Highpoint I

{{Infobox building

| name = Highpoint I

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| image = Highpoint detail.jpg

| image_alt = Corner detail of Highpoint 1, showing balcony profiles

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| caption = Corner detail of Highpoint 1, showing balcony profiles.

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| building_type = Residential

| architectural_style = International style

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| address = North Hill, Highgate, London, N6 4BA, United Kingdom

| location_town = London

| location_country = United Kingdom

| coordinates = {{coord|51.5749|N|0.1507|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}

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| completion_date = 1935

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| main_contractor = J. L. Kier & Co Ltd

| architect = Berthold Lubetkin

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| structural_engineer = Ove Arup

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| designations = Grade I listed

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Highpoint I was the first of two apartment blocks erected in the 1930s on one of the highest points in London, England, in Highgate. The architectural design was by the Georgian-British architect Berthold Lubetkin,{{cite news| url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/property-home/article/high-point-of-modern-37fh9mm0zfl | work=The Times | location=London | title=High point of modern | date=2006-05-12 | access-date=2020-10-30}} the structural design by the Anglo-Danish engineer Ove Arup and the construction by Kier.{{Citation needed|reason=Times article originally cited does not mention Ove Arup or Kier|date=October 2020}}

History

Highpoint I was built in 1935 for the entrepreneur Sigmund Gestetner, but was never used for its intended purpose of housing Gestetner company staff. One of the best examples of early International style architecture in London, this block of 64 flats was very innovative in its day.

When the building was completed, it became widely renowned as the finest example of this form of construction for residential purposes. When Corbusier himself visited Highpoint in 1935 he said, "This beautiful building .... at Highgate is an achievement of the first rank." And the American critic Henry Russell Hitchcock called it, "One of the finest, if not absolutely the finest, middle-class housing projects in the world."{{cite web|url=http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/heritage/highpoint-one|title=Highpoint One: The High-Rise arrives in London|work=OpenLearn |author=The From Here To Modernity team }} In 1970 this reputation gained official recognition when both Highpoint blocks were classified Grade I within the historic buildings listing programme.{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1970/feb/03/buildings-of-historic-or-architectural#S5CV0795P0-04939|date=3 February 1970|title=Buildings of Historic or Architectural Interest|work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)}}

The architectural historian Dan Cruickshank selected Highpoint as one of his eight choices for the 2002 BBC book The Story of Britain's Best Buildings.{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/programme_archive/best_buildings_08.shtml | title=Choosing Britain's Best Buildings | accessdate=3 June 2008 | last=Cruickshank | first=Dan | publisher=BBC History |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825204233/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/programme_archive/best_buildings_08.shtml |archivedate=2007-08-25}}

In 2014, a studio on the second floor of Highpoint was listed for £400,000, a two-bedroom for £950,000 and a four-bedroom for £1,399,000.

In 2017, Highpoint II's penthouse, former home of Lubetkin, was listed for sale at £2,950,000 by The Modern House.{{Cite news |last=Cooke |first=Rachel |date=2016-01-18 |title=At last, estate agents who give something back |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jan/18/the-modern-house-matt-gibberd-albert-hill-jonathan-bell-review |access-date=2023-09-25 |issn=0261-3077}}

Highpoint II

Lubetkin lived in Highpoint I's penthouse until the completion of Highpoint II.{{Cite web |date=2014-11-28 |title=Highgate’s Highpoint has flats for many budgets |url=https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/lifestyle/21373667.highgates-highpoint-flats-many-budgets/ |access-date=2023-09-25 |website=Ham & High |language=en}} The second Lubetkin building in the same style, Highpoint II (a more luxurious version{{Cite web |last=Lagdameo |first=Jennifer Baum |date=2017-10-27 |title=Modernist Architect Berthold Lubetkin's Former London Penthouse Is For Sale |url=https://www.dwell.com/article/modernist-architect-berthold-lubetkins-former-london-penthouse-is-for-sale-323eaabd |access-date=2023-09-25 |website=Dwell}}), was completed on an adjoining site in 1938. This is also a Grade I Listed Building.{{National Heritage List for England |num=1079183 |access-date=9 July 2015}}

It served as the exterior of Emma Peel’s flat in The Avengers TV series in the 1960s.

References

External links

[https://www.e-architect.co.uk/london/highpoint Highpoint I building information & photos]

Category:Residential buildings in London

Category:Modernist architecture in London

Category:Berthold Lubetkin buildings

Category:Ove Arup buildings and structures

Category:Residential buildings completed in 1935

Category:Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Haringey

Category:Grade I listed residential buildings

Category:Highgate