"In the 'scissor' section each maisonette interlocks
with its neighbour in three dimensions, approximately
at the point of the 'pin joint' connecting the two
halves of a 'pair of scissors'. In this analogy, the
living rooms may be considered as the handles of the
scissors and the bedrooms as the blades. This is, of
course, an over-simplified picture, as each maisonette
comprises four separate levels. All the levels are
connected to each other in a continuous series of
half-storey height staircases. Hence the maisonettes
are either continuously up-going or down-going
according to their position in the building.
In a typical up-going maisonette, for instance, one
enters into a small hall, and then one climbs half a
storey to a main living / dining / kitchen level
arranged 'en suite' on the west side of the building.
From this living level, one climbs a further half-storey
height to the bathroom and WC, and then a final
half-storey height to the bedroom floor on the east side.
By the use of this section, all the units are
through-units with dual aspect, east and west.
Not only does this section provide a desirable
orientation to both living rooms and bedrooms, but it
also affords some acoustical isolation within the block,
as all the living rooms are situated over each other,
flanking the street side of the building, and all the
bedrooms are conversely arranged, facing onto the
garden."
Frampton provided a diagram to show how the scissor section
works – which, peculiarly, is incorrect. It shows a down-going
apartment with the stairs of an up-going flat. Consecutive
estate agents involved in marketing the apartments used
Frampton's erroneous diagram until Druce & Company presented
a new plan of the scissor section in 1972. Unfortunately,
Druce's diagram was not correct either, showing an up-going
flat with the stairs of a down-going flat.
Notice the chairs drawn in the living room area of Frampton's
diagram. They are Marcel Breuer's Cesca dining table chairs
and Le Corbusier's Grand Comfort armchairs.
