Clerkenwell Close. Residential and Office Building - Groupwork

The brief gave us time to research the context in which this building was to be located &mdashan 11th century Norman abbey built from limestone which has almost vanished&mdash and test a number of solutions for the site. The abbey, originally built by Baron Jordan Briset, was enlarged and remodelled several times until the religious revolution in the 16th century precipitated the Order’s dissolution and the gradual erosion of the complex, which was subsequently subdivided and converted into large mansions for the new Protestant barons. During Oliver Cromwell's republican revolution, these mansions were replaced by a sober new home. Subsequently, restoration saw further subdivisions into smaller rental properties, one of which briefly housed Marx and a visiting Lenin in the 19th century.