A SPOTTER’S GUIDE TO ARCHITECTURAL STYLES
Urbe
What makes urban rambling so special compared to its country cousin is the opportunity to see so many fine buildings. Here are pointers to each architectural style, and some of the best examples you can see on our rambles. Unless otherwise stated, all quotes are from Pevsner’s monumental Buildings of England.
York cathedral was at the heart of the medieval city
Roman 43 BC–AD 450
Look out for arches, defensive walls, columns, pediments, monumental lettering
Top three on our walks:
• The Roman Baths, Bath (AD 60): the cornerstone of Bath’s attraction for two millennia
• Temple of Mithras, London III (3rd century AD): under the swanky new Bloomberg building, alongside the hidden Walbrook river
• Mamucium Roman Fort, Manchester (AD 79): a vantage point for controlling the region
Anglo-Norman 1066–1190
Look out for castle-like solidity, carved columns, strapwork, arcading.
Top three on our walks:
• The Round Church, Cambridge (1160): inspired by the rotunda in the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
• Rougemont Castle, Exeter (11th century): built by King William on an outcrop of volcanic red rock
• Tower of London, London II (from 1060): built as a statement of power and dominance
Gothic 1190–1485
Look out for rose windows, pointed Gothic arches, vaulting, tracery, gargoyles.
Top three on our walks:
• Bishop’s Palace, Lincoln (late-12th century): controlled the vast wealth of the Diocese of Lincoln, which stretched from the Humber to the Thames
• Cow’s Tower, Norwich (14th century): built to a height to enable it to fire onto the hillside opposite
• York Minster (completed 1472)
Tudor 1485–1558
Look out for perpendicular, timber-framed, battlemented parapets, Tudor arched.
Top three on our walks:
• King’s Chapel, Cambridge (1515): a study in sheer perpendicular perfection 13
• The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, York (1530s): the largest timber-framed building in the UK still used for its original purpose
• Guildhall, Exeter (refaced 1590s): still in use today, this has been a courthouse, a prison, a woollen market hall and a council meeting place
Renaissance 1558–1702
Look out for domes, colonnades, pediments, fountains, rusticated stonework.
Top three on our walks:
• Clare College, Cambridge (1638 and 1715): from Gothic to classicism in one picture postcard building
• Trinity Great Court, Cambridge (1600s): Sir Isaac Newton among others looked out on this view
• Wren churches, London III (1670s–1710s); exquisite and perfectly proportioned
Georgian 1702–1837
Look out for symmetry, classic proportions, domes, sash windows, façades.
Top three on our walks:
• Royal Crescent, Bath (1770s): if you dream Georgian perfection, this will be the dream …
• Birmingham Town Hall (1834): they weren’t going to toe the line with the burgeoning Gothic Revival
• Grey Street, Newcastle (1824–41): ‘one of the finest streets in England’
Victorian 1837–1901
Look out for Gothic Revival, ostentation, elaboration, Eastern influences, new materials.
Top three on our walks:
• Houses of Parliament, London III (1840–60): wonderfully opulent, with just the small problem that it could cost £6 billion to fully restore
• Natural History Museum, Oxford (1860): A visionary techno-Gothic combination of medieval style and cutting edge materials 11
• General Infirmary, Leeds (1869): George Gilbert Scott’s building incorporated ideas from Florence Nightingale 12
Railways
These walks are designed to fit with travel by train and there is plenty of magnificent built heritage to see.
• Liverpool Lime Street (1836): the oldest grand terminus station in the world
• Newcastle Central Station (1850): the earliest surviving covered roof
• St Pancras station (1868)
• York station (1877)
• Bristol Temple Meads station (1840 and 1870s): a glorious way to arrive
Edwardian 1901–1910
Look out for more restrained and less complex design, lighter stone, quality materials.
Top three on our walks:
• Port of Liverpool Building (1907): large dome, ornamental detail and many maritime references
• Grand Midland Hotel, Manchester (1903): highly individualistic Edwardian Baroque style. The Rolls-Royce company was founded over a lunch here …
• Central Arcade, Newcastle (1906): stunning faïence tiles and a famous independent music store
Arts and Crafts 1860s–1920s
Look out for traditional craftsmanship, asymmetry, historical or vernacular styles of decoration.
