Eirianell

Wales hasn’t got a lot of good architecture from the 1930s and 1940s, but there is a row of flat-roofed villas in Mold which have the most fascinating histories.

The houses were built in 1941. As you can imagine, not a lot was being built in 1941 apart from emergency prefabs. These houses are exceptions to the rule and were given special permission to be built and in a fantastic modernist style to boot.

ICI, who had a factory here at Mold, built these houses for their scientists who were developing Atomic warfare. Yes here, in quiet old Mold! Since the scientists were working on such top secret work these remarkable houses were designed to withstand aerial attack.

Very little wood was used in the construction. Essentially they are concrete houses with only a skin of Buckley bricks. The roof and internal floor and stairs are all concrete. Likewise there isn’t much glass at the front – all the glass is at the back since if the street were attacked from the air the bombs would be dropped along the middle of the road, as was the habit.