#brutalism — Page 4 of 5 — Modernist Delights

Reading: The Council House by Jack Young

A book titled The Council House lies on a wooden floor. The cover features a photograph of a modernist building with concrete and glass panels. The book is published by Hoxton Mini Press, as indicated at the bottom of the cover.

An open book lies on a wooden surface, displaying a page titled 36 Broadwater Farm Estate with descriptive text on the left and a photograph of modern, angular grey buildings surrounded by greenery on the right.

Picked this up on a whim at the Barbican Shop after my last visit, and I’m glad I did. There’s a lot to enjoy here, all of it absolutely beautifully photographed. All my faves are at the beginning, so read in reverse if you want to finish on a high.

Links (affiliate): Amazon UK (£15.35), Bookshop.org (£18.95)

Bank, Halifax, 2024

A three-story HSBC UK bank building with a grid of large windows is shown. People and vehicles, including a blue car and a white van, are parked in front. A person in an orange vest stands by the bank entrance. The sky is overcast.

Post Office, Windsor, 2024

A three-story building with a Post Office on the ground floor and many windows above. In front, a wooden market stall with a yellow sign sells German sausages. Several people walk along the street in winter clothing under a cloudy sky.

So distracted by the mesmerising repeating aluminium windows of the Windsor Post Office that I completely missed whatever was going on with The Works 💔

Street View to the rescue:

A shopfront with a blue and yellow sign reading TheWorks.co.uk. Sale banners with Union Jack flags fill the wide front windows. Above are rectangular concrete panels and circular openings at the roof. Neighboring shops and a red Post Office sign are visible.

Angel Way car park, Romford, 2024

A multi-story concrete parking garage with a dark brick stairwell stands on a quiet, empty street. There are signs on the building, parked cars at the right, and trees with sparse leaves on both sides. The sky is overcast and gray.

A grey concrete multi-storey car park with open floors stands above the Romford Auction Rooms shop, which displays furniture and goods outside. Bunting hangs above the shop. A leafless tree and a one-way street sign are visible in the foreground.

A multi-story concrete parking garage with red railings, open sides, and multiple empty parking spaces in front. A single blue car is parked on the left. The sky is overcast, and the building has a utilitarian, weathered appearance.

It has all the mod-cons a car park needs:

Season tickets available
Business parking available
“Video surveillance”
Faded red detailing

Salvation Army church, Romford, 2024

A modern church building with tall concrete columns and a cross on top is next to a brick structure with large windows. A Salvation Army sign hangs above the entrance. A flagpole stands in front, and the sky is overcast.

Another thing I love: a rotunda, and even more so: a concrete rotunda.

Barbican Estate, London, 2024

A view from beneath a concrete overhang frames a Brutalist-style building with balconies. Several people walk near parked vans and a red Royal Mail truck. Trees with autumn leaves and a cloudy sky are in the background.

Framed en-route to Farringdon Station from the Beech Street tunnel.

South Western House, Bournemouth, 2024

A narrow city street with a large, aging, gray office building reading South Western House. Shops line both sides, including a blue Leaders real estate office. The street is empty, and sunlight creates sharp shadows. The sky is mostly clear.

When you’re walking down the street and some concrete beauty appears around the corner 😍

Brighthelm Centre, Brighton, 2024

A four-story, weathered brown concrete building with vertical stains stands on a rainy street. The ground floor has a colorful storefront named Astoria with a blue fence beside it. Several cars are parked along the wet road in front of the building.

I’ve risked my last train home out of rainy Brighton to stop and take a picture of this beauty. This is the Brighthelm Centre. I love the textured concrete at the front of the building, and while the brick behind doesn’t do much for me, it certainly makes a great first impression. The cross recessed into the textured concrete is a particularly nice touch.

Ridley Building 1, Newcastle University, 2024

A gray, four-story modern building with many windows stands behind lush green bushes and plants. Yellow flowers and various shrubs grow on tiered garden beds in the foreground. The sky above is overcast and cloudy.

A touch of brutalism framed by vegetation, what else is there to say!

Division House, Sheffield, 2024

Street view of a city with people walking. Foreground buildings have concrete and glass facades, including a shop called MoonKo with a yellow door. The sky is overcast, and there are more modern and older buildings along the busy street.

Division House boasts 39 stylish studios across three floors, delivering a total of 23,713 sq ft of contemporary living space. Conveniently situated in central Sheffield, between Sheffield Hallam University and The University of Sheffield, this development is popular among young professionals and students alike.

– MCR Homes

Who cares! Division House is a concrete (ex-office?) block of rather small proportions, but that makes it all the more charming. Notice the incised triangles in-between the retrofitted windows.

The block next door is good, too, but I couldn’t get a good shot of it. The tower in-between separates the two buildings nicely.