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114 Kenilworth Road Coventry, West Midlands Coventry-born architect Robert Harvey designed both 112 and 114 Kenilworth Road in 1955. 114 Kenilworth Road, built for the architect’s brother, is especially architecturally interesting. The building forms an integral part of the suburban landscape and is designed in unity with the garden whose raised flowerbed links the constructed house and cultivated nature. The building is truly modern in spirit, yet at the same time a rather unusual example of post-war architecture in Britain. Its brick façades are structured rhythmically by large, ceiling-high windows. The brickwork is detailed carefully, and the corners are extremely well defined. The plan of the houses establishes a motif of diamond and hexagonal shapes that recur in the skylights of the living room. The subtle yet distinct character of the roof complements these unusual shapes. The shallow slope of the pitched roof cantilevers above the exterior walls, an element that shows a strong North American stylistic influence that is pursued further inside. The interior is designed with a great affinity to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. A dominant horizontality and the use of stone and timber define warm and intimate spaces. Harvey himself designed the built-in furniture in some of the rooms, including the children’s bedroom. Created as space saving devices, wooden elements such as desks illustrate the architect’s ability to create homely and thoroughly designed interiors defined by a degree of craftsmanship that is unusual for the period. Harvey’s work in Kenilworth Road demonstrates a unique unity between modern North American tendencies in English architecture and a feel for exquisite materials that are seldom found elsewhere in the UK. The houses in Kenilworth Road are representative of Harvey’s earlier work. Harvey’s architecture has been widely recognised as outstandingly important; English Heritage are currently reviewing Harvey’s work as part of a thematic survey. A planning application by Fellows Bird Dalton & Associates Ltd to demolish 114 Kenilworth Road and replace it with a far bigger development is currently considered by the local council. 112 and 114 Kenilworth Road were designed as a pair on a single plot of land and complement each other. Demolishing one would destroy a carefully designed balance. Furthermore, Coventry would lose a significant example of American influenced architecture. Cordula Zeidler
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