Every so often a book appears that just hits all the targets. This is one of them. You might think it a dry subject – deck access housing! – but you would be wrong.

The book consists of three main sections: history, case studies and design guide. Olcayto’s history of the type is an exemplary piece of research and writing, well illustrated. Starting with one of the all-time great Victorian projects, the 1849 Streatham Street ‘Model Dwellings’ by Henry Roberts, he works his way through to the current examples such as Apparata’s House for Artists of 2021, both in London.

In between we get a rundown of Futurist dreams from Marinetti and Sant’Elia, Fiat’s Lingotto ‘racetrack on the roof’ building, the Isokon flats by Wells Coates, and the post-war boom in messianic visions from the likes of Le Corbusier, the Smithsons and the monumental, reified dream of Park Hill in Sheffield.

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