Chapter / London Bridge

Work-in-progress on a 39-storey tower for student accommodation. Architects: Kohn Pedersen Fox, completion expected 2024. Concrete frame with attractive faceted windows, colonnaded at ground level on St Thomas Street. London Borough of Southwark. 

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

Flickr Explored / 2023

1. Wood Wharf / 2023, 

2. The Clew / E14, 

3. Building B2 / 6a Architects, 

4. Greenland Dock / SE16, 

5. Tower Bridge / Night

'House of Invisible Hands' / W Bailey

"A shrine to those whose labours shaped the landscape of Surrey in the making of forest glass during mediaeval times" [source: www.surreyhillsarts.org]. 2019 sculpture by Walter Bailey. Farnham Heath, Surrey, UK. 

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

Thamesmead Towers / Redux

2011 photo of twelve-storey residential blocks, concrete frame with pre-cast panels. Named, from right to left, Oakenholt House, Trewsbury House, Penton House and Osney House. Greater London Council Departments of Architecture & Planning, circa 1968. Thamesmead South, London Borough of Bexley.

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

Binsey Walk / Redux

Greater London Council Departments of Architecture & Planning, circa 1968. Five-storey linear maisonette blocks, now demolished. Thamesmead South, London Borough of Bexley. 

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

Spa Green / Redux

[from my archives of 2011] 

Architects: Berthold Lubetkin et al of Tecton. Design: 1935, construction: 1947. Spa Green Estate received Grade II* listing in 1998 for being "the most important post-war development by the most thoughtful and inventive pioneer of the modern movement in Britain." London Borough of Islington. 

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

Chimney Stik / Redux

2011 photo of street artwork by STIK (British, b.1979). London Borough of Hackney.

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

16 Wentland Close / (Gone)

2011 photo of a Uni-Seco prefab (now demolished) on Wentland Close in the Excalibur Estate. Typical of the many pre-fabricated bungalows built in the immediate post-WW2 period. London Borough of Lewisham. 

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

28 Persant Rd / SE6

[From my archives of 2011] 

One of the surviving Uni-Seco prefabs on Persant Road in the Excalibur Estate. Typical of the many pre-fabricated bungalows built in the immediate post-WW2 period. London Borough of Lewisham. 

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

3 Newham's Row / Detail

Facade detail of 3 Newham's Row where it overlooks St Mary Magdalen Churchyard. Formerly a warehouse known as 175 Bermondsey Street, redeveloped early 2000s (believed to be Glas Architects). London Borough of Southwark. 

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

Newham's Yard / SE1

Residential-led development of 2021, refurbishing and extending existing buildings to include 86 flats, hotel, offices and gym (DLA Architecture Ltd). London Borough of Southwark.

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

Meakin Estate / Arch

By Henry Tansley, Borough Architect of the Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey, 1935-38. In an Art Deco style, comprising 82 flats. In 1965 Bermondsey was incorporated into the London Borough of Southwark. 

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

Ceramic Building / SE

Architects: SPPARC, 2021. 20-storey tower over a 3-storey podium between Newington Causeway and Tiverton Street. Hotel rooms, apartments and ground-level retail. Here viewed from the southeast. London Borough of Southwark.

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

Henry Wood Hall / Tower

Former Holy Trinity Church, designed by Francis Bedford, 1824. Tower with octagonal lantern to upper stage. Grade II listed. London Borough of Southwark. 

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

Jim Vision / E1

Street art portrait by Jim Vision (b.1981, Wales). Seen in Whitby Street, London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

Broadgate Tower / Principal Tower

Broadgate Tower (left) designed by SOM, 2008. Principal Tower designed by Fosters, 2019. Seen from Bethnal Green Road, London Borough of Hackney.

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

Cannon Street / Station

Station of 1866 designed by Sir John Hawkshaw and John Wolfe-Barry, parts of which remain including the Grade II listed brick towers. The latest redevelopment by Foggo Associates, 2011. City of London.

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

Bankside Pier / 2023

Commuter and pleasure boat stop on the south side of the Thames, near to the Globe Theatre and Tate Modern. London Borough of Southwark. 

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

Millennium Bridge / 20231208

Architects: Foster and Partners. Sculptor: Anthony Caro. Engineers: Arup. 1998-2000. London Borough of Southwark.

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

Tower 8 / Redux

Goddard Manton Architects, 2001. Tower element of residential development at Barrier Park. Now with problems caused by suspect cladding. London Borough of Newham. 

©2011 All Rights Reserved

Silo D / Redux

Modernist grain silo at Pontoon Dock in West Silvertown. Built of reinforced concrete in 1920 and restored 1999, Grade II listed. London Borough of Newham.

©2011 All Rights Reserved

Mitcham Obelisk / 2023

"Erected by the Reverend Richard Cranmer, Lord of the Manor of Mitcham Canons to commemorate the finding of an artesian spring there after the dry summers" [source PMSA]. Channelled render, approx. 6m high, inscribed 25 September 1822. Grade II listed 1954. Not particularly well restored in 2021. London Borough of Merton. 

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

346-348 London Rd / 2023

Pair of Grade II listed cottages, now subdivided, described in the listing as mid to late C18, probably with earlier origins. The local authority appraisal says:

'Concealed behind the ”modernised” rendered Georgian facade ... is a much older building. The heavy timber framing of the interior, and the gabled rear elevation show this to be in fact, a Tudor building'.

Mitcham, London Borough of Merton. 

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

The White Hart / 2023

Still empty after all these years (approaching 10). Mitcham's earliest recorded inn, rebuilt in 1749-50 after serious fire damage. The central porch, with frieze and balustrade, is supported by four Tuscan columns. Stagecoaches used to start from a yard at the rear. Grade II listed. London Road, opposite Cricket Green, London Borough of Merton.

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)

Mitcham Methodist Church / West

Architect: Edward Mills, 1959, in modern style. Showing the fully-glazed west end wall. Grade II listed 2010. London Borough of Merton. 

©2023 All Rights Reserved

Mitcham Methodist Church / SE

Mitcham Methodist Church seen from the park to southeast. Architect: Edward Mills (1915-1998), built 1958-9. Reinforced concrete frame with folded slab roof engineered by Ove Arup. Grade II listed 2010. London Borough of Merton. 

©2023 All Rights Reserved

Canons Leisure Centre / II

Architects: Building Design Partnership, 1984. London Borough of Merton.

(CC BY-NC-ND - credit: Images George Rex)