The Risk List is the Society’s biannual compilation of the top 10 most threatened twentieth and twenty-first century buildings across the UK.
Our 2023-24 list includes a Bengali women’s centre in London’s East End, a brutalist John Lewis store in Scotland, a set of modernist power station cooling towers in the Midlands, and a 1980’s avant-garde pop pyramid in Milton Keynes, demonstrating the extraordinary breadth of architectural styles that characterised the period.
The Risk List publication – 2023 Issue
The Risk List also encourages members of the public to get involved, with specific actions to help save each building – from writing to an MP or the Secretary of State, to joining grassroots campaigns fighting for their local buildings. In marginal cases, your voice really can make the difference.
View updates on all previous lists below and download our full Risk List publication to get involved!
Ringway Centre, Birmingham - James Roberts, Sydney Greenwood (1958-60) Risk: Total demolition Birmingham’s ribbon-like Ringway Centre was designed by James Roberts and Sydney Greenwood as part of the late 50’s Inner Ring Road scheme. The ...
Scottish Widows headquarters, Edinburgh - Spence, Glover & Ferguson (1972-76) Risk: Total Demolition Built in 1972–76 by the practice of Sir Basil Spence, Glover and Ferguson, the Scottish Widows head offices building received the RIBA Aw...
Museum of London / Bastion House, City of London - Powell & Moya (1977) Risk: Total demolition The first post-war museum to be built in London and the largest urban history museum in the world, the Museum of London was designed when archite...
The Point, Milton Keynes - BDP (1985) Risk: Total demolition Designed by Building Design Partnership, the Point was reputedly inspired by the work of avant guard provocateurs Archigram and became an instant Milton Keynes landmark upon its openi...
Channel 4 Headquarters, Westminster - Richard Rogers (1994) Risk: Redevelopment or alteration The Channel 4 Headquarters (1992-94) at 124 Horseferry Road, Westminster, is undoubtedly one of Richard Rogers’ most significant public commissions ...
Cardiff County Hall, South Glamorgan - County Architect’s Office (1986-87) Risk: Future demolition Designed by J.R.C. Bethell from the County Architect’s Office and built between 1986 and 87, South Glamorgan County Hall was an early keyston...
The Riviera Hotel, Weymouth - L Stewart Smith (1937) Risk: Decline and neglect The Riviera Hotel is a coastal Art Deco delight: A slender square tower is dramatically flanked by two continuous arcs, accommodating some 98 bedrooms over two store...
The Jagonari Centre, Whitechapel - Matrix (1985-87) Risk: Further alteration and loss of features The idea for a Bengali women’s resource centre in London’s East End first emerged in 1982 and following funding support from the GLC (Greater ...
Norco House, Aberdeen – Covell, Matthews & Partners (1966-70) Risk: Substantial demolition Norco House was built in 1966-70 by Covell, Matthews and Partners as a department store for the Northern Co-operative Society. After being acquir...
West Burton cooling towers, Nottinghamshire - Architects Design Group (1961-67) Risk: Total demolition Higher than the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, yet with a concrete hyperbolic paraboloid structure often only seven inches thick, cooling tow...
The future of the Shropshire Council’s modernist HQ, Shirehall, in Shrewsbury, has been the subject of speculation for some years, first around the funding of a multi-million pound refurbishment and more recently around renewed calls to sell the si...
The C20 Society submitted a listing application to safeguard the building following an announcement by Calderdale Council that it planned to build a new sports and leisure centre in the city but this was turned down. C20 feels the reasons given for t...
The Brutalist Derby Assembly Rooms, which contain two concert halls, have been closed for seven years following a minor fire in an adjacent multi storey car park. Derby City Council is now planning to demolish the building, which it says would be too...
Designed and constructed from 1967 to 1979 by Lambeth Architect’s Department under Ted Hollamby, Director of Development and former Borough Architect, this is one of the most exceptional and progressive post-war social housing estates in the UK. Fr...
