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The Fetish of Flexibility: Farrell/Grimshaw Partnership, 125 Park Road, London
Author(s) -
Heathcote Edwin
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
architectural design
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.128
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 1554-2769
pISSN - 0003-8504
DOI - 10.1002/ad.2217
Subject(s) - general partnership , flexibility (engineering) , style (visual arts) , allowance (engineering) , typology , sociology , adaptation (eye) , law , art history , management , history , political science , visual arts , engineering , art , economics , operations management , psychology , anthropology , neuroscience
Completed in 1970, this residential building on a prime London site is recognised as a pioneering example of the British High Tech style. More importantly for this issue of AD, it was designed so that leaseholders could devise their apartments' layouts themselves, with maximum allowance for future adaptation – in contrast with the high‐spec, investor‐driven typology that is prevalent for such sites today. Writer and architect Edwin Heathcote describes the building's structure, the co‐ownership housing society model that made it possible, and how it has fared over time.