Abbreviation | C20 |
---|---|
Formation | 1979 (as The Thirties Society) |
Headquarters | 70 Cowcross Street, London |
Director | Catherine Croft |
Chairman and Trustee | Hugh Pearman |
President | Catherine Slessor |
Website | c20society |
The Twentieth Century Society (abbreviated to C20), founded in 1979 as The Thirties Society, is a British charity that campaigns for the preservation of architectural heritage from 1914 onwards. It is formally recognised as one of the National Amenity Societies, [1] and as such is a statutory consultee on alterations to listed buildings within its period of interest.
The catalyst to form the society was the proposal to replace Lloyd's of London's Classical-style 1920s headquarters with a new modernist Richard Rogers building. Marcus Binney (founder of Save Britain's Heritage), John Harris (director of the RIBA drawings collection) and Simon Jenkins (editor of London's Evening Standard ) felt that the existing building "represented a whole body of important architecture of the period that deserved more sympathetic assessment". [2] Ultimately the façade of the 1920s building was retained and received a Grade II listing in 1977. It was incorporated into Rogers' 1986 design. [3]
Established in December 1979, the Thirties Society, as it was initially called, had offices at 21 Cambridge Street, London. [4] Its organisation was modelled on the Georgian Group and the Victorian Society, and its initial intention was to preserve architecture from the 1930s, [5] by calling for "statutory protection from the Department of the Environment for the protection of important buildings and interiors". [6] Speaking of the need for the society, Jenkins, the vice-chairman, said "It's easier to find examples of architecture from the 1890s than the 1930s, and although there are buildings which I find absolutely hideous, there are architectural reasons why they should be preserved." [7] In 1992, a spokesperson for English Heritage said, "We have found the Thirties Society proposals are usually well supported. It has been very influential in saving some of the best twentieth-century buildings." [8]
Founding members included:
The society of "young fogeys" as they were called [8] invited Maxwell Fry, Jane Drew, Sir Sacheverell Sitwell, Lady Diana Cooper, Sir John Betjeman and Peter Fleetwood-Hesketh [10] to be patrons. [6] [11] They also considered Douglas Fairbanks and David Niven but "there was some concern that the stars of the Twenties and Thirties might not be around long enough to warrant putting their names on the letterhead." [6] Norman St John Stevas, Minister for the Arts, attended the launch party. [12]
Catherine Croft, the current director, took over the position from Kenneth Powell in 2002. [13]
There was a debate over the society's name. The Inter-War Society was considered too martial and it was joked that The Twenties and Thirties Society sounded too much like a dating service. [6] The name The Thirties Society was eventually settled on. The name was changed to The Twentieth Century Society (abbreviated to C20) in 1992, about which Stamp said, "Much as I like the very English anomaly of a body called The Thirties Society defending buildings of the 1950s, the fact is that our name obscures our aims. We defend buildings put up as late as the 1970s." [14]
In 1982, a Manchester branch of the society was formed, with a focus on the Grosvenor Picture Palace on All Saints Street, which was under threat of demolition. [15]
The society held its first conference, on the seventies, in 1999. [16]
The society published a journal between 1981 and 2018; initially entitled The Thirties Society Journal it became Twentieth Century Architecture from 1994. [17]
In 2019, to mark the society's 40th anniversary, they curated a list of 40 Buildings Saved, a collection of 40 "buildings which would not have survived without our intervention" including Jubilee Pool in Penzance, Plymouth's Civic Centre and St. Augustine in Manchester. [18]
In 1998, the society released a Buildings at Risk report, which included Pimlico School, Romney House and Simpson's Building. Of the report, Bronwen Edwards, a C20 caseworker, said, "What is indisputable is these buildings are a unique record of social, economic and architectural history – a vivid reminder of the way people lived, worked and played through the century." [19]
