Anatomy of a House No.10- 22 Parkside

Anatomy of a House No.10

22 Parkside, Wimbledon
1968-70
Richard and Su Rogers

22 Parkside by Richard and Su Rogers. Image from the Architectural Association Collection.

The career of Richard Rogers produced some of the most recognisable buildings of the late 20th Century. Structures such as Lloyds of London, the Millennium Dome and the Centre Pompidou brought High Tech design front and centre, with steel, glass and bright colours to the fore. Like many architects, his first solo projects were domestic designs for friends and family, and these first steps showcase many of the themes Rogers would return to in his later projects. The house we will explore in our 10th Anatomy of a House blog is 22 Parkside, a combined house and studio designed for his parents, opposite Wimbledon Common. 

Rogers was born on 23rd July 1933 in Florence, Italy. His fathers’ Jewish family had moved from Sunderland to Italy In the 19th century, and made the return trip in 1938 as repression heightened under Mussolini. Rogers' uncle, Ernesto Nathan Rogers, was a prominent Italian architect, best known for his Velasca Tower in Milan from 1956 as part of the BBPR partnership.

After studying at Epsom College of Art and doing his national service, Rogers enrolled at the Architectural Association. He graduated in 1959 and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to Yale, where he would meet his future wife, Su Brumwell, and Norman Foster. After briefly working for Skidmore Owings and Merrill in New York, he returned to England and set up the Team 4 partnership with Brumwell, Foster, Wendy Cheesman and her sister Georgie.

22 Parkside by Richard and Su Rogers. Image from the Architectural Association Collection.

The practice only lasted 4 years, but produced a handful of buildings that pointed away from the dominant brutalist style of the period towards what would become known as High Tech. Projects such as the house at Pill Creek, Foeck, the three houses in Murray Mews, Camden and the Reliance Control Factory in Swindon, turned away from concrete and used a combination of stock brick, steel and glass to make lighter, more adaptable designs than was prevalent at the time. After the group went their separate ways, Rogers worked with Sue Brumwell, who he had married in 1960. One of their first projects was a house and studio in Wimbledon for Rogers’ parents (the Creek Vean house had been a commission for Su’s parents).

22 Parkside interior. Image via Dezeen.

Plan of 22 Parkside house, studio and grounds.

The project consists of two single storey structures, the main house and a separate studio and flat. Both are constructed of a portal steel frame, painted bright yellow, with large areas of glazing to the north-east and south west. The walls to the south-east and north-west are made up of prefabricated aluminium and plastic panels. The steel frame, engineered by Anthony Hunt, allows the interior to be open plan, with flexibility in dividing up the internal space. The house was completed with two bedrooms, a study area (later used as a childrens bedroom), a utility area and large living space with a kitchen area running along the southeast side of the house. The interior also has built-in sliding doors which can be folded away, allowing the open space to be divided up. The two separate buildings face each other across a paved courtyard, with a planted mound on the street side to maintain some privacy. 

The Zip Up House by Richard and Su Rogers. Image from RNDRD.

The house at Wimbledon was designed in the same period as two other projects that would shape its form. The Zip Up House was a project designed by Richard and Su as part of the DuPont House of Today competition, with the idea exhibited at the 1969 Ideal Home Exhibition.  The Zip Up house was to have all its parts manufactured in a factory, and then quickly assembled on site. It was designed to be used at various locations, with adjustable legs for sloping sites, and could be extended by adding extra parts to the base structure. Like 22 Parkside, the Zip Up House’s exterior was bright yellow with an open-plan, flexible interior. Like many of the late 1960s futuristic architectural ideas (see also Archigram) it was never built. 

The other contemporary project to Parkside was built, a single storey steel house and studio for photographer Humphrey Spender in Ulting, Essex. The Spender House was constructed of a steel frame, with cross bracing for support, with corrugated steel wall panels and concrete slab floors. The interior had a large living space, alongside bedrooms, a study and the kitchen. The separate studio space also includes an integrated carport. The Spender House was Grade II listed in 2012, and has been little altered since it was completed.

Spender House and Studio by Richard and Su Rogers. Images from RIBApix.

The house at Parkside was itself listed in 2013, and is currently Grade II*. From 1988 the house was occupied by one of the Rogers' sons, Ab, who extended the house. In 2013 it was put up for sale, and when the Rogers’ did not receive a suitable offer, the house was donated to the Harvard Graduate School of Design, who currently use it as a resource for architecture students. The house was restored to its original condition by architect Philip Gumuchdjian. 

Richard Rogers of course went on to be one of the most famous and acclaimed architects of the post war era, winning prizes such as the RIBA Gold Medal, the Stirling prize and the Pritzker Prize. He was also knighted in 1991 and then made a peer in 1996. He retired from his practice, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners  in June 2020, and died on 18th December 2021. He and Su divorced in the early 1970s. Richard married Ruth Elias in 1973, and Su married architect John Miller in 1985. After getting divorced from Rogers, Su taught at the AA and the RCA, and later became a partner with Colquhoun, Miller and Partners.