Council Housing, Ruskin House, Millbank Estate, Westminster, Greater London
This block of flats dates from 1897-1902. It is part of the Millbank Estate, one of the first and most important of the London County Council estates. It was designed by the Architects' Department, housing section, under Owen Fleming. The estate layout is based around a rectangular public garden with blocks of flats radiating out from it. It was built in an Arts and Crafts style with "Queen Anne" features and the building work was of a very high standard. The estate was built to house 4,430 working class people. Most flats were self contained and none had shared toilets or sculleries. Two schools were provided in 1901. The estate was designed to provide top class accommodation for working people in uplifting surroundings, based on socialist and philanthropic principals. Ruskin House suffered bomb damage during WW2 and was rebuilt slightly differently.
