Leopold Buildings
Encyclopedia
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...
in the East End of London, England.
The flats were built in 1872 by The Improved Industrial Dwellings Company
The Improved Industrial Dwellings Company
The Improved Industrial Dwellings Company was a Victorian Model dwellings company founded in 1863 by the printer, philanthropist and later Lord Mayor of London Sir Sydney Waterlow...
, the philanthropic Model dwellings company
Model dwellings company
Model Dwellings Companies were a group of private companies in Victorian Britain that sought to improve the housing conditions of the working classes by building new homes for them, at the same time receiving a competitive rate of return on any investment...
founded and chaired by Sir Sydney Waterlow. It was built on land leased by Angela Burdett-Coutts - then the richest woman in Britain, nicknamed 'The Queen of the Poor'.
The buildings are located on Columbia Road, near the famous Columbia Road Market
Columbia Road market
Columbia Road Flower Market is one of many markets in Central London; a street flower market, it is located in East London. Columbia Road is a road of Victorian shops off the Hackney Road in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets...
, which is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It is in the eastern part of London and covers much of the traditional East End. It also includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks...
.
The buildings were Grade II listed by English Heritage in 1994.
Following years of neglect, the block was completely refurbished in a £3.5 million project in 1997 by the Floyd Slaski practice for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and Ujima Housing Association, in conjunction with English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
.