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The Guardian
08-02-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Praised, then razed: why is UK's best building of 1996 being demolished?
When judges awarded Salford's Centenary Building the inaugural Stirling prize in 1996, they declared it 'a dynamic, modern and sophisticated exercise in steel, glass and concrete'. The recognition as Britain's best new building from the Royal Institute of British Architects cemented Salford as an emblem of emerging northern architecture. But last month Salford city council approved the demolition of the Centenary Building – which has not been in use since at least 2021– despite vocal opposition from preservation campaigners and the architecture industry. The Crescent partnership, which includes Salford city council, English Cities Fund (ECF) and Salford University, which owns the building, said in a joint statement that while 'careful consideration has been given to the history of the building with multiple options explored', it will be demolished next month as part of the comprehensive development of Adelphi village, an area surrounding the university. The project is part of a £2.5bn plan that aims to deliver housing. 'While the Centenary Building has been part of the university estate for a number of decades, it is now unecological to run, with major structural, heating and ventilation flaws throughout,' the partnership said. Critics, however, say the decision is 'wasteful and irresponsible' and are urging the partnership to change their minds. The Twentieth Century Society criticised the decision not to list the building and said it wasn't too late for the university to reconsider its plans. 'The decision has allowed the local authority to wave through demolition without adequate scrutiny,' said its director, Catherine Croft. Opened in 1995 by the Duke of Edinburgh, in the area east of the River Irwell, and originally designed for the University of Salford's school of electrical engineering department, the building was used by the faculty of art and design technology upon completion. Stephen Hodder, the architect responsible for the Centenary Building, said he was disappointed, and felt that history was being erased, as it had been built to mark 100 years since the formation of the university. 'The question has always got to be, has that building outlived its usefulness? Georgian buildings were candle lit, and then electricity was introduced,' Hodder said. 'So a building has got to be capable of being upgraded in its life. 'It was part of the brief that the building needed to be flexible. There's a servicing strategy within that building to allow it to be changed and upgraded. 'My reading of the situation is somebody's taking the commercial decision over the cost of it being upgraded.' The Twentieth Century Society tried to have the building listed by Historic England, but the public body concluded in its initial assessment report that, when considered against the high standard required for buildings of its age, the Centenary Building lacked the special interest in a national context required to merit listing. Previous attempts to adapt the building for a different use have also failed – proposed plans to convert it into a primary school were shelved in 2018. Until 2021, the Channel 4 reality series The Circle had editing suites in the building while filming in a residential block opposite. The Twentieth Century Society has described the demolition as 'wasteful and irresponsible', and critics point to the carbon footprint of the construction industry. In 2022 England generated 63m tonnes of non-hazardous construction and demolition waste. Making bricks and steel creates vast amounts of CO2, with cement alone causing 8% of global emissions. A Historic England study in 2019 stated that embodied emissions from refurbished or retrofitted buildings accounted for a minimum of 2% of a building's total emissions over 60 years. That figure rises to 28% in demolished and new buildings. Salford city council has a target of 2038 for net zero carbon emissions. Last month, Scott Atkinson, a mature construction student at Salford University walking by the Centenary Building, said there were other buildings on campus that were not fit for purpose. 'The construction industry is a beast that needs to be fed,' he said. 'If you drive around central Manchester long enough you'll see a new [building] going up every two minutes. If anyone had any sense in councils, they would just strip some of the old works out, put something new in. But there's more money to be made when you tear the whole thing down and build another big thing. Everybody makes money off that.' Sign up to Observed Analysis and opinion on the week's news and culture brought to you by the best Observer writers after newsletter promotion Blake Barker, a first-year marine biology student said he would be on board with the demolition if it meant more accommodation would be created, but was sceptical about redevelopment of the Adelphi village. 'It's a risk of it just being another cheap apartment building, because those Adelphi buildings are already kind of cheap,' he said. Stephen McCusker, the architect lead at the Manchester School of Architecture, said the demolition approval for the Centenary Building raised wider questions about reusing old buildings in the UK. 'It made me even more passionate that we need to have real national teeth to enforce consideration of reuse before demolition,' he said. 'There are a lot of innovative developers and companies who are looking at material reuse and the circular economy.' A spokesperson for the Crescent partnership said: 'Unfortunately [the Centenary Building's] infrastructure means it no longer meets modern standards and requirements. It has now been vacant for a third of its built life. 'The [redevelopment] project is part of the £2.5bn Crescent Salford masterplan which will deliver housing, to cater to a broad range of residents. Future proposals will also seek to incorporate sustainable building design practices and materials, ensuring support for Salford's sustainability goals.'
The Guardian
05-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Architecture film sparks new call to list Southbank Centre
The Southbank Centre was once voted Britain's ugliest building, but fresh interest in its architecture following the success of The Brutalist movie, has prompted a renewed call to get it listed. For 34 years successive governments have resisted proposals to list the centre – a concrete set of buildings that include the Hayward Gallery, Purcell Rooms and Queen Elizabeth Hall. The Twentieth Century Society (C20S), which campaigns for modern designs, has called again for the three buildings to be listed. The calls came on Wednesday when an immunity from listing is due to expire. The owners of the building have asked for this immunity to be extended for another five years. The C20S has recommended this should be rejected and that ultimately the centre be granted grade II*. The society claims it has the backing of the government's heritage agency, but Historic England said its views listing were confidential. Historic England (formerly English Heritage) has recommended listing the Southbank Centre on five separate occasions but this was rejected by successive culture secretaries. If the Southbank Centre was listed it would end one of longest running architectural standoffs between campaigners and the authorities. Catherine Croft, director of the C20S, said: 'This visionary combination of performance spaces and art gallery is a postwar architectural masterpiece, and is perhaps the most totemic – and controversial – example of British brutalism, currently in the spotlight thanks to the Oscar nominated film of the same name.' This week the three-and-half hour movie was named best picture in the London Critics circle awards and is one of the favourites for the Oscars. Croft herself hated the movie. At a screening last month she told the Guardian's architecture critic, Oliver Wainwright: 'It's just utter tosh.' But she has been delighted by the enthusiasm it has sparked for brutalist buildings, particularly the Southbank Centre. Croft said: 'This is the building which often prompts the response: 'I can't believe it's not listed.' It is an internationally recognised brutalist masterpiece, long loved by aficionados and now increasingly understood and respected by the wider public.' The Hayward Gallery, Purcell Rooms and Queen Elizabeth Hall were designed by the former London county council architects department, led by Norman Engleback, and opened by the late Queen. Their deliberately rough concrete surfaces were marked change in style from the sleek surfaces of classical modernist architecture. When the centre was completed in 1967 Daily Mail readers voted it Britain's ugliest building. Since listing was first proposed in 1991 several plans have been put forward to redevelop Southbank Centre. But all have ended in failure. Other modernist and brutalist buildings on London's south bank have been listed, including the Royal Festival Hall which was granted grade I status in 1988, and Denys Lasdun's Royal National Theatre which was grade II* listed in 1994. Listing the Southbank Centre will require approval from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. Croft said: 'Our message for DCMS and the heritage minister, Chris Bryant, is: do the right thing.' She added: 'The recent restoration has revitalised the inspirational interiors, and we're confident listing would not impede any future programming or maintenance. Moreover, the complex unquestionably meets all the relevant criteria for a designation. The prestige and recognition of listing would send out a positive message about our brutalist heritage more generally, and encourage the appreciation and sustainable reuse of other outstanding examples across the country.' A spokesperson for Historic England said: 'Any listing recommendation we make is confidential until DCMS has made its decision.'
