Explanation of flat types for Original Barbican
1A 1B 1C 2A 2B 2C 3A 3B 3C 4A 4B 4C 5A 6B 7C 8A 8B 8C 9A 9B 9C 10 12 13 14 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 49 50 51 52 53 54 56 57 58 60 61 63/64 67/68 70 71 72 73 74 76 78 79 80 81 84 85 86 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 118 119 120 121 F1A F1D F1E F2A F2B F2C F3C M2A M2B M2C M3A M3B M3C M3D M3E M4A P1D P2A P2B
Studios | 1 bed | 2 beds | 3+ beds | Towers | Maisonettes | Penthouses | Garden
Explanation of flat types for Frobisher Crescent
7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 7.9 7.10 7.11 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 8.9 8.10 8.11 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 9.9 9.10
Studios | 1 bed | 2 beds | 3+ beds | Maisonettes | Penthouses
Explanation of flat types for Blake Tower
Flat Types 42 45 46 47 48 49 50 52 54 60 61 65 66 67 70 71 72 76 77 78 82 84 88 93 100 102 108 137 Pen1 Pen 2
Flats LG21 LG22 LG11 LG12 LG13 1 2 3 11 12 13 14 21 22 23 24 25 31 32 33 34 35 41 42 43 44 45 51 52 53 54 55 61 62 63 64 65 71 72 73 74 75 81 82 83 84 91 92 93 94 101 102 103 104 111 112 113 114 121 122 123 124 131 132 133 134 141 142 143 151 152 153 161 162
Floors LG2 LG1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16-17
Studios | One-bed flats | Two-bed flats | Three-bed flats | Bathrooms | Kitchens | Winter Gardens | Balconies
We don’t count kitchens and bathrooms when we talk about numbers of rooms.
These are flats which are below the podium level on which the building stands. They may face out onto one of the estate’s gardens or onto the lake. ‘Sub-podium flats’ is the more accurate, but boring, description for them. No flats actually have direct access to the gardens and some face only the lake, so ‘garden flats’ is a littlemisleading, but it is a lot more inspiring. These are the facts about garden flats.
No tower has garden flats.
Only four of the terrace blocks have garden flats: Defoe, Thomas More, Andrewes and Speed Houses. This is because they front onto the sunken lake and gardens (Speed Garden and Thomas More Garden).
They are a feature only of the South Barbican area. The North Barbican blocks (north of the Barbican centre) have no flats below podium level because there is no sunken garden.
No flats have direct garden access. (Some Lambert Jones Mews houses have doors opening straight onto Thomas More Garden, but they are proper houses not flats.) The nearest thing to direct access is that Thomas More garden flats can reach the garden via communal stairs and entrances. Defoe, Speed and Andrewes flats are closer to the gardens (or in Andrewes case, the lake) in terms of enjoying the view than the other flats in their bocks, but have to use the same access to them as the regular flats above the podium.
There are lower garden flats – the same level as the garden or lake. And there are upper ‘garden’ flats – at upper floor level (as judged from the garden or lake), but still below the podium. Thomas More and Andrewes Houses contain upper and lower garden flats. Defoe and Speed Houses have upper garden flats but no lower garden flats.
Andrewes House has 15 lower level garden – or lakeside – flats (Type 76), and one storey of 15 upper level flats (Type 16) on top of them. They are all one-bedroom flats. The flats’ living rooms face north across the lake.
Thomas More House has 13 lower level garden flats, which are all studio flats. (11 Type 13 and one each of Type 12 and Type 14). On top, there are two storeys (12 flats each) of one-bedroom flats (Type 16). The flats’ living rooms face north across Thomas More Garden.
Defoe House has a more eclectic mix with three types of upper level, one-bedroom, flats (Types 49, 52 and 53) and a two-bedroom maisonette flat (Type 51). The flats’ living rooms face south across Thomas More Garden.
Speed House has nine upper level garden flats (Type 84) which are one-bedroom maisonettes on two floors. The flats’ living rooms face south across Speed Garden.
If you want a two storey garden maisonette, Speed House and Defoe House have such flats.
If you want the closest you can have to immediate garden access, Thomas More House is your choice.
If you want a separate bedroom, Defoe, Andrewes, and Thomas More Houses can accomodate you. You may find a lakeside one-bedroom flat in Andrewes House, but you have to accept upper level flats in Defoe and Thomas More Houses.
If you want a studio flat, Thomas More and Defoe Houses have them.
If you want to be at genuine garden level, you need a studio flat in Thomas More House.
If you want to be at lakeside and watch the ducks, you need a one-bedroom flat in Andrewes House.
Brandon Mews properties are treated as houses, but seen from the lake and garden they are maisonettes at sub-podium level, overlooking the lake and/or Speed Garden, so there is not much difference and I am including them here.
Lambert Jones Mews houses are more definitely houses and nothing else. But I mention them again as having views over Thomas More Garden, mainly from first floor picture windows, and in some cases direct access to the garden via a back door.
Wallside houses have picture windows overlooking the extension of the lake and the bits of City wall so I am including them for completeness. (The houses at the southern end of The Postern also have a view over the lake extension and City wall.)