Florin Court

Florin Court
General information
Type Residential
Location Charterhouse Square
London, England
Completed 1936
Technical details
Floor count 9
Design and construction
Architect Guy Morgan and Partners
Floor plan of Florin Court

Florin Court is an Art Deco residential building on the eastern side of Charterhouse Square in Smithfield, London.

It was the setting for Whitehaven mansions, the fictional London residence of Agatha Christie's fictional character Hercule Poirot.[1]

History

Built in 1936 by Guy Morgan and Partners who worked until 1927 for Edwin Lutyens, it features an impressive curved façade with projecting wings, a roof garden, setbacks on the ninth and tenth floors and a basement swimming pool.[2] It was probably the earliest of the residential apartment blocks in the wider Clerkenwell district, immediately north of the City of London. The walls were built in beige brick, specially made by Williamson Cliff Ltd (based in Stamford, Lincolnshire), and placed over a steel frame.

Regalian Proprieties refurbished the building in the 1980s, to designs by Hildebrand & Clicker architects, providing today's interior layout and more facilities.

The building became the fictional residence of Agatha Christie's Poirot, known as Whitehaven Mansions.[2][3] In 2003, the building was declared listed in the initial category of the national scheme.[4] The windows 'grouped into bands by exposed concrete surrounds' in the listing are of thin panes with thin muntins and brutalist mullions with all types of hangings permitted. They provide a stark reminder of the World War II era being of neither traditional nor economic design.[2]

On Saturday 20 July 2013 a flat on the first floor caught fire and the building had to be evacuated.[5]

Layout

The building is composed of nine floors and has a total of 120 flats. In the basement are a swimming pool, a spa, a sauna, a gym, a small library, a wi-fi area, a laundry room and a garage. All spaces are communal and access is free to all residents. There are two lifts.

Image gallery

References

  1. ↑ "Whitehaven Mansions". http://www.poirot.us''. Hercule Poirot Central. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1390634)". National Heritage List for England.
  3. ↑ Investigating Poirot fan site
  4. ↑ Extract from official listing on photography site, British Listed Buildings
  5. ↑ Art Deco Building - London Fire, Rebecca Smithers, The Guardian. 22 July 2013.

External links

Media related to Florin Court at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 51°31′15.35″N 0°05′55.35″W / 51.5209306°N 0.0987083°W