100 Buildings 100 Years

1952: Stockwell Bus Garage, London

Status: Listed Grade II*
Condition: Good condition
Architect: Adie, Button and Partners
Owners: Transport for London
Location: Binfield Road, London, SW4 6ST

Stockwell Bus Garage, opened on 2nd April 1952, was designed to hold up to two hundred vehicles serving a variety of central and south west London routes.

Listed Grade 11* in 1988 it is one of the finest examples of post war modernist architecture and follows directly on from the Dome of Discovery at the Festival of Britain in the preceding year. The Underground Group of Companies, which was assumed into London Transport in 1933 had a proud tradition of ensuring that form followed function in an elegant style.

The 393 ft long roof is supported by ten shallow “two-hinged” arched ribs. The cantilevered barrel vaults have skylights running the full width of the garage which together with windows in the side walls and wide entrances bathes the interior with natural light. Seen from above this gives the impression of a line of dolphins diving in unison. At street level the outward-leaning buttresses appear to effortlessly support the curved roof.

by Nicholas Bennett

Listing description