Barnet House, London Explained

Barnet House
Floor Count:12
Architect:Richard Seifert
Completion Date:1966
Coordinates:51.6294°N -0.1751°W
Architectural Style:Modern style

Barnet House is an twelve-storey office block at 1255 High Road, on the corner of Baxendale, at Whetstone, London, N20.[1]

History

The building was commissioned as Ever Ready House, to serve as the headquarters of the British Ever Ready Electrical Company.[2] The site the directors selected had previously been occupied by a private villa known as "Woodside", which had been built for Joseph Baxendale in 1841,[3] and which had served as a care home from 1889.[4]

The new building was designed by Richard Seifert in the modern style and was completed in 1966.[5] [6] [7] The design involved an twelve storey-tower facing onto High Road, with a three-storey structure behind. The tower was faced with alternating bands of concrete and metal-framed windows. In 1986 it became the main offices of Barnet London Borough Council, which renamed it Barnet House.[8] [9] After finding the building in Whetstone uneconomic to operate, the council relocated to a new building at 2 Bristol Avenue in Colindale in 2019.[10]

In March 2017, it was announced that the building in Whetstone would be converted into 254 flats, some as small as 16 square metres.[11] [12] [13] The size of the smallest flats in the building was criticised by local councillors with one saying "These rabbit hutch homes would turn Barnet House into a human filing cabinet".[14]

In December 2017 it was reported that the planning application to convert the building to residential accommodation had been rejected by the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, on the grounds that the application included too few affordable homes.[15]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Barnet House. 16 November 2018. London Borough of Barnet. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191104130719/https://www.barnet.gov.uk/directories/council-buildings/barnet-house . 4 November 2019 . 4 November 2019.
  2. Web site: Ever Ready's factories and the processes used in the manufacture of zinc carbon batteries. Competition Commission . 21 July 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071025051742/http://www.competition-commission.org.uk//rep_pub/reports/1970_1975/fulltext/081appendices.pdf . 25 October 2007 .
  3. Web site: Ordnance Survey Map. 1900. 12 April 2024.
  4. Web site: Woodside Home. Lost Hospitals of London. 12 April 2024.
  5. Web site: Ever Ready House. Modernism in Metroland. 12 April 2024.
  6. Book: London: North (Buildings of England Series). Bridget. Cherry. Nikolaus. Pevsner. 1998. Yale University Press. 978-0300096538. 192.
  7. Web site: Barnet House: Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. 15. CGMS Heritage. 1 August 2017. 12 April 2024.
  8. Web site: Ever Ready House . Modernism in Metro-land . 12 April 2024.
  9. Web site: Applying for housing – Barnet Homes . Thebarnetgroup.org . 27 March 2017.
  10. Web site: Council buildings . Barnet Council . 12 April 2024.
  11. Web site: Robert Booth . 'Dog kennel' flats in Barnet will be 40% smaller than Travelodge room | Society . The Guardian . 27 March 2017 . 27 March 2017.
  12. Web site: Jonathan Morrison Architecture Correspondent . Flats smaller than room in a budget hotel | News | The Times & The Sunday Times . Thetimes.co.uk . 29 March 2017 . 2 April 2017.
  13. Web site: Mark Chandler . 'Rabbit hutch' Barnet homes which are smaller than Travelodge hotel rooms spark backlash | London Evening Standard . Standard.co.uk . 28 March 2017 . 2 April 2017.
  14. News: Barnet councillors weigh in on "rabbit hutch" homes in Whetstone. Jenny. Desborough. The Times. 29 March 2017. 1 April 2017.
  15. News: Barnet House development rejected after Mayor intervenes. Jenny . Desborough. The Times Group. 5 December 2017. 7 December 2017.

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