Short answers, pulled from the story.
Doris and Muriel Lester opened Kingsley Hall in 1915 by purchasing an old chapel on the corner of Eagling Road. Their grandfather Henry Lester began life as a bricklayer's labourer at age eight while their father worked at the Thames Ironworks starting at ten years old.
The new facility on Powis Road opened on the 15th of September 1928 after a stone-laying ceremony took place on the 14th of July 1927. Architect Charles Cowles-Voysey designed the structure that included residential cells, a clubroom, dining room, kitchen, office, and worship space.
Mahatma Gandhi resided at Kingsley Hall for three months in 1931 while staying in a small cell-bedroom on the roof. He walked along the canal talking to workmen every morning before dawn and spent time visiting the Nursery School daily with children calling him Uncle Gandhi.
R.D. Laing and colleagues used Kingsley Hall from 1965 to 1970 as home to the Philadelphia Association running one of psychiatry's most radical experiments. The project wound up after five years due to hostility from the local community leading to regular reports of harassment and the hall eventually boarding up.
The hall was designated a Grade II listed building in September 1973 protecting its historical significance. This status ensures preservation of the structure that served as a permanent community center after the General Strike of 1926 ended.