Looking very out of place in a sea of unpleasant highways and very superior suburbs (all vast, detached, interwar villas behind amazingly well kept gardens), this is the headquarters of the London Borough of Barnet.
Designed by Richard Seifert & Partners in 1966, the complex consists of a 12-storey tower in grey terrazo, and a three-storey block at right angles dominated by blue panels.
Everything is raised up above ground level on rather elegant, pointed concrete legs (hugely reminiscent of Seifert's most famous building, London's Centre Point).
Featuring this building also gives me a rare chance to point out an error in Pevsner, who describes the composition as being on a "T" plan when, clearly, it is on an "L" plan.
Adventures in Beige 1, Pevsner 0!
Sorry, that was very childish. Let's end with the observation that the windows do not appear to have been cleaned in this block for months and probably years. I couldn't decide if it had been closed and abandoned or was just completely neglected. If the latter, it's rather shameful that, apparently, we are no longer able to afford to keep our civic headquarters buildings clean.
No comments:
Post a Comment