#brutalism — Modernist Delights

Baynard House, City of London, 2025

A building with 4 floors of continuous thin-framed aluminium windows, as well as vertical ribbed concrete between each floor. At the bottom, a series of metal horizontal vents and an entrance to an underground carpark.

The building was designed by William Holford incorporating a separation of pedestrians from streets, with a first-floor adjoining walkway along Queen Victoria Street that connects to Blackfriars station.
Baynard House, London – Wikipedia

Streets in the sky! Definitely one to go back to. It is, however, a nightmare to photograph, owing to the coach parking out front.

Exeter Switching Centre seen from Exeter Central railway station, 2021

A railway station platform with a metal footbridge overhead, a large concrete building in the background, and a white sign displaying the number 15 near the tracks. The station appears empty and the sky is overcast.

Photomator randomly opened to this photo I never posted, so I guess it’s fate.

Holder Building, Oxford, 2025

View looking up between two Brutalist buildings connected by two elevated walkways, one with glass panels and another with a curved metal covering. The buildings have rough concrete and brick textures, with some windows and vents visible. Trees can be seen below.

A large concrete building with four storeys of horizontal windows, each floor lined with continuous glass panels. The structure has a tall, plain stairwell tower on the left and is surrounded by dense green foliage and some red-leaved bushes in front.

A tall, modern concrete building with narrow vertical windows and textured walls. The facade features glass panels with horizontal metal dividers. A transparent, curved canopy is in the foreground, and leafy branches appear on the right side.

Concrete steps with a metal railing lead to a glass entrance door framed in dark red, set in a modern concrete building. The wall on the right is textured. Large windows above reflect another building. A ramp runs beside the steps.

A low-angle view of a tall, grey concrete building with narrow, rectangular windows. Green leafy trees partially frame the lower right and left edges, and the sky is partly cloudy in the background.

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.

Cromwell Tower, Barbican Estate, London, 2025

In the foreground of the picture, the Barbican Centre is visible, with a white-clad cafe to the right, a round staircase clad in darkened glass, and 3 concrete ventilation towers. In the background, against a dark blue sky, a concrete tower block rises.

Details at the Barbican Estate, London, 2025

A sunlit shot of balconies covered with shutters on a curved building at the Barbican Estate. Most of the shutters are closed, but on the floor which is in the middle of the shot, several of them are open to differing degrees.

A sunlit ground-level shot of the corner of one of the towers at the Barbican Estate. In the centre of the image, the inflecting shape of the concrete balconies is captured. Several floors in the middle of the bulding are visible.

A ground-level shot of one of the concrete towers at the Barbican Estate. Many floors repeat up towards the top of the image, with the shapes of balconies visible.

Close up of 4 concrete balconies, with blue metal and glass balustrades. Behind each, are some rectangular brown windows and bright red doors. The shot is taken from ground level, looking up at the balconies, filling the image geometrically.

A shot of the Barbian Estate, with multiple parts of it visible. In the foreground, on the left, the edge of one of the buildings with corridors and stairways visible, as well as a concrete ventilation shaft on the right. Across the middle of the shot, a covered glass walkway. In the back, another concrete shaft and the conservatory.

A multi-coloured contraption for holding bike locks, mounted against a red wall. It has several sections, all of different colours, with labels in different fonts and of different ages. Some have bike locks attached to them.

Front-on close up of the Seddon House at the Barbican Estate, focusing on the ground floor and the 4 floors above that.

Heatwave at the Barbican Estate, 2025

A wide geometric shot of flats at the Barbican estate. In the background, more modern glass buildings of central London. In the foreground, a fountain with water flowing into the pool beneath.

Wide shot showing many features of the Barbican estate. From left to right: Guildhall School of Music and Drama, an algae-green pool, a tall tower, a shorter tower with view of its balconies, and the main Barbican library building.

A shot from one of the balconies at the Barbican estate. In the very front of the shot, the concrete balcony is out of focus. Further out, there is a tree, a pool green with algae, and even further back, one of the apartment buildings and the modern glass buldings of the City of London in the background.

A shot of the Barbican estate, featuring greenery in the very foreground, followed by Barbican buildings further back, and the glass buildings of the City of London in the very background.

A shot of balconies, mostly covered with wooden shutters, at the circle-shaped building at the Barbican estate. In the foreground, concrete planters.

A ground-level shot looking up at one of the buildings at the Barbican estate, showing 6 floors of balconies full of plants.

A shot of one of the covered walkways of the Barbican. It is fairly dark, with light only coming in at the back of the image, where silhouettes of two people can be seen standing.

Concrete ramp, London Euston station, 2025

A ramp with short sides made of concrete. In the sky, the sun is breaking through the clouds. There are trains either way of the ramp, as well as other central London buildings in the background.

As the train snaked its’ way through outer London, I thought to myself “how long until I find some concrete to photograph” – turns out, I only needed to wait until it pulled into Euston and I caught glimpse of this ramp, once used for British Rail’s Red Star Parcels service, in the moody summer sundown.