Building record 9501/1 - Quartercroft

Quartercroft was built in the 1970s to the designs of Michael Perring for the North British Housing Group. It was designed as student accomodation and included a range of shared facilities. The complex was refurbished and converted into self contained flats for social rented housing during 1989-90. The housing complex is thought to be based on a Swedish design and comprises four linked blocks of flats each of a distinctive profile. Alternate four storied blocks have full height sloping outer faces at a pitch of 45 degrees and are attached to lower three storey units and four storey linking corridors and stairwells. The complex is constructed of red brick and the roof and wall surfaces are covered in interlocking concrete tiles. The sloping surfaces have four levels of roof lights and the side wall have two. The remodelled interiors now contain 59 bed-sit units, 28 one-bedroomed flats and 5 two-bedroomed flats.

{1} Quartercroft was built in the 1970's to the designs of the architect Michael Perring for the North British Housing Group. There are no buildings on the list designed by Michael Perring. It was designed as student accommodation and included a range of shared living facilities. During 1989 and 1990 the complex underwent a major refurbishment in order to convert it to social rented housing. The interiors of the former student accommodation were remodelled to form individual self-contained flats. Following the transfer of the building to the current owners further alterations have taken place including the extension of kitchen spaces, the fitting of new roof lights, the re-modelling of stairways, the enclosure of previously open stairwells and the removal of degraded asbestos from the interiors. The former student accommodation plan form has been re-configured to provide self-contained accommodation units better suited for use as social housing.

The housing complex is believed to be based on a Swedish design and comprises four linked blocks of flats each of a distinctive profile. Alternate four storied blocks have full height sloping outer faces at a pitch of forty-five degrees and are attached to lower three storey units and four storey linking corridors and stairwells. The complex is constructed of red brick and its steeply-pitched roof/wall surfaces are covered in interlocking concrete tiles. The sloping surfaces have four levels of roof lights and the side walls have two, three and four-light casement windows. The remodelled interiors now contain fifty-nine bed-sit units, twenty-eight one-bedroomed flats and five two-bedroomed units. The complex is bounded on three sides by non-residential development and has a major road on its other flank.

The complex remains a distinctive element of the local landscape, but when considered in a national context, there is no evidence that it has made a significant contribution to the development of later models of the building type in either educational or public housing contexts. It has been significantly altered internally, and has undergone continuous adaptation as housing standards have changed, and as some inherent design flaws have become apparent. It is not considered to be of such special interest in the context of the architecture of its type and period as to justify a listing recommendation.

<1> ENGISH HERITAGE, English Heritage Listing File, Heritage Protection Advisor, 10th October 2008 (Report). SNN111579.

Record last edited

Feb 17 2025 6:26PM