Month: February 2012
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Alexandra and Ainsworth
Location: LondonLifespan: 1978- The Alexandra and Ainsworth Estate sits right up next to the mainline tracks coming out of London Euston. The apartments facing the railway line are stepped outwards to shield the rest of the estate from the noise of passing trains, and the building’s foundations are built on rubber pads to reduce vibrations. The huge…
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County Hall Island Block
John Bancroft’s 1970s extension to the former Greater London Council’s headquarters lay empty for exactly twenty years before being demolished in 2006 to make way for a hotel. Sitting in the middle of a busy roundabout at the southern end of Westminster Bridge, the County Hall Island Block was an early example of open-plan office space…
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Mancunian Way
The Mancunian Way opened in 1967, putting a highway on stilts round the southern half of Manchester city centre. Two years later the road gained an award from The Concrete Society, but the most famous feature of the A57(M) is its slip road to nowhere. This would have sent eastbound traffic north into town along Upper…
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West Cross Route
The West Cross Route was one of the few short sections of the London Motorway Box to make it off the page. First conceived after the war, the Motorway Box was part of the London Ringways scheme, which mirrored plans in other cities up and down the country to build new, fast, orbital and radial…