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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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.

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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.

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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.

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Plymouth railway station car fortress, 2025

A multi-storey concrete car park with vertical pillars and a circular ramp is shown under a cloudy sky. A covered pay station and pavement are in front; trees and buildings are visible to the right and behind the structure.
A symmetrical section of a multi-storey car park features a central brick stairwell with windows and a blue door, flanked by open concrete parking bays. Several parked cars and a cloudy sky are visible. The setting appears urban and utilitarian.

It’s remiss of me to have been to the station so many times, but never to have taken a picture of Intercity House before it was redeveloped.

…the new station with its large office block, ‘Intercity House’, was formally opened by Dr Richard Beeching, the British Railways Chairman, on 26 March 1962.

Plymouth railway station, Wikipedia

What a privilege!

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Exhibition: Architecture for the People, Manchester Central Library

A hand-drawn architectural plan shows a cross-section of a multi-storey triangular building. The plan is pinned to a wall, surrounded by black-and-white architectural photographs and yellow notes, one labelled “DOMESTIC” in uppercase letters.
A display board shows six architectural drawings and photos of an airport extension. Some images are sketches of roads and terminals, others are black-and-white construction photos or site plans. A yellow label reads AIRPORT EXTENSION. 1972 at the bottom.
A collage of six photos shows the construction and celebration of a Chinatown gate and pavilion. Four are black-and-white images of the building process, and two are colour photos of finished structures and a street festival crowd. A note reads CHINATOWN 1986-87.

Architecture for the People, a free exhibition at Manchester Central Library, showcases the city’s own City Architect’s Department and the incredible range of municipal buildings they designed between 1902 and 2003 — from iconic landmarks like the Free Trade Hall to everyday essentials such as schools, libraries, public baths and even mortuaries.

I’ve been taking notes — I’m looking forward to seeing a few modernist buildings designed by the department I didn’t hitherto know about.

The exhibition is curated by Martin Dodge (University of Manchester) and Richard Brook (Lancaster University). It’s on display for just a few more weeks, until 28 February, so don’t miss it.

Find out more
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Colin Campbell House & Habitat sign, Plymouth, 2025

A weathered, grey art deco building with teal vertical accents houses a City Furnishers Shop beneath a white awning. Some windows are broken or have bars, and a yellow To Let sign is visible. The sky above is cloudy and dark.
A concrete sign reading “habitat” is bent at a sharp angle on a city street. Two wooden bar stools sit in front of it. Behind, there are old grey buildings, a parked white car, and signs for a casino, all under a partly cloudy sky.

The building, which once housed a car showroom and later a Habitat store, a bookshop, and a furniture shop, failed to secure a heritage listing in 2016, but survived the threat of demolition. It remains one of the few examples of art deco architecture in Plymouth which survived the Blitz. The current tenants of the building have been told to vacate the premises just last week, with the building up for refurbishment into housing. Bring on the uPVC!

Hopefully the sign will be saved – for one, it would look great in my office.

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