Maisonettes
"Where the term 'maisonnette' is used, this implies a dwelling on two levels connected by an internal private staircase; it is a form of planning which has many technical advantages as well as being popular with some tenants."
Chamberlin, Powell & Bon, Architects
"Barbican Redevelopment" April 1959
A lot of the Barbican flats are generally referred to as maisonettes, in this website and also by the local estate agents. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word means ‘a self-contained part of a residential building, usually distinguished from a flat by not being all on one floor’. So, in the Barbican estate, maisonettes are flats on two floors.
The correct spelling is 'Maisonnette' - that's how Chamberlin, Powell & Bon, the Barbican’s architects, spelt it in their reports - but the second 'n' has generally fallen out of use.
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