Overlooking Swansea Bay, this imposing Brutalist style building has been earmarked for demolition by Swansea Council as part of the regeneration of the city centre and waterfront (an initiative called ‘Shaping Swansea’) which would see it replace...
Although the architects, L. K. Watson & H. J. Coates and chief assistant D. S. Knight, are not well known, this is a quality building which is featured in the Pevsner Architectural Guide of East London. Constructed in the 1950s as the headquarter...
The Scottish architectural firm Gillespie, Kidd & Coia constructed this group of five student residence halls in the 1960s. It received a RIBA Bronze Regional Award in 1968 and Listed Grade II* in 1993. The Lawns, located on parkland three and a ...
Earning a footnote in British pop history as being the inspiration behind the name of the band Oasis, this building is of national architectural significance. It is a rare and important survivor of a group of municipal leisure centres developed in En...
A massive planning application by the London based Shearer Property Group and Chapman Taylor architects, in a joint venture with Coventry City Council, would see half of the town centre demolished, obliterating much of what is special about Coventryâ...
City Hall has been the official home of the Greater London Authority since it was opened by the Queen in 2002 and occupies a prominent position on the south bank of the Thames. Designed by Foster & Partners with Arup as the structural engineers, ...
The turrets flanking the entrance to Richmond House are its public face, seen in the background of the Remembrance Day ceremony. Much more lies behind this, including the elaborate cathedral-like staircase with a working portcullis. Architects Willia...
Designed by the specialists in industrial structures, Farmer and Dark, and built between 1965 and 1971, it is one of only three remaining oil-fired power stations in the UK (the others being Bankside, now Tate Modern, and Littlebrook, also under thre...
Opening as recently as 2007, this £13 million final phase of the British Library was designed by Long & Kentish with Colin St John Wilson to provide a world class facility for all aspects of book conservation including education and training and...
Designed in the 1960s by Sir John Burnet, Tait and Partners, the successors to a practice that produced consistently fine and original buildings from the 1880s onwards, Birds Eye was one of the first corporate HQs to be built outside London in the Am...
Built as an Anglican convent in an exceptional Arts and Crafts neo-Tudor style in 1899 by Leonard Stokes. The Gothic convent chapel was added in 1927, designed by Sir Ninian Comper, one of the greatest church architects of the C20th. Tall, long and n...
These two Brutalist buildings make dramatic use of a steeply sloping site facing the sea, just down the coast from Harlech Castle. Coleg Harlech was founded in 1927, based at the Edwardian villa Plas Wernfawr by architect George Walton, in order to...
Designed by Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners in 1987, the 4,180 sq m superstore provides a large, column-free interior. It followed his Sainsbury’s store in Camden Town, currently the subject of a listing application, which was part of an effort by...
‘The best low-cost housing in the world’  was how the American critic G E Kidder-Smith described Alton West, the development in Roehampton, SW London, on the edge of Richmond Park, designed by the London County Council Architects Department in 1...
Designed in 1965 by the architectural practice of Sir Basil Spence, Bonnington and Collins (and attributed to John S. Bonnington), the low informal group is built of brindled brick and red tile. Planned as two linked hexagonal blocks plus a half hexa...
Boasting the widest cinema screen in the country when it opened in 1999, this is an important building in the development of cinema. Designed by Bryan Avery of Avery Associates, the IMAX has won several awards including the Millennium Design Award fr...
Holborn Library was a milestone in the history of the modern public library, both as the first large, multi-functional, post-war library in London and for its pioneering architecture, with an elegant façade, striking entrance canopy and influential ...
Representing an important example of Modern Movement domestic architecture, 60 Hornton Street was designed by architect James Melvin as a home for himself and his wife. Constructed of dark Warnham Wealden stock bricks, the house is served by a lift...
