Financial Times

With the commanding presence of an ocean liner in a quiet north London street, the Isokon building, a progressive manifesto in its day, will soon call itself home to a carefully engineered mix of key London workers and private residents. Rescued from a derelict state in 2000 by the Notting Hill Housing Group and sensitively restored to its 1930s glory, the £2.53m shared ownership scheme provides 25 units for teachers, nurses, police officers and the like, subsidised by 11 regular units, with the purpose of conserving a cherished architectural landmark. Designed by Canadian architect Wells Coates and completed in 1934 for clients Jack and Molly Pritchard, Lawn Road Flats (as the building was then known) was among the first modernist structures in Britain.