The Improved Industrial Dwelling Company - a bit more research.

I have long been interested in Social History as well as Military History so I hope you do not mind me sharing this here as a blog post. 

I posted here recently about the flats in Southwark SE London where research showed that I was living in 1962 then aged 4 in Cromwell Buildings, Redcross way, Borough. I have been fascinated by the history of the buildings for many years having learned that the block had been built in 1864 by The Improved Industrial Dwelling Company based upon a design displayed in the Great Exhibition at Hyde Park in 1861 and attributed to Prince Albert although in fact he commission the design based upon his ideas. The design was for small 'building  block' type flats for the families of the 'Labouring Classes' complete with internal WC's, a rare thing back then as most dwellings still relied upon the outside privies often communal. I was delighted to find only recently an image of the original 'Model Dwellings' as it appeared at the exhibition thanks to a virtual tour on youtube so I grabbed a screen shot as seen below. A  block of 4 such flats, each of 3 bedrooms, was built outside of the exhibition hall an image of which can be seen below along with the floor plan. A Scullery with sink  and coal store along with 'Dust' shoot (refuse/waste) was also incorporated along with a larder/meat storage cupboard  ventilated by air bricks. Cromwell Buildings consisted of 4 floors containing 8 flats with the central open stairway by which access was gained. The block is grade II listed and still occupied today and still, I am told- owned by the Local Authority. It is also worth noting that the block is just a stones throw from the famous Crossbones Burial Ground for Paupers ( Link) also in Redcross Way. These dwellings became the model for many thousands of Tenement Blocks across the Country as a means of solving Housing Shortages at a period  when even large families occupied single rooms in multi occupancy houses.

Cromwell Buildings today, Grade II listed, I lived with my parents on the 3rd floor and played on the open roof garden!.

Thank to the Virtual Tour of the Great Exhibition on YouTube I was able to see the original design upon which Cromwell Buildings was based, albeit less cell like!

4 flats stacked 2 above the other, open front central stairwell and internal WC's this building still exists in London today.