The first entry of C20’s Building of Month was published over 20 years ago, in October 2001. Then chairman Gavin Stamp decided to write about a derelict building instrumental to the foundation of C20 as the Thirties Society in 1979 – Oliver Hill’s modernist Midland Hotel, Morecambe (1933). In 2008, this vast sea fronting complex was refurbished and restored to its original use, which continues today. Since Stamp’s article, Building of the Month has developed into an invaluable platform to document and ultimately help save countless twentieth century buildings in the UK and across the world. In the archive below, you will find over 250 entries spanning more than 30 countries.
Climate and Sustainability
Since 2023, and in the face of the growing climate catastrophe, Building of the Month has focused on twentieth century buildings that were designed with energy efficiency as a major consideration. The buildings selected varied greatly in their approaches. From the BedZED complex in Sutton – a compound of houses and amenities that used reclaimed and recycled materials in its construction – to Eltham’s Street Farmhouse – inspired by political ecology and designed to revolve around regenerative cycles such as the anaerobic digestion process – to the cross-ventilation and night cooling systems of the post-war Solar Campus, Merseyside. The architects of these buildings and others variably addressed the issues of insulation, ventilation, solar gain, renewable energy generation and the conscious minimisation of embodied carbon. Given the importance of all these areas and more, we have decided to continue our environmental theme into 2024.
Our understanding of, and interaction with, the environment is interpreted through multiple different lenses and is undoubtedly embedded in a process of trial and error – of backwards and sideways steps, as well as forward. But in 2024 the chosen buildings will have been designed with the overriding ambition to address climate and sustainability. In its variety, Building of the Month will demonstrate that environmental conscience is not new within the architectural profession. It has been a preoccupation for a very long time.
For pitches, or to discuss ideas, please contact: joe@c20society.org.uk
Joe Mathieson is editor of Building of the Month. He is an Architectural Adviser at the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust and a C20 volunteer.
Peter Aldington, 1964-68 (Listed Grade II*), by Alan Powers In 1964, Peter Aldington was a young architect with one project behind him as an independent practitioner. He was newly married, and looking for somewhere to build his own house in the south...
Sandy and Norris, by Aidan Turner-Bishop This month marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Thirties Society, which was to go on to become the Twentieth Century Society. To celebrate this anniversary November 2009’s Building of the Mont...
McMorran & Whitby, 1960-72, by Edward Denison McMorran & Whitby was among Britain’s most intriguing architectural practices of the 20th century, yet their output remains shamefully unfamiliar. This obscurity was caused largely by their ‘...
Eliel Saarinen, by Brian Carter Winning second prize in the prestigious international competition to design the new Tribune Tower in Chicago in 1922 was a notable achievement for the Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. It was also to be the event that...
Horace Field, by Timothy Brittain-Catlin Rye Hill is the name of the area around the steep road that leads into the picturesque East Sussex town of Rye from the north. To architectural historians it is probably best known for Reginald Blomfield’s ...
Robert Matthew of RMJM, by David Reat Inverkip power station is an oil-fired power station located on the eastern shore of the Firth of Clyde on the west coast of Scotland - between Inverkip and Wemyss Bay in Inverclyde. The coastal location meant...
George Henry Widdows, by Roger Mitchell Ilkeston, overlooking the Erewash Valley in Derbyshire, has a hilltop location which gives prominence to its two tall churches found in the town centre. On its lower western side though, the skyline is marke...
In 1913, a competition was held to design a new building to house the then Belfast Museum and Art Gallery’s expanding collections. James Cumming Wynnes of Edinburgh won the competition judged by Sir J J Burnet, but the First World War delayed const...
Peter Moro, by Alistair Fair The Nottingham Playhouse is widely regarded as one of the best British theatre buildings of its date. Designed by Peter Moro, the co-architect of the Festival Hall (1951), the Playhouse opened in 1963, replacing the cr...
J Seymour Harris Partnership 1968-70, Listed Grade II, by Christopher Marsden In 1959 Huddersfield Corporation sought the comprehensive redevelopment of the town’s centre. Murrayfield Real Estate was the selected developer for much of the area. ...
Anthony Hollaway, by Richard Brook The former University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) campus, now part of the University of Manchester, is home to some of Manchester’s finest 1960s buildings and structures. The sculptu...
Maciej Nowicki, by Andrew Saint Raleigh, North Carolina, is not a prime destination for the architectural globetrotter. Yet it was there at the cumbrously named State Fair Livestock Judging Pavilion, aka the Dorton Arena, aka the ‘Cow Palace’, t...
Bradford Odeon (formerly New Victoria/Gaumont) Words and pictures by Mark Nicholson The Bradford Odeon building currently faces a very uncertain future on two counts. Disused for eight years, the submission of a planning application to demolish it co...
Words and pictures by Professor Alan Pert The Barrowlands, or The Barrowland Ballroom was originally built as a dance hall. It was designed with excellent acoustics for the unamplified orchestras which formerly graced its stage, and a sprung dance fl...
Desmond Rea O'Kelly, completed 1965 Text and photos: Paddy Cahill Dublin, the capital city of the Republic of Ireland, has fewer high-rise buildings than most of its European counterparts. Even so, plans are under way to demolish the cit...
Powell & Moya, 1949 Text and photos by Nevil Hopkins Because of Chichester’s almost overwhelmingly Georgian appearance, it seems an unlikely setting for twentieth century architecture, but there are gems to be found. The most celebrated is wit...
Text and Images by Robert Proctor Despite its sudden expansion in the 1950s with the arrival of the car industry, Leyland remains a pleasant Lancashire town of Victorian terraced cottages and suburban greenery. It would seem an unlikely setting for ...
Text and images by Barnabas Calder This is Cambridge’s most elating piece of Brutalism. No other post-war building in the city has such a Piranesian charge to it, nor such elegantly ostentatious engineering. By the mid 1960s the university had be...
Text and Images by David Walker Kensington & Chelsea Town Hall is often considered the last work of Sir Basil Spence. It was completed on 29 November 1976, ten days after the passing of its architect. But Spence had in fact been commissioned in ...
Austen T Parrott for Widnes Borough Engineers' Department Text and all photos: Eddy Rhead Even its most staunch supporter would be hard pressed to claim that the town of Widnes, on the banks of the River Mersey, is a beautiful place. It is ...
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