The Twentieth Century Society

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Turned Down

Bletchley Leisure Centre, Milton Keynes; Faulkner-Brown Architects, 1973-6, unlisted

The Society thought this purpose-built leisure centre, with its GRP pyramid, was an exemplary building of the 1970s. English Heritage unfortunately found the building too altered—the loss of the landscaping in particular, seems to have been key to the decision. “Although an early example of a 1970’s leisure centre”, EH stated in the decision letter, “this remains a relatively commonplace type of public building”.

Galleon Bar, Baronial Hall and Spanish Hall, Blackpool Winter Gardens, North Shore Promenade, Blackpool, Lancashire; 1931, J C Derham & Andrew Mazzei, Grade II*

The Winter Gardens has been refused an upgrade, though the list description has been entirely revised to include more detail on all the key C20 spaces as we had requested.

Trinity Square Car Park, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear; Owen Luder Partnership, 1964-9, unlisted

Local group, RealTyne put this building forward a third and (probably final) time last year. Painstaking research, centred largely on refuting EH’s contention that the centre was ‘typical’ was submitted by the group—the Society supported the findings. Unfortunately, EH has once again advised not to list—leaving the way now clear for the long-promised demolition.

Top of the Town Nightclub, 73-91 Great Russell Street, Northampton; J. Roscoe Partnership, 1977, unlisted

In its listings refusal, English Heritage concluded that the distinctive glass-reinforced plastic club was not of a high quality and that its entire original interior had been stripped out. The building was demolished in June to make way for a new office and residential development.

Brixton Market Arcades, Lambeth, London; Reliance Arcade (1923), Market Row (1928), Granville Arcade (1935), unlisted

The Society is disappointed that English Heritage has rejected all three of the covered arcades for listing. Despite their high historical significance, the assessor felt that they were ‘late and architecturally undistinguished’ shopping arcades. The covered markets are the literal and cultural centre of the Brixton Conservation Area; they are urgently under threat of redevelopment as planners seek to wreck the market by turning it into yet another multi-purpose shopping complex overshadowed by high-rise residential blocks. The Society will be campaigning at every step to ensure that this flourishing and popular market is safeguarded

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