Starting in 2015, the society has published The Risk List (a play on the Rich List ) [20] every two years, which highlights ten buildings that the society believes are "in danger of either substantial alteration or demolition". [21]
The bi-annual lists are as follows:
Year | Building | Location | Status |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | Channel 4 headquarters | London | |
2023 | Museum of London | London | |
2023 | Jagonari Centre | London | |
2023 | Bastion House | London | |
2023 | Norco House | Aberdeen | |
2023 | Riviera Hotel | Weymouth | Currently listed |
2023 | Point | Weymouth | |
2023 | Ringway Centre | Birmingham | |
2023 | County Hall | Cardiff | |
2023 | West Burton power station cooling towers | West Burton | |
2023 | Scottish Widows building | Edinburgh | Currently listed |
2021 | Oasis Leisure Centre | Swindon | Granted Grade II listing [22] |
2021 | City Hall | London | Certificate of Immunity |
2021 | Civic Centre | Swansea | Plans to retain (as of 2023) [21] |
2021 | Derby Assembly Rooms | Derby | Plans to retain (as of 2023) [21] |
2021 | Bull Yard | Coventry | |
2021 | The Lawns, Halls of Residence | Hull | Listed Grade II* |
2021 | Cressingham Gardens' Estate | London | Bid to be listed was rejected |
2021 | Electricity Board HQ | London | Bid to be listed in 2017 was rejected |
2021 | Swimming pool | Halifax | |
2021 | Shirehall | Shrewsbury | |
2019 | Alton Estate | Roehampton | No longer threatened (as of 2023) [21] |
2019 | Fawley Power Station | Hampshire | Demolished (2021) |
2019 | Walton Court | Surrey | Demolished |
2019 | Richmond House | London | Grade II* listed |
2019 | British Library Centre for Conservation | London | |
2019 | BFI IMAX Cinema | London | Certificate of Immunity |
2019 | Civic Centre | Sunderland | Demolished (2022) |
2019 | Homebase Superstore | Brentford | At risk of demolishing for new housing (2022) |
2019 | Ardudwy Theatre and Residential Tower | Merionydd | Grade II* listed. Up for sale. |
2019 | All Saints' Pastoral Centre and Chapel | Hertfordshire | Occupied by an international school |
2017 | Dunelm House | Durham | Granted Grade II listing (2021) |
2017 | BHS murals | Stockport and Hull | Granted Grade II listing (2019) |
2017 | Reform Synagogue and Police Station | Manchester | |
2017 | Central Hill | London | Bid to be listed was rejected (2019) |
2017 | The Elephant and Swimming Baths | Coventry | Baths are listed Grade II. Elephant was refused listing |
2017 | High Cross House | Devon | Awaiting restoration |
2017 | Cumberbatch North and South Buildings | Oxford | Demolished |
2017 | St. Leonards Church | St. Leonards-on-Sea | Grade II listed |
2017 | 60 Hornton Street | West Kensington | Demolished |
2017 | Holborn Library | Holborn | Bid to be listed was rejected (2010) |
2015 | St Peter's Seminary | Cardross | Positive solution found [23] |
2015 | Western Morning News HQ | Plymouth | Positive solution found [23] |
2015 | Hyde Park Barracks | London | Bid to be listed was rejected (2015) |
2015 | Robin Hood Gardens | London | Demolished |
2015 | New Congregation Synagogue | Liverpool | Grade II* listed. Approval given to turn it into a series of apartments (2017) |
2015 | Bernat Klein Studio | Edinburgh | Listed Category A. On Buildings at Risk register for Scotland. |
2015 | Church of the Holy Cross | Merseyside | Listed Grade II |
2015 | Town Hall | Hove | Bid to be listed was rejected (2014) |
2015 | Salvation Army hostel | Newcastle | Grade II listed. Put up for sale (2021) |
2015 | Sainsbury's Millennium Store | Greenwich | Demolished |
2015 | Civic Offices | Durham | Demolished |
The following are some of the buildings and objects that the society has successfully campaigned to save:
The society published a journal between 1981 and 2018; initially entitled The Thirties Society Journal [77] it became Twentieth Century Architecture from 1994. [78]
The following books were published by C20, unless otherwise stated:
Ernő Goldfinger was a Hungarian-born British architect and designer of furniture. He moved to the United Kingdom in the 1930s, and became a key member of the Modernist architectural movement. He is most prominently remembered for designing residential tower blocks, some of which are now listed buildings.
