Berea Court : 399 Berea Road
Architects : Langton & Barbourne
1935

Berea Court was designed by the same team that had earlier designed Surrey Mansions. This building was completed a year later. Although the two buildings share the same architects they are very different in atmosphere. Berea Court is more domestic and more spacious. All the flats have their entrance around an open airy courtyard. Each front door has leaded glass windows that depict Durban scenes eg. a ship entering the harbour between the Bluff and the Point and a 1930's aeroplane flying over the city. The foyer is still in good condition with many of the original light fittings still in place. A new Art Deco security gate has recently been constructed and installed which is sympathetic to the building's design.

The exterior decoration has a number of African references. Examples include the lions heads mounted on a geometric baseplates at the buildings crown and eagle overflow pipe gargoyles. The building also contains a lot of geometric stucco detailing.

A drawback that Berea Court faces is its present day location on a very busy intersection. It also over looks an arterial route into the city. Consequently the building is bombarded by car fumes and noise; hardly a tranquil setting for a home.