Medical dates:

Medical character:

In 1911, in association with the LCC, the Paddington & Kensington Dispensary for the Prevention of Consumption in Talbot Road established, as an experiment, an open air school for local tuberculous children attending the Dispensary.

The Open Air School was equipped by the LCC and was officially opened in July of that year by the Duke of Argyll.  It had been set up in the estate of Kensal House, a large mansion built in the 1830s between Harrow Road and the Grand Union Canal.

Kensal House had an extensive garden and the Open Air School provided an education for children who would otherwise have been barred from normal school.

In 1913 the LCC took over the running of the School from the Dispensary.

The School was active until the beginning of WW2 when, like many others, the pupils were evacuated from London.  After the School closed, its premises were used as an auxiliary fire station for the duration of the war.


Present status (July 2013)

It is not clear whether there was any initiative to restart the School after the war, but buildings appearing to be open air classrooms are shown on maps from the 1950s.

In 1989 Kensal House, now Grade II listed, was extended and remodelled as offices for the Virgin Group.  Its involvement ceased and the complex was remodelled again around 2006 by Derwent Valley Property Development.

The original mansion is now The White Building at No. 555 Harrow Road and contains offices and showrooms for a Dutch design group, Moooi London, and a flooring systems supplier, Senso.

The eastern extension, at No. 553 Harrow Road, contains seven apartments.

The western extension, at No. 557 Harrow Road, is The RB Building containing a mix of rented office premises.