|
Dolphin Square is a block of private flats and business complex built near the River Thames at Pimlico in London, between 1935 and 1937. At one time, the huge development was home to more than 70 MPs, and at least 10 Lords.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Dolphin Square: The UK's most notorious address? )〕 At the time of its construction the development of 1,250 up-market flats was billed, according to Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as the "largest self-contained block of flats in Europe" and, to an extent, their design has been a model for later municipal developments.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Architecture: Dolphin Square )〕 ==History== The Dolphin Square development is situated on the former works of the developer and builder Thomas Cubitt, who created the surrounding Pimlico district in the 19th-century. An Army clothing factory was built on the site after Cubitt's death, standing until 1933, when the leasehold on the site reverted to the Duke of Westminster.〔 An American company, the Frederick French Corporation, bought the freehold for the site from the Duke, with plans to build a large residential development, Ormonde Court.〔 The precarious financial situation of the Frederick French Corporation resulted in the sale of the site to Richard Rylands Costain (founder of the nascent Costain Group), who began construction on his own development in 1935.〔 A. P. Herbert, "Dolphin Square", 1935 (illustrations by H. M. Bateman) described the Square as 'a city of 1,250 flats, each enjoying at the same time most of the advantages of the separate house and the big communal dwelling place'; the provision of a restaurant made him fear that 'fortunate wives will not have ''enough'' to do. A little drudgery is good for wives, perhaps. The Dolphin lady may be spoiled'. This promotional booklet was produced for Costains.〔 On purchasing the site, Costain remarked to a colleague: ‘in two or three years we'll either drive up to this spot in a Rolls-Royce, or we'll be standing here selling matches’. Dolphin Square, as it was now known, was sold by Costains to Sir Maxwell Joseph who bought the complex in 1958 for £2.4 million, selling it to Lintang Investments in 1959 for £3.1 million.〔 Westminster City Council bought the lease of the block for £4.5 million in the mid-1960s, and subsequently sub-let it to the Dolphin Square Trust, an effective housing association who had been newly created for the purpose.〔 In January 2006 the Dolphin Square Trust and Westminster City Council sold Dolphin Square to the American Westbrook Holdings group for £200 million.〔 Accommodation is provided in 13 'houses' each named after a famous navigator or admiral. At the south (Thames) side of the Square the houses are Grenville, Drake, Raleigh and Hawkins. Moving from the river up the west side, there are Nelson, Howard, Beatty, and Duncan. A hotel and administration offices, situated at the north side of the Square, is in Dolphin House, previously known as Rodney. Heading south from the hotel there is Keyes, Hood, Collingwood and Frobisher. The estate contains a swimming pool, bar, brasserie (all of which were renovated in 2008), gymnasium, and shopping arcade. In the basement are a launderette and car park. A tennis court and croquet lawn overlook the River Thames. Until 21 January 1970, London Transport bus route 134 showed PIMLICO ''Dolphin Square'' as a destination and actually terminated in Chichester Street. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dolphin Square」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|