Top three on our walks:
• Birmingham School of Art (1885): the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood formed here
• Church of St Michael and All Angels, Brighton (1862 and 1893): the first time that the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was let loose on a project, producing exceptional stained-glass windows
• Liverpool Anglican Cathedral (1904–78): stained glass, sculptures, fine furniture and woodwork 16
Art Nouveau 1890s–1910s
Look out for sinuous lines and flowing organic shapes based on plant forms.
Top three on our walks:
• Edward Everard Printing Works, Bristol (1901); delightful Doulton tiles 15
• The Philharmonic Hotel, Liverpool (1900): superb gates and sumptuous interior
• John Rylands Library, Manchester (1900): ‘a cathedral filled with books’
Art Deco 1920s–1930s
Look out for bold designs, clear lines, vibrant colours and patterns.
Top three on our walks:
• Embassy Court, Brighton (1935): enclosed balconies and England’s first penthouse suites made this a highly desirable address
• GWR Paddington Office, London IV (1935): many Art Deco features, including a row of shell-like protrusions
• City Hall, Norwich (1938): sleek bronze lions guard the entrance to the three massive bronze doors 14
Arcades
The origins of the shopping arcade can be traced back to Paris, where they first started to appear in the late eighteenth century. The narrow streets without pavements, crowded with horse-traffic, must have made shopping hazardous. An arcade provided comfortable, stylish and safe shopping away from the dirt and clatter of the street. Arcades suited the British climate too.
Top three on our walks:
• Glass Arcade, St Nicholas Market, Bristol (1854): an early example of an arcade, linked to a Corn Exchange
• The Arcades, Leeds (1900): designed by a theatre architect who understand how to create dramatic effect with entrances and exits
• Royal Arcade, Norwich (1899): Art Nouveau style arrives in Norwich
Modern 1920 onwards
Look out for ‘less is more’, straight lines, sheer planes of glass, steel or concrete.
Top three on our walks:
• E.C. Stoner Building, Edward Boyle Library and other Leeds university buildings (1960s): post-war architectural design as influenced by Le Corbusier 19
• St Catherine’s College, Oxford (1962): every detail, from the cutlery to the landscaping, was worked through by the Danish architect Arne Jacobsen
• The British Library (1999), London IV: ‘Is this a factory or is it a temple? A library needs to be a bit of both’
Streamline Moderne 1930s
Look out for a style that emphasises curving forms (following on from Art Deco), with long horizontal lines and occasional nautical elements.
Top three on our walks:
• Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool (1939): local violinist John Frederick Clarke, part of the RMS Titanic orchestra, has a memorial plaque
• The Battleship Building, London IV (1969): it won the Concrete Society’s ‘Building of the Year’ in 1969, thus cementing its reputation …
• The Daily Express Building, Manchester (1939): one of Norman Foster’s favourite buildings when he was growing up in the city
Brutalist 1950s–1970s
Look out for large scale, concrete (the name Brutalism derives from ‘Béton brut’, French for concrete), repeated modular elements, exposure of building’s function.
Top three on our walks:
• The Queen Elizabeth Law Courts, Liverpool (1970s): ribbed panels of reddish sandy concrete and a glass-sided walkway
• National Theatre, London III (1976): Sir John Betjeman was effusive in his praise and wrote to Lasdun stating that he ‘gasped with delight at the cube of your theatre in the pale blue sky … it has that inevitable and finished look that great work does’
• Park Hill, Sheffield (1961): a Utopian vision of ‘streets in the sky’, recently regenerated to acclaim
Postmodern
Look out for ornamental features around a modern shape – portholes, cupolas, columns, humorous flourishes.
Top three on our walks:
• No. 1 Poultry, London III (1997): an ancient Egyptian tomb-like opening takes visitors into the heart of the building 18
• TV-AM building, London IV (1982): egg cups straddle the roof-line of the country’s first breakfast TV station
• Leeds Magistrate’s Court (1994): one of the most successful buildings from the ‘Leeds look’ era
Twenty-first century
• Broadcasting Tower, Leeds (2009): student accommodation, using the same rusted metal material as the Angel of the North, to great effect
• Aquatics Centre, London II (2011): Zaha Hadid at her finest and most sinuous
• Manchester Civil Justice Centre (2007): named one of the ‘Best British Buildings of the 21st century’ 17
