Dolphin Square

Dolphin Square was built between 1935 and 1937 on a site that previously served as a Royal Army clothing factory. When it opened, it held the title of the largest self-contained block of flats in Europe, housing over one thousand two hundred individual apartments within its thirteen interconnected blocks. These residential units were designed to function like a village, featuring an internal shopping arcade, a swimming pool, and extensive landscaped gardens. The architects named each block after a famous British naval figure, including Admiral Nelson and Sir Francis Drake. While it was intended as a modern, high-end residential utopia, its proximity to the heart of government led to it becoming a center for some of the most complex political and social dramas in modern British history.