Postmodern buildings of British architecture - in pictures

Newlands Quay, Maynards Quay and Peartree Lane, London (Grade II)
The waterfront houses and flats in the Shadwell Basin development were built between 1986 and 1988 to the design of MacCormac Jamieson Prichard and Wright. The scheme incorporates subtle historical references and is finished in rich red brickwork and bold red and blue balconies. MacCormac’s design draws on the architecture of Victorian docks with arches inspired by the Albert Dock in Liverpool, and detailing that references ports and marine forms including porthole windows, crane cabins and gantries.
Photo: Historic England

Katharine Stephen rare books library, Newnham College, Cambridge (Grade II)
Built in 1981-82, the building was named after Stephen, who was for many years responsible for the college library before becoming principal between 1911 and 1920. It is an intriguing building using red brick to allude to its Victorian surroundings. The barrel-vaulted roof was inspired by the college’s first library.
Photo: James Davies/Historic England

China Wharf, 29 Mill Street, Southwark, London (Grade II)
Designed in 1982-83 by Piers Gough of CZWG, China Wharf was an early part of the Docklands regeneration and an example of how postmodern design typically incorporates clever metaphor and historical references, alongside colour and a sense of playfulness. The river-facing elevation combines a giant pagoda-like centre piece and striking red colouring with arched steel windows.
Photo: James Davies

Hillingdon civic centre, Uxbridge, London (Grade II)
Built between 1973 and 1979 by one of the foremost postwar architectural practices, Robert Matthew Johnson-Marshall, it is an example of postmodernism that creatively reinterprets the arts and crafts tradition. It was seen by some as a betrayal of modernism. Derbyshire took a modern office building and gave it an exterior that revived arts and crafts forms with traditional brickwork detail. In doing so, the building marked the emergence of a new architectural mood.Photo: James O Davies/English Heritage

Thematic House, Kensington and Chelsea, London (Grade I)
Charles Jencks’s Thematic House of 1979-85 is inventive and ingenious. It’s an early example of postmodernism conceived by the person credited with defining and fostering the movement internationally. The design was collaborative, principally with the architect Terry Farrell but including contributions from the US postmodernism architect Michael Graves, and the artists Celia Scott and Eduardo Paolozzi.
Photo: Chris Redgrave/Historic England

McKay trading estate, Blackthorne Road, Slough (Grade II)
This was the first independent commission, completed over 1976-78, for the architect John Outram, who is considered to be an important voice in late 20th-century British architecture. The building is characterised by the arches on its facades, divided by brick piers with cast concrete capitals. The three separate parts of the site: the building, forecourt and car parking define the space and represent an urban piazza, and along with the arcading of the façades, underline Outram’s evocation of traditional European squares.
Photo: Steven Baker/Historic England

Cascades, Isle of Dogs, London (Grade II)
Built in 1987-88, Cascades was designed by Rex Wilkinson, a partner in the celebrated architectural firm CZWG. His design fuses references to heavy industry and nautical elements: the coal-conveyor at Deptford provides the form for the building and the exterior features porthole windows, crows’ nests and funnels in allusion to the Docklands setting.
Photo: Chris Redgrave/Historic England

Swedish Quays, 1-95 Rope Street, Southwark, London (Grade II)
Built between 1986 and 1990, Swedish Quays was designed by Price and Cullen as part of the Docklands regeneration. The architects planned 95 houses and flats around two courtyards and a central landscaped avenue in the former industrial landscape of Surrey Quays, drawing on many architectural styles as well as the Docklands setting for motifs in their design.
Photo: James Davies/Historic England

Judge Business School, Cambridge (Grade II*)
In the 1990s, a competition was held to convert the former Addenbrooke’s hospital on Trumpington Street into a business school that would be ambitious and eye-catching. John Outram won the competition. His alterations and extensions are highly creative and inventive in the handling of colour, pattern, scale and detail.
Photo: James Davies/Historic England

Founders’ Hall, 1 Cloth Fair, London (Grade II)
Built to the designs of Sam Lloyd of Green, Lloyd and Adams between 1984 and 1990, 1 Cloth Fair is a sophisticated late-20th century reinterpretation of the City livery hall. Lloyd’s design incorporates fixtures from the company’s former home, including ornate stained-glass windows and panelled oak doors. The gabled roofline echoes historic buildings in this part of the City.
Photo: Chris Redgrave/Historic England

Aztec West, south Gloucestershire (Grade II)
The pioneering business park was planned with a landscaped campus in a semi-rural location close to the M4 motorway and Bristol. Architect CZWG’s project was a sophisticated postmodern design based on two intersecting squares with internal courtyards at the centre. The circular forecourts followed the turning circle of a car, celebrating the mode of transport through which out-of-town developments could thrive. They lend the buildings a Hollywood glamour, accentuated by elements of art deco design.
Photo: James Davies/Historic England

105-123 St Mark’s Road, Kensington, London (Grade II)
These terraces were designed by Jeremy and Fenella Dixon and built between 1977 and 1979. From the outset the scheme was recognised as an innovative reinterpretation of terraced housing. With its multicoloured brick elevations and lower ground floors set behind front areas and boundary walls, the houses echo the designs of their 19th-century neighbours. It is a successful example of postmodernist architecture engaging with urban and historical context and drawing in modern as well as historical motifs.
Photo: James Davies/Historic England

Source: Listed postmodern buildings - in pictures