An imposing brick wall runs in a sweeping curve along the edge of the North Circular road in Finchley, lined with arches and crowned with crenelations, looking like a fragment of an ancient walled city. A cartoonish pair of towers poke up at either end of the 200-metre long structure, dotted with projecting lookout balconies, as if keeping watch over all who enter London. Situated among all the mock Tudor semis lining the suburban streets, this great brick bastion is an arresting thing to behold.
The building bears the unmistakable hallmarks of Peter Barber, one of the country’s most distinctive housing architects, who has just been named winner of the prestigious 2022 Soane medal. His leaping brick arches, crenelated terraces and quirky vaulted rooflines can now be found transforming unpromising side streets and leftover backland sites across London. While much contemporary housing has converged towards anonymous slabs of identikit apartments, with single-aspect flats arranged off long, double-sided corridors, Barber’s projects draw on the rich variety of vernacular housing from pre-modern times, breathing new life into centuries-old ways of living that have stood the test of time.
