawn Road Flats, now more affectionately known as the Isokon Building, opened. The name was derived from isometric construction drawing, a popular form of architectural drawing in the era. The clients and the architect Wells Coates claimed that they came up with the name, but it has only been formally called the Isokon Building after 1972. The project’s brief and initial concept was developed by the Pritchard couple, Jack and Molly Pritchard; the Isokon Building drew inspiration from Walter Gropius’s Minimum Flat presented in 1929 at the Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne (C.I.A.M.) conference and at its core is the idea of serviced communal living for the working middle class. Wells Coates received this brief for the property on Lawn Road, and was appointed for the project.

Avanti Architects on site during the Open House London 2025 Festival. Image by Von Chua.

Today, the Isokon Building is one of the United Kingdom’s earliest examples of Modernist architecture. In 1999, the Isokon Building also received a Grade 1 listed status, a testament to the significance of the building. Fun fact of the day during the Open House Festival 2025 - it was said that the building’s exterior used to be painted in a pale pink colour. This is no longer the case today, but rather, repainted in a white tone.

After the building’s opening in 1934, fast forward to 1969, Jack Pritchard sold the Isokon Building to the New Statesman magazine. In 1972, the building later exchanged hands again to the Camden Council, and fell into a state of disrepair because the council did not allocate sufficient funds to maintain the building. It was not until Avanti Architects were appointed by the building’s new owners, the Notting Hill Housing Trust, in 2003, to restore the building, that the Isokon Building was returned to its former glory.

Through a course of 19 months, Avanti Architects worked with English Heritage, maintaining the minimalist original design and contributing to the current structure of 25 flats for key workers sold on a shared home ownership basis, plus 11 flats for private ownership. As an architecture practice that has renovated a number of the UK’s significant Modernist buildings, Avanti Architects stripped the building to its core - the base built concrete, and started from scratch. The restored Isokon Building reopened in 2004 with a new Isokon Gallery exhibition space and gift shop located on the ground floor, which used to house the former garages of the building. The small Isokon Gallery space provided an overview of the former residents of the building, the story of the building itself, as well as the Isokon Furniture Company.

Designed by Marcel Breuer, the Isobar was unfortunately converted into flats during the building’s first sale in 1969. It was not part of the reinstatement during the recent restoration by Avanti Architects. From reading about the Isobar’s history, it was truly a meeting point for artists, architects, and writers in the Hampstead area, with artists such as Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore noted as visitors. There were records of a long waiting list for membership up until World War II broke out in 1939. What would it be like if the Isobar survived to today?

The blue plaque at the Isokon Building. Image by Von Chua.

Amongst the interesting facts about this building is that it attracted a large number of artistic residents. From Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, the Isokon Building received a blue plaque marking the presence of Bauhaus alumni in the building at different times. The blue plaques in London have been run by English Heritage since 1866, highlighting a building’s link with the past occupiers of the building. Today, within the Isokon Building are also some recognisable names who live within the building. The penthouse at the Isokon Building, for example, is occupied by Tom Broughton, who founded Cubbitts eyeglass manufacturer.

Extensive use of plywood at the Isokon Building’s penthouse. Image by Von Chua.

During my visit at the Open House London 2025 Festival, apartments 12, 23 and the penthouse were shown during the tour. Most captivating is Jack and Molly Pritchard’s fifth floor penthouse that they lived in between 1934 and the mid 1970s. As Jack Pritchard worked for one of the world’s largest plywood manufacturers - Venesta, at the time, the use of birch plywood from Estonia was prevalent in the penthouse’s wall cladding. His job at Venesta’s Building Uses Department involved finding new uses and promoting new applications for plywood. Jack Pritchard launched a series of competitions and commissions, including the commission of exhibition stands that involved the appointment of Le Corbusier in 1929, though Charlotte Perriand attended rather than Le Corbusier himself, and was later followed by another stand designed by Wells Coates. With the accumulation of experiences surrounded by the talents, Isokon Ltd. was born with the idea of building modern houses and furniture as unit dwellings in 1935 when John Pritchard left Venesta. However, the project faced many issues from project finances to the complicated relationship between the Pritchard couple and Coates. It was overcome and the final flats that we get a glimpse of today have been a success in the eyes of the architectural press.

The Isokon Building is a frequent participant of the Open House London Festival. To visit the Isokon Gallery, it is open every weekend between 11am and 4pm. Address: Isokon Gallery, Isokon Flats, Lawn Road, London NW3 2XD.