The Grosvenor Estate comprises of 7 apartment blocks 5 storeys in
height. All have the very distinctive checkerboard facades in panels of grey
brick and white render. This makes this complex instantly recognisable. The two
buildings -Duke House and Princess Mary House- along Vincent Street are also
adorned by stone carvings representing noble crests. The door surrounds built
from carved stone are also very ornate.
The U-shaped blocks between Vincent Street and Page Street with the
large playground where once the ends of the central wings of Tothill House and
Rogers House originally stood. The greenery softens the very urban feel of this
housing project.
All apartment block are named in the tradition of Mansion Blocks as if
they were a nobleman's city dwelling. Between the U-shaped blocks small pavilions
(shown on the right) were constructed with a gate on either side. Some now
serve a commercial function and double-up as a guard house, as was originally
intended.
Inspired by the German Gartenhof, the apartment blocks wrap around a
communal garden with all the balconies looking out over this green space. The
ideal was to provide light and air in the urban environment, especially for the
working classes that often worked in non to healthy conditions.
The space between the blocks is actually quite limited. The communal
areas are fenced off and in use as a communal garden -originally laid to lawn
for drying the laundry- or as playground or small playing field.
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