company that owned 50% of Venesta and was Europe's largest plywood manufacturer in the first half of the 20th century. The Isokon company was never commercially successful. The end came with the outbreak of World War II when its supply of plywood from A M Luther was cut off due to the Soviet invasion of Estonia and A M Luther was confiscated. Isokon ceased production in 1939 but the company was restarted by Pritchard in 1963, now with production in Britain. Since 1982, the furniture is made by Isokon Plus, formerly known as Windmill Furniture, with the approval of the Pritchard family. Lawn Road Flats Isokon's key project was the Lawn Road Flats in Hampstead, since 1972 named Isokon Flats, which was formally opened on 9 July 1934. It was designed by the Canadian architect Wells Coates after a brief by Molly Pritchard, based on the Minimum Flat concept stated at the CIAM conference of 1929. In March 1931, Wells Coates, Jack Pritchard and Serge Chermayeff had visited Germany to view new housing developments, including the Bauhaus in Dessau, which had a large influence. The building process of Lawn Road Flats and the opening event was photographed by Edith Tudor Hart who was educated at the Bauhaus school in Dessau. Intended to be the last word in contemporary modernist living, the block of flats was aimed at young professionals. It contained 22 single flats, four double flats, three studio flats, staff quarters, kitchens and a large garage. Services included shoe cleaning, laundry, bed making and food sent up by a dumb waiter at the spine of the building. In 1937, a restaurant and bar designed by Marcel Breuer and Maxwell Fry named the Isobar – located on the ground floor with a decked outdoor area - was added to the complex. Its first manager was Philip Harben, who after World War II became the first TV celebrity chef at the BBC. Pritchard also set up a supper club called The Half Hundred Club, so named because it could have no more than 25 members who could bring 25 guests. They dined either at the Isobar, at Pritchard's penthouse flat in the Isokon building or at more exotic locations, such as London Zoo. The flats and the Isobar became famous as a centre for intellectual life in north London. Residents included the novelist Agatha Christie and her husband, the archeologist Max