Cathedrals everywhere for those with eyes to see.

Modernist Delights is a blog about modernist and brutalist architecture. Find out more.

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Preston Telephone Exchange, 2025

A mid-century modern building with red brick and large glass windows stands next to an older blue-panelled structure. The building has four storeys, a covered entrance, and greenery growing in front on the right side.

A concrete shelter with a slanted roof overlooks a weathered bench and brick pavement. Overgrown plants climb nearby fences. In the background, red and grey block of flats and dense green trees are visible under a cloudy sky.

A gated alleyway with brick and concrete walls, topped with barbed wire, features a large white sign reading PEDESTRIANS CROSSING THE YARD MUST EXERCISE CARE. An old metal door and a small warning sign are also visible. A pillow lies on the ground.

A glass skybridge connects two multi-storey buildings, one with red brick and the other with dark panels and blue-framed windows. A round-topped streetlamp stands below; in the background, another pale, windowed building is visible under a cloudy sky.

Humane Building, Preston, 2025

The 18^th and 19^th century site of the Roast Beef Inn, replaced in 1926 by the premises of the “Preston Humane Assurance Collecting Society”. The building features pleasant although deteriorating cream tiling on the first floor of its facade. In 2025, it is the premises of Mr. Booze Express and the Rotana Restaurant & Cafe.

Lancashire Archives, Preston, 2025

A modern building with large, reflective glass windows forms an elevated walkway supported by pillars. Below, a paved courtyard with a bench and planter is visible. Lush green trees and a cloudy sky are seen in the background.

View through a window of a modern building with large glass panels and a rectangular courtyard. The courtyard has paving, parking spaces with yellow lines, pillars, a bench, and trees reflected in the reflective glass façade. Sky is overcast.

A glass wall reveals a concrete staircase with a wooden handrail inside a building. Two wooden benches are in the foreground outside, with some plants between them. Reflections and vertical window dividers are visible on the glass.

Signage outside Penzance railway station, 2025

A grey, overcast day at a stone railway station with tall chimneys. Outside, there are modern metal sculptures shaped like railway signals, benches, signs for buses and the town, and a palm tree. A person with a suitcase walks towards the entrance.

The opposite of minimalism.

World War II pillbox, Peaked Tor Cove, Torquay, 2025

A concrete structure with graffiti sits on a wooded slope overlooking a calm body of water. Dense green trees and bushes frame the scene, whilst clouds scatter across a blue sky. Distant land is visible across the water.

A concrete and brick structure stands among dense greenery. Graffiti, including the word “OAKS,” is spray-painted on the wall. Metal railings and stone steps lead up to the building. The blue sky with clouds is visible above the trees.

Holiday pictures of World War II brick pillboxes: 2
Holiday pictures of my partner and I: 1

These structures formed part of Torbay Home Guard’s World War 2 defences. From here, sea mines protecting Torquay Harbour could be remotely detonated in the event of an attack.

The Imperial Hotel & environs, Torquay, 2025

A large white hotel named “The Imperial Hotel,” with multiple storeys and blue awnings at the entrance. Several cars, including an orange pick-up truck and a small grey car, are parked out front. Flagpoles with flags and palm trees are near the entrance.

A low, flat-roofed concrete car park with a red and white barrier at the entrance. Trees and bushes partially surround the building, and the sky above is partly cloudy with patches of blue visible. Gravel covers the foreground ground.

A rectangular vent with geometric concrete designs sits in a rough, pebbled grey wall. Bare vines criss-cross the vent, and cables run below it. Green spiky plant leaves partially obscure the right side of the image.

1860’s hotel with a faded 1960’s exterior, pleasantly squat multistorey car fortress, and decorative vents.

Cotswold House, Torquay, 2025

A large, grey, concrete office building with four storeys of windows is shown under a partly cloudy sky. Cars are parked in front at ground level, where a sign reading Cotswold is visible above a parking area.

A black car is parked beside an empty parking space with a metal barrier. Behind them is a building with large windows, visible stairs inside, grey brick and concrete walls, and a CCTV camera above the middle window. Trees are on the right edge.

A grey concrete office building with rows of windows is shown. Three cars are parked in front, and a stairway is seen at the left. Trees and blue sky with clouds appear above the roof, and sunlight highlights parts of the building.

Largely anonymous 60’s/70’s Department for Work and Pensions call centre, replacing an “elegant” 1840s villa of the same name. Nonetheless, there is something pleasing about a building fitting in so well into a hilly area.

Central Church, Torquay, 2025

A modern concrete church with a large grid-like tower and central cross stands at a street corner. Steps lead to the entrance labelled Central Church. A person in an orange top walks nearby. Older stone buildings and a church spire are visible in the background.

A modern concrete church with a tall, geometric façade featuring grids and a large cross at the top. The entrance has glass doors and a sign reading “Central Church.” The sky is blue with scattered clouds. Potted flowers decorate the entrance area.

A tall, narrow window set in a textured, grey concrete block wall. The window is framed with a simple concrete border and casts a shadow. Light and shadow highlight the rough, grid-like pattern of the blocks. The ground below is worn and partially shaded.

A concrete sign reads CENTRAL CHURCH with METHODIST & UNITED REFORMED underneath. A white board advertises Sunday worship at 10.30 am and Holy Communion, listing contact details for the minister and room lettings. Shrubs are in front.

A brutalist building with textured concrete walls, narrow vertical windows, and angular forms stands under a partly cloudy sky. Two spiky-leaved palm trees cast shadows on the facade, and steps lead up to the main entrance from a sloped pavement.

A concrete garage with vertical metal doors is set into a stone building. Yellow hazard tape blocks the entrance, and there are parked cars and residential houses to the right. The sky is partly cloudy.

A building with steps leading to the entrance.

What great luck to simply happen upon such a beautiful building. The striking tower signifies the union of three previous churches which united in order to build a new church fit for modern day needs. Designed by Edward Narracott, Tanner and André, built 1975.

Fun fact from the church website’s history section:

The Hall is high enough to be used for championship badminton.

Zion Methodist Church, Torquay, 2025

A modern building with copper cladding and large windows is attached to an older stone structure. Two vehicles, a white van and a silver car with a yellow number plate, are parked in front. A jet ski is parked beside bins near a stone wall. Trees rise behind the building.

I’m all for converting vacant buildings into housing, but fucking hell, this carbuncle stopped me in my tracks!

Millennium Bridge at 25, Lancaster, 2026

A modern cable-stayed footbridge stretches over a calm river at sunset, with orange and pink clouds filling the sky. Trees and buildings line the riverbanks, and a paved walkway follows the water’s edge on the left side of the image.

Happy birthday, bridge! Lancaster’s Millennium Bridge opened on this day 25 years ago, and celebrated with a beautiful winter sunset on my way back from the supermarket.