#housing — Modernist Delights

Mulberry Street, Manchester, 2025

A two-storey brick building with tall windows, wooden and shingle details, and a decorative green metal archway beside a black garage door. The building is flanked by older red-brick structures and a black streetlamp stands in front. Parked cars line the street.

Walking out of my hotel, I found this charmingly detailed building, featuring horizontal brickwork on the ground floor, and wooden panelling and shingles on the first floor. Appearing to be used as a dwelling, I was surprised to see it amongst much larger, and much older (not least St Mary’s RC Church of 1794, next door but one) buildings, as well as modern 21st century high rises of central Manchester.

Mulberry Passage, which passes underneath it, is also part of a network of passages decorated with public art in tribute to scientist John Dalton.

Chichester House, Plymouth, 2025

Tall, modern block of flats with brown brick exterior and white window frames. The block has around 15 storeys and is set against a partly cloudy, sunny sky. Cars, including a red van, are parked at the base near a black metal fence.

Designed by BA Searle, opened 1968.

Leigham Court, Plymouth, 2025

A large, grey, four-storey block of flats with many rectangular windows. The façade is plain and made of concrete bricks. A car park is visible below, with a red car parked on the left. The sky is cloudy and other buildings are partly visible nearby.

A five-storey, grey brick apartment building with large rectangular windows, some protruding in box-like frames. Double glass doors mark the entrance, with a sign reading “Osney Court” above. A bush with orange flowers grows on the right, under a partly cloudy sky.

A five-storey grey brick block of flats with large pane windows, some open. Bushes and small shrubs line the base. The building sits between a pale yellow house and another structure. A blue plaque is visible on the wall, and the sky is partly cloudy.

A grey brick building with vertical slits, a blue English Heritage plaque above, and a No Parking sign on the wall. Decorative concrete blocks are to the left, a bush with green leaves in the foreground, and windows near the top.

Finally, a building so unremarkable that I couldn’t find any historical information about it! However, the ground-level details still appealed to me.

The blue plaque is dedicated to Alison Vickers Garland, a suffragist whose family home stood on this site.

Shirley Towers, Torquay, 2025

A sunny street scene features people walking past colourful shops and cafés on the ground floor of older buildings. Modern blocks of flats rise in the background under a bright blue sky with scattered clouds. A silver car is parked near the pavement.

View of a coastal town with hillside buildings, including tall modern flats among trees, older houses below, a prominent brick wall in the foreground, and a marina with many boats on the right, under a partly cloudy sky.

Built 1963-6, designed by Alec C. French & Partners. Shirley Towers will be my drag name when I grow up.

A spiral staircase not obscured by a wall in the Docklands, London, 2025

A modern white building with a central cylindrical glass tower enclosing a spiral staircase. The building has symmetrical rectangular windows and balconies on both sides. The sky above is overcast with grey clouds.

Throwback to the same staircase from 2024 – en route to a café, I incidentally approached Barrier Point from the other side, and there it was!

Buxton House & Huddersfield city centre, 2025

A tall, grey concrete block of flats with many windows stands behind a modern entrance labelled Buxton Way. The structure has a Brutalist architectural style, with boxy shapes and minimal decoration, beneath a partly cloudy blue sky.

A tall, brown and grey block of flats with many rectangular windows rises into a blue sky. At the base, a geometric mosaic art piece decorates the wall, featuring intersecting triangles in shades of blue, yellow, brown, and cream.

A Brutalist concrete building with tall, narrow vertical elements and dark stains beneath the windows. A modern block of flats is visible in the background, and a leafy tree is on the right under a partly cloudy blue sky.

A grey, weathered concrete building with narrow vertical windows is partially shaded by leafy trees. At street level, there are red and blue shop signs, including one reading Bargains. The sky above is bright and partly cloudy.

Arena House, Letchworth Garden City, 2025

A front-on shot of a short and wide three storey building, with shops on the bottom floor and housing above. Cars are parked in front of the shops. The flats above feature almost full height, full width tall and narrow windows on their front. Trees partially frame the scene.

A three-storey red brick building with large glass windows, some open and covered by curtains. A black SUV is parked in front. Partially visible brick wall and a person walking on the right. Sky is bright with scattered clouds.

A two-storey building with large glass windows and a red roof. Ground floor shops include “Polos INTERFOODS” and “The Photo Shop.” Two white cars are parked in front, and green hedges line the street under a partly cloudy sky.

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.

New and old on Regent’s Canal, Islington, London, 2025

Sunny day on the Regent's Canal, taken from on the water. The foreground features a large, lush green tree. In the middle, there are some 19th century buildings, including a mill and cottage. In the background there is a 1960's mid-rise housing block, all set against a clear blue sky.

I’m not turning this blog into Riparian Delights, I promise. This counts as a Modernist Delight because the housing block in the back is Jessop Court, built 1969. Diespeker Wharf, a Victorian former timber mill & terrazzo and marble manufacturer, and an early 19th century wharf-keeper’s cottage.