If you know of a building you think should be part of The Rubble Club please submit the form below.
However, we have three key ground rules:
Firstly the building’s architect must be alive and not party to its destruction,
secondly the building must be built with the intention of permanence (exhibitions, shops and interiors are not eligible), and
thirdly it must be deliberately destroyed or radically altered, it can’t simply burn down.
All fields are required.
/rating_on.png "16 votes, average: 4.63 out of 5")
/rating_half.png "16 votes, average: 4.63 out of 5")
This is a really ugly building. One can even say that it is extremely ugly. Why do we talk of architecture in such rubbish properly? Let’s call it but simply by his real name. The is simply waste. For it is garbage, and this one put away.
I always thought the office building was quite nice and tastefully decorated in orange, or was it burnt sienna.
The purchasing manager was definitely a sly old fox, setting up a ghost company when he was appointed and using it as the main supplier for CPT. Unbranded crap was then bought from them at well over the market value for quality gear. Rumour has it he took well over twenty million but who knows.
My 1970’s Southgate scheme did not destroy beautiful Georgian buildings. The site was a mixture of rather poor uninteresting Victorian buildings. I argued at the time that the development should have included the car park as an integrated development but that was not accepted. I have no problem with it being replaced – cities are organic and grow and change as demand and use change. But is what has replaced it – pretend Georgian facades clipped onto a modern plastic shopping centre – worthy of Bath? I suspect not. The issue on replacing buildings should be – is it better?
BCO award winning office building, go to http://www.michaellaird.co.uk/architects-portfolio.php?p=28&pn=Gyle+Square%2C+Edinburgh&c=1&n=Offices
Yep, the buildings above are still there as of yesterday.
The car park is still there (at present)!
I’m pretty sure that while some of the buildings were Victorian, with even one or two from the early 20th century, the majority were Georgian. And I will never agree with the perspective that the demolished buildings were uninteresting. If nothing else the Sack of Bath made people appreciate that the city’s value is in its relative completeness, not in its having one or two tremendous set-pieces that are without context. All the various quirks of the less important buildings added to the city’s rich character.
I find the 2010 version of Southgate to be fairly tacky on the whole, but I think we’ll struggle nowadays to agree on whether one thing is “better” than another. Progress-towards-Enlightenment is an outdated concept. What are the criteria for “better”?
Now the Tricorn has won the Rubble Club’s Ball and Chain – read all about the building’s design, construction, life and death; The Tricorn. The Life and Death of a Sixties Icon.
£19.99 from tricornbooks.co.uk, 8 Florence Road, Southsea, PO5 2NE….
Ideal Christmas present…..!!!
Mr Luder (if indeed that is you),
I live in the shadow of two of your contributions to British architecture here in Gateshead.
It is only my opinion, although it seems to be shared by the local council here, but I would argue that my mother’s dog leaves more meaningful contribtutions when she takes her for a walk.
You have campaigned vociferously for these to be retained. Well – help yourself. You can come here and remove them both and re-erect them near you.
Good luck with planning permission, by the way.
But there is a serious side to the club, too. It aims to draw attention to the growing popularity of demolishing buildings, rather than finding ways of breathing new life into them. It is a trend totally inconsistent with society’s new-found focus on sustainability.
The above is a quote from this: http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/daily-news/the-director-of-the-rubble-club-talks-about-the-serious-issues-behind-the-club/5209781.article
Is it too easy to say that this only seems to be an issue now that these architects’ works are the ones being demolished? The era in which the majority of these architects operated took as its ethos the gleeful demolition of perfectly sturdy buildings in the name of “progress”. Old buildings that could have done with a bit of a clean-up were ripped down and replaced with things that we now largely hate, not only because they are unpleasant to look at, casting deep shadows and making us feel miserable around them, but because of the philosophy they took while they were taking their place.
My 1970’s Southgate scheme did not destroy beautiful Georgian buildings.
To all who have read this far – just to let you know: Owen Luder is here either unaware of history, or is deliberately spreading misinformation! The beautiful bit is subjective but his Southgate scheme did destroy Georgian buildings. His Southgate scheme was revolting though, so I can imagine why his subconscious would attempt to find justification over these past 30 years or so!
Interesting question from Alex, but in fact it was the same architect!
Is The Rubble Club defunct? No postings for nearly three months!
We’ve hit a bit of a quiet patch in the aftermath of our first Rubble Club Awards but rest assured we are working on further submissions.