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the bare building materials and structural elements over decorative design. The style commonly makes use of exposed, unpainted concrete or brick, angular geometric shapes and a predominantly monochrome colour palette; other materials, such as steel, timber, and glass, are also featured.
Balfron Tower is a 26-storey residential building in Poplar, located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London. Built in a Brutalist style, it forms part of the Brownfield Estate, an area of social housing between Chrisp Street Market and the A12 northern approach to the Blackwall Tunnel. It was designed by Ernő Goldfinger in 1963 for the London County Council, built 1965–67 by the GLC, and has been a listed building since 1996. Balfron Tower is stylistically similar to Goldfinger's later Trellick Tower in North Kensington, within West London
Swiss Cottage Library is a public library in the London Borough of Camden housed in an architectural landmark building on Avenue Road. Designed by Sir Basil Spence of Spence, Bonnington & Collins, it was built between 1963 and 1964.
Robin Hood Gardens is a residential estate in Poplar, London, designed in the late 1960s by architects Alison and Peter Smithson and completed in 1972. It was built as a council housing estate with homes spread across 'streets in the sky': social housing characterised by broad aerial walkways in long concrete blocks, much like the Park Hill estate in Sheffield; it was informed by, and a reaction against, Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation. The estate was built by the Greater London Council, but subsequently the London Borough of Tower Hamlets became the landlord.
Preston bus station is the central bus station in the city of Preston in Lancashire, England. It was built by Ove Arup and Partners in the Brutalist architectural style between 1968 and 1969, to a design by Keith Ingham and Charles Wilson of Building Design Partnership with E. H. Stazicker.
The Victorian Society is a UK charity and amenity society that campaigns to preserve and promote interest in Victorian and Edwardian architecture and heritage built between 1837 and 1914 in England and Wales. As a statutory consultee, by law it must be notified of any work to a listed building which involves any element of demolition or structural alteration.
Chamberlin, Powell and Bon was a British firm of architects. They are best known for having designed the Barbican Estate in central London.
Gavin Mark Stamp was a British writer, television presenter and architectural historian.
Building Design, or BD, is a British weekly architectural magazine, based in London.
St Paul's Bow Common is a 20th-century church in Bow Common, London, England. It is an Anglican church in the Diocese of London. The church is at the junction of Burdett Road and St Paul's Way in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It replaced an earlier church that was designed by Rohde Hawkins in 1858 and financed by William Cotton of Leytonstone. Consecrated by Bishop Charles James Blomfield, this church was largely destroyed in the Second World War and demolished in the 1950s.
The Excalibur Estate was a post-war 1940s housing estate of 189 prefabricated houses in Catford, South London. The estate contained the last sizeable collection of post-war prefabricated houses in the United Kingdom. In 2011, Lewisham Council approved a plan to replace the prefabs with 371 houses, with demolition scheduled to begin in 2013. English Heritage has granted listed building status to six of the "prefab" houses. The proposed demolition led to campaigns by residents, English Heritage and the Twentieth Century Society to save the properties, with an unsuccessful legal challenge to prevent redevelopment, and a return to parkland, if they were demolished. Apart from the six with Grade II listing, all the buildings are due for demolition, and the redeveloped estate completed, by the mid/late 2020s.
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Elain Harwood Hon.FRIBA was a British architectural historian with Historic England and a specialist in post–Second World War English architecture.
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Cedarwood is a Grade II* listed house on Beaconsfield Road in Woolton, Liverpool, United Kingdom. It is most famous for being Woman's Journal's House of the Year for 1960. Designed by Beech and Prys Thomas, its "outstanding design, excellent detailing and remarkable preservation" led to it becoming a listed building by Historic England in 2007.
The Church of St Mary and St Joseph is a 20th-century Roman Catholic parish church in Tower Hamlets, London, England.
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