Barbican Living
Description of Andrewes House
Andrewes House, the second Barbican block to be completed (in July 1969), is the terrace block which runs along the south side of the lake, from the bridge across the lake to the waterfall at the far end. It sits between Gilbert House and Willoughby House.
There are 4 very similar terrace blocks: Andrewes House and Speed House which face each other over the lake; and Thomas More House and Defoe House, which face each other over Thomas More Gardens. Each block runs from east to west and their flats generally go the whole depth of the block from the front to the back (so residents look out of their windows north and south). Since each flat takes up the depth of the building, there is no central corridor. Instead, there are separate stairwells (with lifts, of course) at regular intervals along the block, and each stairwell has two flats on each floor. It's just like a series of terraced houses, each converted into flats. They each have penthouse flats at the top, 'garden' flats below the Podium level, and 6 floors of flats in between.
The block contains 192 flats (numbered 1 - 192) of 13 different types, varying from 2 to 4-room flats.
Most of the flats are Type 20 or Type 21 (with Type 19 flats at the end and a pair of Type 57 and Type 58 flats in the middle). On the top floor the penthouses are Type 23 (with a couple of Type 60s). This is virtually the same layout as in the other three similar blocks. At the upper levels, living rooms overlook Fore Street; bedrooms overlook the lake.
The garden or sub-podium flats are a bit different. It’s the only building where garden flats have individual gardens. There are 2 storeys of flats below podium level. At each level the living rooms look out over the lake. The lower garden level flats also have their own private gardens or patios at the front adjoining Fore Street (which is screened by a high wall). The lower level are generally Type 76 flats and at the upper level they are generally Type 16.
Unlike Defoe House, the two levels of garden flats can be reached via the lifts. On 03 level there are tenants stores and access to Andrewes car park, whose entrance is off Fore Street.
