An Amazing Ruin In The Centre Of Birmingham
I saw this building yesterday, as I came into Birmingham New Street station.
An Amazing Ruin In The Centre Of Birmingham
Does anybody know what it is?
And The Winner Is!
They announced the winner of the Carbuncle Cup this week and the story is here in the Guardian. Here’s the first paragraph.
Cramped rooms with low ceilings and one small window facing directly on to a brick wall. If you crane your neck, you can just about see the outside world. It could be a description of the cells in Pentonville Prison, but these are the conditions enjoyed just down the road from the Victorian jail in a new student accommodation block for University College London – today announced as winner of the Carbuncle Cup by Building Design magazine, for the worst building of the year.
It might appear to some, that the judges thought the student residence at 465 Caledonian Road was even worse on the inside than the outside.
This is generally unusual, as I think we’ve all stayed in bad looking hotels, where the rooms were excellent.
An Arrogant Building
I don’t like this building, as it destroyed a perfectly good Nash Terrace.
An Arrogant Building
But then it was done a few years ago and at the whim of bankers.
Around Stratford International Station
I walked around Stratford International station this morning.
It has always puzzled me, why trains for Europe don’t stop here. perhaps we should create the Trans Manche Metro.
465 Caledonian Road, London
This is another Carbuncle Cup entry.
Dezeen magazine describes it like this.
Also in the student housing category is this rather excellent example of facadism which can be spotted on London’s Caledonian Road.
i actually quite liked it. But then what do I know?
Avant Garde Tower In East London
This is another nomination for the Carbuncle Cup.
I’m unsure about this one, as it certainly has a good location, being close to the City, Shoreditch High Street station and Brick Lane for a good curry.
Dezeen quotes one nominator.
Hideous monstrosity blighting the skyline off Bethnal Green Road
This could be one that people like in the future. Only time will tell.
The Premier Inn, Lambeth
This is the first nomination for the Carbuncle Cup.
I think the building merits its inclusion. And don’t take my word for it, this was said on the Dezeen website in their page about the nominations.
The Premier Inn in Lambeth is a travesty in more ways than one – we shudder at its lumpen form and mourn the building demolished to make way for it.
I can never understand, why in some places like St. Pancras, we get sympathetic additions to old buildings and in other places we just don’t!
The original building was the General Lying-In Hospital.
it’s Carbuncle Cup Time Again!
They’ve just announced the shortlist for the Carbuncle Cup. It’s here on the Dezeen web site.
I’m surprised that the Shard has never been nominated. If ever there was a carbuncle, it is that monstrosity!
The Tallest Timber Residential Structure In The World
You’d have thought that this would be somewhere like Japan, Scandinavia or perhaps Canada, but despite it’s name, the Stadthaus is in Murray Grove in the London Borough of Hackney.
Wikipedia says this about the building.
It is thought to be the tallest timber residential structure in the world.It was designed in collaboration between architects Waugh Thistleton, structural engineers Techniker, and timber panel manufacturer KLH.
Stadthaus is the first high-density housing building to be built from pre-fabricated cross-laminated timber panels. It is the first building in the world of this height to construct not only load-bearing walls and floor slabs but also stair and lift cores entirely from timber.
I like it and it shows how modern buildings don’t have to be constructed using traditional methods. It was also constructed in just 49 weeks and residents moved in ahead of schedule.
So as we need more housing and we need it quickly, perhaps we should build more houses and flats using these methods.
The End Of Television As I Knew It!
On the way to see Ipswich at QPR yesterday, I walked past the old BBC Television Centre at the White City.
The End Of Television As I Knew It!
It is all rather sad to see such an iconic building on the way down!
The Anonymous Widower 