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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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.

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!

Mayflower House, Plymouth, 2025

A large, weathered, grey building with many windows stands behind a construction site. Workers, machinery, and building materials are scattered around the site. Some trees and patches of earth are visible. The sky above is cloudy with patches of blue.

Entrance to Harwell Court, Plymouth, 2025

A narrow brick walkway labelled “ENTRANCE TO HARWELL COURT” in yellow letters leads through a gap between two buildings, one painted white, one brick. A blue wall with graffiti is visible at the end. Shops border both sides of the entrance.

Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, London, 2025

A brutalist concrete building with angular shapes houses the Hayward Gallery. A sign above a ramp reads Hayward Gallery. A large billboard advertises a NARA exhibition. Several white vans are parked below; the sky is overcast.

To celebrate the Grade II listing of the Southbank Centre.

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

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.