pretty or pretty horrific?

[JoceAndChris]

Perivale is leafy suburbia compared to Islington.

I went to school in the countryside. Too much compulsory team sports, cross countrry runs and general outdoor heartiness for my taste, not to mention the isolation. And its all so untidy and asymmetrical.

:lol: You're right about the untidy bit. Most people round here are out there from dawn til dusk trying to tame it. My track is all wild hedgerow, until it hits the last cottage of the road. That bit of hedgerow (which must form my neighbour's living room view, and is about a 12 foot long section), is manicured to perfection, shaped shrubs, a perfect flower bed where things come up in their season and are then whisked out and replaced. It's so funny to watch, as the rest of it, just out of his viewpoint, is utterly wild. I'm reminded of my reading about Capability Brown and the landscaping of the 18th century- that Nature was perceived a a savage threat and the residents of those great houses sought to create a tamed, perfect landscape within their gardens, a triumph over Nature.


I hate sports and runs too.

 

[Michelle73]

Exactly how I feel, looks cold and harsh. Stands out horribly against the beautiful buildings that surround it, not to mention the fabulous Arthurs seat.

Gillette Corner, theres another West London building that I liked very much...although not actually a Tesco...t'was next door to one

 

[worms]

The Holyrood Parliament building is growing on me and the main thing is that the space inside actually works well (that's not a political comment!).

If the "handguns" really were inspired by Henry Raeburn's skater, I can accept the local relevance, and viewed from a distance, the upturned boats idea is fine. The "bamboo scaffolding" I could do without, though. Although if this is blast-proofing, it at least makes some sense.

And they did a good job preserving Queensberry House, the 1667 A-listed building that forms the Parliament's annex.

 

[BMcD]

michelle73 wrote:

Has anyone ever come across a council office block that they liked to look at?

Ther's this

Covenrty Council House

Or lechworth Town Hall

 

[Michelle73]

Yes, I like those !!! Why then did they build all these yukky pebble dashed, concrete on stilts affairs? Were they 'all the rage' back when they chucked them together? Same goes for lots of School buildings. They may have been cold and drafty but the Victorian ones are far nicer than the modern concrete & glass buildings I was taught in.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Council buildings..... ( Most photos seem to have copyright so daren't post one) why are they without exception the most ugly buildings in every town?
Surely they could design something more traditional or pleasing to look at. They always make me feel sad and miserable

Has anyone ever come across a council office block that they liked to look at?

Loads - to choose a couple with slightly unlikely dates,
Norwich City Hall, by C H James and S R Pierce, 1931-37View attachment 2

Devon County Hall, by the often excellent Donald McMorran and George Whitby, 1957-64View attachment 1

And Civic Centre, Plymouth, Jellicoe, Ballantyne and Coleridge, 1957-62 (and no, I am not joking, though it took a long time to grow on me)

 

[JoceAndChris]

Like all your buildings a lot except the last one, but I'm not arguing with you again about modern buildings as there's no point.

 

[Michelle73]

Sorry Gareth, I agree with Joce....theres nothing much about that last one to warm to but I sense we might we about to go over old ground so I'll leave you to enjoy! Thanks for the others though...i'm starting to believe some of our taxes may have been spent wisely..in the past

 

[BMcD]

There seems to be two threads running now, pretty or pretty horrific? and council buildings you like to look at. Well like Gareths Civic Centre, Plymouth, this one although not strictly council offices but public library and theatre built 1973, straddles both threads. And I have to admit to having soft spot for

The Campus West, Welwyn Garden City

 

[BMcD]

michelle73 wrote:

Why then did they build all these yukky pebble dashed, concrete on stilts affairs? Were they 'all the rage' back when they chucked them together? Same goes for lots of School buildings. They may have been cold and drafty but the Victorian ones are far nicer than the modern concrete & glass buildings I was taught in.

Did you go to Pimlico school? Sadly now demolished

 

[robgil]

i think Marine Court in St Leonards on Sea is quite a pretty building.

http://heritage.elettra.co.uk/artdeco/profile.php?building=marinecourt

On the sea front stands an ocean liner shaped art-deco building known as Marine Court,[12] which upon completion in 1937 was the tallest block of flats in the United Kingdom, comprising some 153 flats and 3 restaurants. Despite this claim to fame, entries to a competition to name the building show that it was not universally popular. Though a listed building, it is in a poor state of repair and awaiting the outcome of planning enquiries. It has a number of inappropriate modern double glazed, plastic framed windows out of keeping with the original "Crittall" style frames.

 

[Michelle73]

I think my lack of enthusiasm about council office blocks has gone a bit off centre and is now focusing in on Town/City Halls which is a bit of a cheat since quite a lot of them are older and very attractive buildings!.
Its the modern office blocks to house all the admin type bods that seem neglected and stark.

Our own ickle Town Hall

 

[Michelle73]

What a beautiful building 'Marine court' is. I hope it can be restored properly.
The views from those windows must be amazing, I want one of the flats
Counting coins in penny jar, 2p, 5p, 1p,.......nearly there....one day maybe :roll:

Pimlico School looks horrid & dark, soooo much concrete. Definatley goes on the pretty ugly list

 

[philpjuk100]

Kelham hall,council offices for newark and sherwood council.

 

[Feltwell]

It's a shame that I can't find pictures of Walsall Council buildings. The Council House (listed, very grandiose Victorian affair) has plenty of pictures online, but the square brick monstrosity linked to the back of it sometime in the 60's strangely does not.

However, Telford serves up a fine example of a drab concrete civic monstrosity:-

View attachment 2

And Shrewsbury Shire Hall is without doubt a "marmite" building - I think it's horrendous (the circular concrete lump is the council chamber, incidentally):-

View attachment 1

And as you can see from this picture, it blends seamlessly into it's surroundings and does not dominate at all :roll: :-



If you ignore the Shire Hall, Shrewsbury is well worth a visit by the way.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Has anyone ever come across a council office block that they liked to look at?

I used to hate the look of County Hall, Mold, Flintshire - but now I think it is actually quite iconic and one that would be a shame to lose. This is one wing of about 6 that are the same.

 

[Feltwell]

I'm with you there FW - the window detailing does make a huge difference to that building, it's not unattractive.

It also looks to be quite clean, which has to be one of the biggest reasons why many of these type of buildings (like the Telford one above) look so bad.

 

[Ushy M]

Kelham hall,council offices for newark and sherwood council.

Yes, splendid! That's a George Gilbert Scott job isn't it? One government office I used to work in in London was so truly hideous and depressing it was subsequently spotted on telly doubling as the Lubianka in a Soviet spy drama.

(welcome back phil - hope you're still nice and toasty in your workshop with that bonkers stove!)

 

[philpjuk100]

Thank you!yes the workshop is toasty! Kelham hall,C.Gilbert Scott,finished 1861,Extended with a great dome in 27/28 when it became a monastery,lots of great arts and crafts ironwork.(I bet it kept the chimney sweeps busy!) I can see it from my windows and it looks very "fairy tale" in the moonlight. phil

 

[Nigel Watts]

This is one wing of about 6 that are the same.

SIX? To administer the smallest county in the UK! Poor old Council Tax payer.