Architecture - Archive Articles

Concrete Dreams at the Southbank Centre

To mark its reopening following refurbishment works, the brutalist heart of the Southbank has thrown open its backstage to the public for an artistic minded tour.

East London’s Minnie Lansbury suffragette Memorial Clock

A grand green clock hangs off the side of an otherwise unremarkable block of flats in memory of a quite remarkable woman.

Lego, postboxes and 3d maps – 150 years of the Chartered Surveyor

If you've ever seen people in hi-vis standing on street corners holding rulers and odd looking contraptions, then you've seen a surveyor, the people who measure things.

A stone obelisk with a hidden secret

Just outside Finsbury Circus near Liverpool Street station is a small stone obelisk that looks like just another city monument, but in fact conceals a hidden purpose.

London’s Pedways are back – and they’re magnificent

Long maligned as bad planning done worse, the pedways are making a triumphant return to the City of London. Away with windswept concrete plazas that sat leaden upon the land and hello to filaments of steel dancing around buildings.

The ancient Stationers’ Hall opens up for public tours

Long hidden behind other buildings, Stationers' Hall is one of the largest and most opulent of City livery halls, and they've just started holding regular public tours.

Admire the arts & crafts workshops behind Liverpool Street station

On a street surrounded by modern glass and steel office blocks, can be found this slightly ramshackle but quite delightful row of workshops and flats.

30 years of LDDC road signs

Thirty years ago, the run down streets that were home to the former docks of London started to see a very distinctive blue street sign popping up.

London’s first “City Tree” – a pollution absorber with the power of 275 trees

A mechanical pollution absorbing "tree" has been installed on a side street near Piccadilly Circus as an experiment to improve local air quality.

Art Deco, Modernism & Brutalism in London’s suburbs

A new book is being planned to share the delight of these droplets of architectural shock that permeate the land of lawnmowers, warm ale and Sunday bests.

Another Crossrail station tour announced

There's a chance to visit the next in the series of tours that Crossrail are running of their stations over the next few months.

Exhibition – Welcome to the underworld

A basement off Tottenham Court Road is currently hosting a photo exhibition of other very much grander subterranean spaces from across the world.

Westminster Abbey’s medieval Triforium opening to the public

A vast hidden space, more than 50 feet above the Abbey's floor is set to open to the public later this year.

New pedestrian bridge planned for Canary Wharf

A new pedestrian bridge is being planned for one of the docks in Canary Wharf to relieve congestion on the existing South Quay Footbridge.

Modernism tours of the London Underground

Two tours focused on modernism in the London Underground have been announced for later this year. Both tour are limited to 25 people.

A chance to design the Oxford Street Christmas Lights

We've barely taken down the lights, and plans for Christmas are already under way - with an open competition to design Oxford Street's 2018 lights.

A public toilet in Tottenham is set to become a new pub

A disused public toilet in Tottenham is being converted into a new pub, and is due to open in a few weeks time.

Crossrail building site to become site for 1,500 new homes

A plot of land in East London that's currently a Crossrail building site has been earmarked as a site for 1,500 new homes.

Crossrail hands over major West End site to Derwent

Crossrail has completed the base infrastructure works at Soho Place, on the corner of Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road, directly above Tottenham Court Road station

£200,000 competition to smarten a railway bridge

A rather dingy looking railway bridge near Battersea Power Station has been nominated to be revamped in an open competition for designs.

The silence of the bells at St Paul’s Cathedral

The bells of St Paul's Cathedral are to be removed later this month for restoration work, meaning that the Cathedral's celebratory bells will fall silent until late next year.

Behind the scenes tours of building sites announced

If you're a person who might be interested in a career in the construction industry, there's a chance for a behind-the-scenes views of building sites across the country.

What the City of London’s skyline will look like in 2026

The City of London is getting taller, and new images released today show what it will look like in 2026.

Calls for design to revamp Old Street roundabout

Plans to revamp the tired Old Street roundabout have taken a small step forward, with a call for a design proposal to be set in to Islington council.