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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64 Essex Road, Islington, London, 2025

Three-storey brick building with large vertical windows, geometric brick pattern around windows, a grocery shop named Mint Organic at street level. Several people stand and walk near the entrance. Bicycles are parked outside. The number 64 is visible.

Former Victorian warehouse with an attractive brick façade.

199-200 Upper Street, Islington, London, 2025

A four-storey modern building with circular windows, metallic panels, and a central frame. Ground level has shops including American Dry Cleaning Company. Two people stand outside; a street lamp and kiosk are visible.

An alien spacecraft has landed in Islington – even extraterrestrials can see the opportunities in London’s red hot property market.

If this Rightmove listing is anything to go by, you couldn’t swing a cat in the kitchen, but the living room with the large terrace is to die for.

Signage, boundary of Freeman’s Wood, Lancaster, 2026

A red, hand-painted sign with white text hangs on a tall metal fence surrounded by greenery, plants, and trees. The sign reads: They hang the man & flog the woman that steals the goose from off the common but let the greater villain loose that steals the common from the goose

They hang the man & flog the woman that steals the goose from off the common

But let the greater villain loose that steals the common from the goose

Islington Fire Station, London, 2025

Modern brick fire station with five red-and-white garage doors, blue window frames, projecting blue-finished windows above, and vertical blue glass panels on the left. Two people walk outside on the pavement; a bare tree stands to the left of the entrance.

Designed by the Fire Brigade’s in-house architect, Peter J Smith, built in 1992. I would normally dislike many of its’ individual features (blue window frames? No, thank you), but as a whole it’s totally whimsical.

Lloyds Bank, Upper Street, Islington, London, 2025

Three city buildings: a white OFFICE shoe shop, a grey LLOYDS BANK with glass doors and steps, and a brown-brick Holland & Barrett. People walk by on the pavement; leafless trees stand in front. Sky is cloudy.

If anybody knows what sign once hung in the now-ghostly position at the top of the building, please let me know or it’ll bug me forever.

Diespeker Wharf, Islington, London, 2025

A three-storey brick building with DIESPEKER CO LTD painted in large white letters, featuring arched windows, a main entrance with glass doors, and greenery in front. The sky is partly cloudy, and a modern building adjoins it on the right.

Victorian (so much for the delights being modernist) former timber mill & terrazzo and marble manufacturing warehouse.

Jessop Court, Islington, London, 2025

A red canal boat floats on a calm canal in front of a two-storey brick cottage and a tall, modern block of flats. Trees with autumn leaves border the water, and a white van is parked beside the cottage. The sky is cloudy.

A three-storey block of flats with frosted glass balcony railings, white doors, and windows. Some balconies have planters, potted plants, or washing hanging. There is greenery, including a pine tree, in front of the building. The sky is partly cloudy.

A tall, plain concrete block of flats with white-framed windows stands between two other buildings. The entrance is at the bottom, surrounded by greenery, overgrown plants, and a small fenced-off area in the foreground. The sky above is partly cloudy.

A brown brick block of flats with balconies and a blue hospital sign is seen on a sunny day. Parked cars line the street, and trees with autumn leaves stand nearby. The sky is partly cloudy, and a tall, modern building is visible in the background.

A five-storey block of flats with beige and brown brick sections, large windows, and balconies. Leafy trees stand nearby. The sign reads Assup Court. The sky is partly cloudy and there’s a paved pavement in front.

Previously seen in the spring of 2025.

Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, 2019

A modern cathedral with a circular tower topped by spires, wide concrete steps leading to a large entrance with a cross above, and a glass-walled structure to the left. The sky is mostly clear with patches of cloud.

I was planning a long-awaited return to Liverpool tomorrow, but unfortunately I’ve put my back out 💔

Duncan Street, Islington, 2025

Three-storey brick building with shops at street level, including a hair salon, Double Knot, and Kall kwik. Stairs lead to entrances. Leafless tree branches overhang above. A School road sign is visible. Windows reflect trees. The pavement is mostly empty.

Time to confess my secret fondness for split-level buildings. They remind me of such structures in the homeland, where shops may be on ground and first floors, the latter accessed by an external walkway, streets-in-the-sky style.

The rear of this row of buildings has garages on the ground floor with three floors above, where the front only has two, seemingly with no change in elevation. I assumed the flats, internally, would also feature some split-level malarkey, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Instead, a Rightmove listing for one of the flats reveals another fun feature – top floor flats feature private courtyards in the centre of the building.

Notice, too, the brick benches built in between sets of steps.