Modernist Delights

Dunelm House behind Kingsgate Bridge, Durham, 2023

A large, angular concrete pedestrian bridge crosses over a lush river, supported by V-shaped pillars. Behind it, a modernist grey building with angular rooftops sits among dense green trees under a bright blue sky with scattered clouds.

Sir Thomas White Building was an Arup design, which made me realise I never posted this – Kingsgate Bridge, the last structure designed by Ove Arup.

Sir Thomas White Building, St John’s College, Oxford, 2025

A small car park with several cars is surrounded by older brick buildings with ivy on the left and modern windowed buildings ahead. Trees and greenery line the area. A white barrier and a “danger” sign are visible in the foreground. The sky is overcast.

A modern concrete and stone building with angular windows and vertical supports stands beside a cobblestone path, bordered by a stone wall. Lush green trees partially obscure the structure, and the sky is overcast.

A concrete and stone building with tall, narrow windows and vertical, ribbed concrete supports on the facade. The structure has a modern, brutalist style and is partially shaded by a leafy tree on the right. Sunlight appears from the upper left corner.

A close-up of a brutalist building features large concrete bay windows with black frames and curtains drawn inside. Moss grows on ledges, and leafy green trees are visible on the left side, adding contrast to the angular concrete structure.

Brutalist Five Guys (Oxenford House), Oxford, 2025

A beige, modernist building with five rows of square windows is shown. The ground floor has a FIVE GUYS sign. Reflections of trees and a church tower are visible in the windows. The sky is cloudy.

Central Backpackers Hostel, Oxford, 2025

The photo is set on a city street, capturing the street, pavement, and a single bollard in the middle of the shot, and shows the entrance to a hostel. A square section of a large, white, unassuming brick wall is painted bright baby blue, with yellow and dark red detailing. A dark red diamond above the make-shift entrance arch reads OXFORD BACKPACKERS in a whimsical font.

They could be handing out free concrete in there, you are NOT getting me into a hostel for love nor money.

Rewley Road fire station, Oxford, 2025

A side on view of a 3 storey building. It features an external concrete frame grid, with the spaces in-between built from brick. Some of the slots created by the grid feature windows instead, with one full height window on the ground floor, and some half height, thin framed windows above. The building is set against a cloudy sky. In front of it, a man walks.

Corner-on shot of a 3 storey concrete framed brick building. In the background of the shot, the building extends into what is clearly recognisable as the red shutters of a fire station, separated by an external concrete frame. The bulding is set against a cloudy grey sky, with some grass and a road in the foreground.

This photo focuses on the fire station garage, with 6 red shutters for fire truck, framed by an external concrete frame painted white.

The Point, Milton Keynes, 2025

Photo of a cascading landscape reflective glass building, with an external metal structure. Above the main entrance, there is a dilapidated billboard. In front of the building, there is a range of street furniture, such as a kiosk, bins, and a telephone box.

Photo of a cascading multi-storey glass pyramid. This photo is angled looking up from one of the points of the external metal structure defining the pyramid and anchoring it to the ground.

A spiral staircase at the side of a cascading multi-storey reflective glass pyramid. The staircase contrasts sharply against the cloudy sky, spiralling twice before a long narrow section leading into the building.

A more distant shot, set in a car park, of the cascading multi-storey reflective glass pyramid building set against a dramatic cloudy sky.

Gate House, Clerkenwell, London, 2025

6 storey 1960's office building with an exposed concrete frame and a column of mosaic detailing above the main entrance, as well as a to let sign. The front face of the building features a geometric graph of thin-frame aluminium windows. In the foreground of the picture, roadworks.

Cater House, Chelmsford, 2025

Ground-level shot of a mid-height 1960's concrete building, with a large mass at ground level and the next few storeys extending higher in a more narrow mass. On the lowest level there are shops, as well as some graffiti. Above, the next two storeys are hidden behind concrete panels, with the level above featuring a visible fence around it, suggesting a roof terrace. The actual concrete block is fairly typical for its age, but interestingly featuring a concrete relief on one size, and an external staircase on the other.

Ground-level shot of a mid-height concrete building, featuring a relief sculpture on the side.

Cater House, the 1960’s-built head office of the Cater Brothers supermarket chain, now converted to general retail & housing. Featuring a Mitzi Cunliffe relief on the side. Sadly now missing the very of-the-era Cater House signage, presumably removed during the conversion to housing.

Embassy Court, Brighton, 2025

Front on shot of a 9-storey art deco building, painted white. Beside it on the left are smaller, older buildings, and to the right the windows of the building curve to the other side.

A corner-on shot of an art deco building with a square mass, painted white. It is surrounded by smaller, younger buildings. The main body of the building has 9 storeys, with the top 3 storeys receding back from the main body of the building. Each floor of the building features windows, with interspaced balconies.

Rear elevation, Royal Mail Sorting Office, Brighton, 2025

A plain concrete building featuring 7 sets of thin-framed windows with a concrete column inbetween each, except the 8th, which is a little further away with no column (and a passageway underneath). The lower part of the building has been painted white, although this is quite faded and irregular.

A front-on shot of a concrete building. The lower half of the building features a passageway, with a somewhat art deco canopy and column. Just above it is some graffiti, and a thin-framed window panelled window.

“Should I post the Brighton sorting office, or something from Manchester today?” I ask.

“I don’t think you could fit the whole Brighton sorting office in a postbox,” my boyfriend helpfully suggests.

Latest posts