I am sorry that Owen Luder has chosen to put up such a silly comment about the date of the buildings in Southgate Street. Some certainly had Victorian frontages, and the New Inn was a late Victorian rebuild, but many were Georgian and even earlier, although, to be fair, much of the street had been destroyed by fire in 1726. I commend Owen Luder to read The Lost Pubs of Bath, of which I happen to be co-author with Dr Andrew Swift, if he doubts this.
I am particularly sorry because there were much better ways to defend it. One thing a lot of Bathonians appear to have forgotten that the drainage at that end of town left a lot to be desired – come a hot summer, and, as I can remember, walking down there meant putting your hand over your nose and mouth, the smell was so bad. (I have mentioned this to other people who usually say – Oh yes, I’d forgotten that! Yes it was terrible!) However, the most important question anyone should ask about a building is not “What does it look like?” but “Does it work?” Luder’s Tricorn in Portmouth never worked but Southgate was a pleasure to shop in, especially with small children in tow. Yes it had convenience stores, but that end of town always did. Milsom Street had the “posh shops”. Now we have a ghastly, bland, ignorant Mock-Georgian shopping centre, with menacing blocks towering over a maze of contrived streets which bear no relation to any town which grew organically. Alas poor Bath!
“same architect………..” hmmmmm
Many things are the culprit in this demise, but the construction details published in the Architects Journal building study showed fundamentaly flawed detailing born of an architectural intent that appears more about graphic design on a piece of paper than something that can be practically built and endure without excessive defects and maintenance. Much of this inadequacy cannot be blamed on budget cutting and cost cutting. The architecture is suspect. It does all practical and competent modernists a diservice.
Its a cruel twist of fate that because of the procurement process the builder and architect could not be sued to get both recompence for the community and an inquiry into the architects competence.
I’m sure I read somewhere that this was intended to be taken down and reassembled elsewhere, once the site got ran over by the M74 mega-driveway?
puzzled, If all building regs were complied with,and I presume local council inspectors, were involved at each stage of build, why did builders / architect get paid if the final job was not signed off, and why cant legel action be taken against both builder /architect?. after so few years, to become unusable something was not done correctly
Real shame – lovely work.
I live in Gateshead and am very sad at the loss of the Trinity Square car park that is being demolished in the town centre. I am 38 years old and the structure has stood proud towering over Gateshead centre for all of my life.
I am an avid fan of all things ’60’s and believe that the thought of people in the 60’s demolishing structures from the ’20’s would now be frowned upon, although all things from the ’60’s are currently being demolished with indecent haste.
I particularly like the car park as the design is unusual, itself being a ramp rather than levels with a ramp ’stuck’ on the side, it’s such a shame that the area on the top was never allowed to realise it’s full potential as the view is outstanding.
We are totally disgraced with the site of Berners now, it should be knocked down with a JCB digger! It will never be the same again.
Berners Pool should never have been built in the first place. There were never going to be enough people through he doors to fund it. Once again a case of local egos being bigger than the local community.
I used to work there !!!!
I agree with the case berners should not have been built because I worked there and lost my job. It is a wreck. People liked it while it lasted but not for long. What a waste of money. Is it going to be knocked down or what is happening with it? Alison and Tom Binks
Man oh MAN, schadenfreude feels gooood….
Puts me in mind of this:
http://badbritisharchitecture.blogspot.com/2009/07/pier-head-ferry-terminal-liverpool-by.html
Dear Gateshead:
Should you happen to hear the word ‘progressive’ issue from the mouths of architects in the near future, make sure to keep your ‘collective hands’ on your ‘collective wallet’.
Why is Habitat 67 in Montreal preserved when this is binned? I can’t entirely hate the thing, in spite of myself; it’s mad enough to be charming. Check out the Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo, too. Uuuurggghh…..sometimes you think, “Just paint the f*cker”, at others, “Give the evil c*nt who demolished our heritage a taste of its own medecine…”
Just had a look round this building. Well designed appointed and the build quality looks good. It is only 14 years old and it would be a travesty to destroy a building a perfectly good structure that some institution could make use of. Obviously council just sees a plot with lots of healthy kickbacks sorry investment in generic housing modules. There some issues with leaking roof but all buidlings require maintenance by the look of the plants growing out of the roof this has not been.
When are we going to protect the best of modern building of the 2oth C too much has been destroyed already.
another stunning 60s building consigned to the dusbin. Gateshead council bunch of philistines, someone with an amoebas brain of intelligence could have kept this as a functioning car park and used the spaces up top for some sort of cultral activity, if you dont believe it check out what they do each summer with a much less interesting structure down in sunny Peckham south London.