Following a direct hit from a doodle bug in 1944, the brothers Giles and Adrian Gilbert Scott rebuilt St. Leonards Church in a dramatic modernistic Gothic Revival style. This Grade II building of pale buff-coloured brick and cream-coloured stone op...
Robert Maguire and Keith Murray (1965) Named after the college’s benefactor and former student, Hugh Cumberbatch, and designed by Robert Maguire and Keith Murray, these two student accommodation buildings represent a sensitive three-dimensional ...
Designed by Swiss-American architect William Lescaze, the house was built in 1932 for art establishment patrons Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst as a home for William Curry, then headmaster of the nearby progressive Dartington Hall School. Despite being ...
Coventry’s iconic landmark, the ‘Elephant’ sports centre, was built in 1977 and its shape reflects Coventry’s elephant and castle coat of arms. It sits alongside the 1966 Grade II listed 50-metre Olympic-size swimming pool designed by city ar...
This high-density low-rise estate is a strong example of the important legacy of progressive public housing created by Lambeth Architect’s Department under Ted Hollamby, demonstrating the use of a variety of unit types to suit different age-groups ...
These two fine C20th buildings are part of an historic row in the centre of Manchester which is under threat from development plans by two former Manchester United football players,Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs, in partnership with MAKE architects, to ...
The Hull BHS store, formerly a Co-op, features what was believed to be at the time of its installation in 1963, the biggest mural in Britain. Sitting above the store entrance, the ‘Three Ships’ mosaic is 66ft high and 64ft wide (20m by 19.5m) a...
This five-level Brutalist student union building was constructed between 1964 and 1966 by the river Wear to the designs of Richard Raines of the Architects’ Co-Partnership, under supervision of the partner Michael Powers. It connects to Ove Arup’...
Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners, 1993 This award-winning ship-shaped building on a hillside overlooking Plymouth has been empty since 2013 and is threatened with demolition. Built to house the printing presses and editorial offices, it features an ...
Chetwood Associates (1999). Unlisted; COI granted This unique eco-millennium store represented a complete re-think, with every aspect of the standard retail ‘shed’ re-assessed to maximise energy efficiency, minimise environmental impact and im...
Gillespie, Kidd and Coia (1959-67). Listed Category A Widely seen as the finest modern building in Scotland, St Peter’s Seminary was commissioned by the Archbishop of Glasgow in 1958 and completed in 1966, but closed just 14 years later. It cons...
Ryder & Yates (1974). Unlisted This centre, originally built to house 184 men, incorporates dormitories, day rooms, restaurant, facilities for old people and a small hospital. Constructed of blue brindle brickwork, with narrow strip windows ca...
John Wells-Thorpe (1970-73). This is an well preserved example of a late brutalist civic building in glass and concrete.The modulated bronze glass façade is marked out by a monumental concrete entrance structure defined by four giant hexagonal s...
 F X Velarde (1957-59). Listed Grade II The listing for this last church by Velarde shows ‘a distillation of Romanesque and modern motifs that is unique in his work’. Built of brown brick and ashlar, the exterior has a ‘jolly geometrical to...
Peter Womersley (1972). Listed Category A A space for the textile designer to receive clients and for designing, weaving and displaying fabric samples, it has been described as ‘an almost sculptural composition of concrete, steel and glass set o...
Sir Ernest Alfred Shennan (1936-37). Grade II* Inspired by Swedish architecture and with Art Deco elements, this truly original synagogue incorporates a cantilevered gallery wrapped around three sides and a spectacular concrete barrel-vaulted ceil...
Alison and Peter Smithson (1966-72). Unlisted This iconic social housing development consists of two perimeter blocks of six and nine storeys with an irregular landscaped space between them. The inward-looking blocks are built of pre-cast concrete...
 Sir Basil Spence (1970). Unlisted We are strongly opposing the building owners’ application for a Certificate of Immunity from listing, and have submitted our own listing application for the site. See Clare Price’s report. Status: Still at ...
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