Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank is an English architect and designer. Closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, Foster is recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture. His architectural practice Foster + Partners, first founded in 1967 as Foster Associates, is the largest in the United Kingdom, and maintains offices internationally. He is the president of the Norman Foster Foundation, created to 'promote interdisciplinary thinking and research to help new generations of architects, designers and urbanists to anticipate the future'. The foundation, which opened in June 2017, is based in Madrid and operates globally. Foster was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 1999.
Birmingham Central Library was the main public library in Birmingham, England, from 1974 until 2013, replacing a library opened in 1865 and rebuilt in 1882. For a time the largest non-national library in Europe, it closed on 29 June 2013 and was replaced by the Library of Birmingham. The building was demolished in 2016, after 41 years, as part of the redevelopment of Paradise Circus by Argent Group. Designed by architect John Madin in the brutalist style, the library was part of an ambitious development project by Birmingham City Council to create a civic centre on its new Inner Ring Road system; however, for economic reasons significant parts of the master plan were not completed, and quality was reduced on materials as an economic measure. Two previous libraries occupied the adjacent site before Madin's library opened in 1974. The previous library, designed by John Henry Chamberlain, opened in 1883 and featured a tall clerestoried reading room. It was demolished in 1974 after the new library had opened.
The Lloyd's building is the home of the insurance institution Lloyd's of London. It is located on the former site of East India House in Lime Street, in London's main financial district, the City of London. The building is a leading example of radical Bowellism architecture in which the services for the building, such as ducts and lifts, are located on the exterior to maximise space in the interior.
The Rotunda is a cylindrical highrise building in Birmingham, England. The Grade II listed building is 81 metres (266 ft) tall and was completed in 1965. Originally designed to be an office block, by architect James A. Roberts ARIBA, it was refurbished between 2004 and 2008 by Urban Splash with Glenn Howells who turned it into a residential building, with serviced apartments on 19th and 20th floors. The building was officially reopened on 13 May 2008.
The Sainsbury Centre is an art museum located on the campus of the University of East Anglia, Norwich, England. As part of its relaunch in 2023 under new executive director, Jago Cooper, the Sainsbury Centre became the first museum in the world to formally recognise art as alive. The centre's ethos 'Living Art Sharing Stories' aims to give agency to the objects in the collection, as well as enable people to build relationships with the living works of art. The centre's approach to programming was also transformed in 2023, moving away from a traditional approach to adopt one which "empowers art to answer life's biggest questions".
The Willis Building is a commercial skyscraper in London named after the primary tenant, Willis Group. It is located on Lime Street in the City of London financial district.
Sunlight House is a Grade II listed building in the Art Deco style on Quay Street in Manchester, England. Completed in 1932 for Joseph Sunlight, at 14 storeys it was the tallest building in Manchester, and the top floors of turrets and multiple dormer windows and mansard roofs create a distinctive skyline.
The Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse is a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon. It is named in honor of former U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield. It is used by the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.
Contemporary architecture is the architecture of the 21st century. No single style is dominant. Contemporary architects work in several different styles, from postmodernism, high-tech architecture and new references and interpretations of traditional architecture to highly conceptual forms and designs, resembling sculpture on an enormous scale. Some of these styles and approaches make use of very advanced technology and modern building materials, such as tube structures which allow construction of buildings that are taller, lighter and stronger than those in the 20th century, while others prioritize the use of natural and ecological materials like stone, wood and lime. One technology that is common to all forms of contemporary architecture is the use of new techniques of computer-aided design, which allow buildings to be designed and modeled on computers in three dimensions, and constructed with more precision and speed.
The Golden Lane Estate is a 1950s council housing complex in the City of London. It was built on the northern edge of the City, on a site devastated by bombing during the Second World War. Since 1997, the estate has been protected as a group of listed buildings of special architectural interest.
Velocity Tower is a mixed use development next to the Inner Ring Road in Sheffield City Centre, South Yorkshire, England, overlooking Ecclesall Road. The build is a continuation of a previous design to be built by Cala, titled 'Eclipse'.
The Daily Express Building, located on Great Ancoats Street, Manchester, England, is a Grade II* listed building which was designed by engineer Sir Owen Williams. It was built in 1939 to house one of three Daily Express offices; the other two similar buildings are located in London and Glasgow.
Willis Group Holdings plc was a multinational risk advisor, insurance brokerage and reinsurance brokerage company headquartered in the Willis Building in London. It was the third-largest insurance broker worldwide by revenues. In 2016, the company acquired Towers Watson and was renamed Willis Towers Watson.
Broomhill Pool is a Grade II listed lido on Sherrington Road in Ipswich, Suffolk, England.
Grafton House is the headquarters for Ipswich Borough Council and Smartest Energy. Located on Russell Road opposite Endeavour House, Grafton House is a 6-storey building and was designed by Consarc Consulting Architects and construction was completed in 2006 as part of the Ipswich Village Development. The building consists of mixed retail units at ground level including a coffee shop and 60,000 sq feet of office space. Grafton House was also classed as 'very good' by BREEAM standards.
Centenary Pool Complex is a heritage-listed swimming pool at 400 Gregory Terrace, Spring Hill, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by architect James Birrell and built in 1959. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 5 November 1996.
Bracken House is a building at 1 Friday Street and 10 Cannon Street in the City of London, occupied by the Financial Times newspaper until the 1980s, and again beginning May 2019. A late example of modern classicism, it was constructed from 1955 to 1958 to a design by Sir Albert Richardson to serve as the headquarters and printing works of the Financial Times, on a cleared bomb site southeast of St Paul's Cathedral.
Ringway Centre is a Grade B locally listed building located on Smallbrook Queensway in the city centre of Birmingham, England. The six-storey, 230 metres (750 ft) long building was designed by architect James Roberts as part of the Inner Ring Road scheme in the 1950s and is notable for its gentle sweeping curved frontal elevation.
Wendy Ann Foster was a British architect and co-founder of Team 4 and Foster Associates.
Birmingham New Street Signal Box is a railway signal box in Birmingham, central England, situated on the corner of Brunel and Navigation Streets and at the west end of the platforms of Birmingham New Street railway station. Opened on 3 July 1966, the brutalist structure is a grade II listed building for its architectural value and a prominent city centre landmark. It closed on 24 December 2022.