I can just imagine the hideous shite that will replace it.
There are some building that are in the history and urban culture of a city and when it’s destroyed a part of the town charm is gone.
I was unfortunate enough to be a resident in one of these buildings in the mid 90’s. They were horrible, dark, damp, cold and depressing buildings. Still the despite that, I’m still sad to see them all boarded up.
The weird design did have it’s plus points, if you were on the fourth floor like me, you could use the roof of the room below you as your own private sunbathing spot in the summer, but you had to stay close into the window or the warden would catch you..
Was’t looking for this specifically but I took the time to read it and wanted to say thanks A~
I’d like to think that was the real Owen Luder posting above. How amusing, if distressing, to see a great master architect attacked by the hoi polloi who know nothing of his art. Derwent Tower and Trinity Square in Gateshead are masterworks. Southgate less so, I think. The only Luder original of any size still standing is the Catford Centre in south London, I think. Has the trademark megastructural external staircases.
This was a horrible building to work in. Although I’d be sorry to see it go because of purely sentimental reasons, I really cannot see any future use for it. It’s just a monument to the hubris of the new Vice-Chancellors of the New Universities of the early nineties. These institutions would have been far more useful to the British economy by remaining polytechnics and colleges of higher education where the accent was on high level vocational education. It’s sad that it’s to go after only 14 years but its nothing special; probably the new housing that takes its place will be equally short-lived and unliveable-in. Who would want to live in a flat in between the A4 and a main railway line?
Eastend sawmills relocated to Blairlinn Industrial Estate in Cumbernauld, (motorway extension moved them on), and then went bust in late 2010. This office didn’t appear on the new site (which was previously a timber business bought out by Eastend).
The whole site is now derelict, waiting for some entrepreneur or phoenix to start some growth again.
Is derelict timber classed as rubble? Maybe its more recyclable than concrete and brick rubble, and instead of ending up roadfill or something, it ends up chipboard perhaps?
I went to see the building today. Demolition has begun. Very sad. The building is one of the very few of merit in Slough. Too late now?
See http://tinyurl.com/6k2da25 for some of my pictures.
Well i’m watching them demolish it this veryminute! what a scandalous waste of money. No wonder further education is such a mess and they expect our children to pay £9000.00 a year for the privilege. Piracy!!!!
Eloquently put Dave, I agree that the elevations are indeed woeful, but the roofscape is interesting. I can see that the architects were inspired by Le Corbusier’s Unite rooftop garden sculptures….here they have skillfully incorporated a rooftop garden loosely based on that London I think.
Forgive me for not shedding a tear for this pile of PoMo. The fantastic Newbery Tower (Keppie Henderson & Partners, 1970/1) behind narrowly avoided being listed in 2006, partly because of the way these outrageous additions compromise the ground floor plan and enclose the once open forecourt. Shame on GKC. Shame on GSA.
Read more here:
http://www.c20society.org.uk/botm/archive/2011/newbery-tower-glasgow-school-of-art.html
the “tricorn shopcentre” sign is in nesbits of portsmouths next auction
Dave do you have any more details or is it best to contact Nesbits direct? Which sign is it do you know?
Fascinating buiding.
Somebody necessarily lend a hand to make critically articles I might state. This is the first time I frequented your website page and to this point? I amazed with the analysis you made to make this particular post extraordinary. Fantastic activity!
Remarkable issues here. I am very happy to peer your article. Thanks a lot and I am having a look forward to touch you. Will you please drop me a mail?
I met Owen Luder at a Christmas bash last night – he is a friend of a friend. Upon leaving, his parting cheer was “I’m a concrete man!”. Priceless!! Also, he’s bloody chipper for 83.
Wonderful web site. Plenty of useful information here. I am sending it to a few friends ans additionally sharing in delicious. And of course, thank you to your sweat!
Online monster beats solo web promotion monster beats pro is the among the fastest beats studio ways to explore your business and touching .
It’s scandalous that despite a £450M regeneration project going on right now, that we have no money for a decent transport system or university.
Slough has no local place for higher education now.
The town is seriously lacking in people educated enough to meet the demands of business in the area. That is why people are commuting in from the more affluent areas to be our bosses. Many of them actually look down their noses at the town and the people thinking we are inferior because of our low educational credentials.
All you can get now is level 1 and level 2 courses which are the eqivalent of a weak o level / GCSE and most of the people who need to upgrade their numeracy and literacy skills live too far from the technical colleges or jsut cannot afford to travel on the rubbish transport systems to get an education.