Yesterday, Historic England confirmed to the AJ that, on its advice, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) had Grade II listed the centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Hayward Gallery and terraced walkways and stairs.
The Twentieth Century Society, which launched a bid early last year to secure the long-demanded heritage protection for the centre, hailed the decision as a ‘victory over those who derided so-called “concrete monstrosities”.’
The campaign group described the reinforced concrete complex as a ‘post-war architectural masterpiece’.
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The riverside arts centre was designed by the London County Council Special Works Group, which included Warren Chalk and Ron Herron of Archigram. When it opened in 1967, Daily Mail readers voted it ‘Britain’s ugliest building’.
It was the only post-war building on London’s South Bank to remain unlisted, refused protection on six separate occasions by successive culture secretaries, who since 1991 had repeatedly rejected Historic England’s (formerly English Heritage) recommendations.
Explaining its reasons for refusal in 2018, the DCMS said: ‘The building’s architecture is not unique or groundbreaking and is poorly resolved in terms of its relationship to the site, its coherence, and its accessibility in comparison to the Royal Festival Hall and the National Theatre.’
Following that refusal, architectural historian Otto Saumarez-Smith tweeted then-culture secretary, Matt Hancock, to complain that his decision was ‘absurd and disgraceful’. The Victorian Society echoed the sentiment, accusing the government of threatening the integrity of the listing system with its ‘absurd’ decision.
Hopes had not been high that the result would be different this time.
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