421 Wake Green Road (Birmingham)

 prefabricated building, 1945_construction, Grade II Listed (UK)

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Prefab with shed. Erected in 1945 under the Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act by the Ministry of Works, the City Council supplying the site and foundations. Phoenix design, a welded steel tube frame clad in cream-painted corrugated asbestos sheeting with internal timber lining and partitions. Shallow-pitched corrugated asbestos roof, felt-covered, with central apex and low chimney. One storey. The dimensions of the prototype Portal house of 1944 were adopted (32'4" by 21'3"}, as were its provision of two bedrooms to left of hall, living room to right and the standard Portal kitchen and bathroom unit, which was delivered ready assembled to site. Timber windows with metal opening casements and toplights, the living rooms to right with distinctive double casements mirrored around central mullion. Central door (renewed) under curved metal porch that is an idiosyncratic feature of the Phoenix design. Similar casement windows to rear. Shed at rear of identical date and construction. The interior was designed to be fully fitted at a time when furniture and kitchen fixtures were unavailable. Living room with fitted shelving, principal bedroom (at rear) with fitted cupboards. Kitchen, bathroom and separate WC fitted as a single unit, designed by the Ministry of Works, and some features remain.

The group of prefabs in Wake Green Road is an unusual surviving example of a rare variant of the Portal bungalow, that is still more remarkable for its exceptional state of preservation with few alterations.