1950s/60s Buildings

A selection of images showing buildings from the 1950s and 60s. These reflect the eras' architectural styles and social thinking

Add to My Favourites English Heritage.NMR/ Park Hill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire Park Hill housing development was designed and built 1957-60 by Sheffield Corporation City and formally opened in 1961. The whole development consisted of 995 flats on 17 acres at density of 192 people per acre and a unit cost of £2,800 each. The scheme included 31 shops, 4 pubs, a laundry boiler house, Garchey refuse station and garages. More Info	Add to My Favourites English Heritage.NMR Demolition in Greater London This image sums up changes that were made to buildings in the '50s and '60s. Many old, sometimes historic buildings were demolished to be replaced with new developments.
Add to My Favourites English Heritage. NMR/Ms Elaine Allen LRPS The Lawn, Harlow, Essex Many new homes were needed in the 1950s to replace those lost during World War Two. One solution to providing a large number of homes was to build high-rise developments. The Lawn was built in 1951 and was the first residential tower block in Britain. In 1952 it recieved a Ministry of Health Housing medal.	Add to My Favourites English Heritage.NMR/Ms Elaine Allen LRPS Orchard Croft, Harlow, Essex After the second World War London had a such a severe housing shortage that it was decided to encourage people to move out. New towns such as Harlow were planned and built. These terraced houses were built in 1952 - 53 and provided with car ports.
Add to My Favourites English Heritage.NMR The Twin Foxes, Harlow New Town, Essex New towns were built on greenfield sites and provided with shops and services as well as housing.	Add to My Favourites English Heritage. NMR/Mr Derek Wilson Wyndham Court, Southampton This city centre development was built in 1969. It consisted of 184 flats, three cafes or restaurants and thirteen shops. The flats were for rent but were quite expensive.
Add to My Favourites English Heritage.NMR Lady Godiva Statue, Broadgate, Coventry, West Midlands Coventry City Centre was heavily bombed and needed extensive redevelopment after World War Two. This group of buildings was erected in the 1950s and includes an hotel and department store.	Add to My Favourites Copyright Crown copyright.NMR The Bullring and Rotunda, Birmingham, West Midlands Built in the early '60s the Bullring was one of the first multi-level covered shopping centres. The Rotunda office block became a symbol of unnecessary redevelopment as very few of the offices were ever let.
Add to My Favourites Copyright Crown copyright.NMR New Street Station Signal Box, Birmingham, West Midlands This building houses the signalling equipment for the station. Most of the stations in the West Midlands were rebuilt in the 1960s. New Street station was buried beneath the Bullring Shopping Centre. All the buildings in this complex were built of concrete in a very forbidding style.	Add to My Favourites Copyright Crown copyright.NMR Forton Services, M6, Forton, Lancashire Britain's motorway network was started in the 1960s providing improved transport links for the growing number of cars. This service station was one of the earliest.
Add to My Favourites English Heritage.NMR/Mr Bob Cottrell Jesmond Branch Library, Newcastle upon Tyne This small branch library was built in the early 1960s to a modern design which was based on letting in a large amount of light.	Add to My Favourites English Heritage.NMR/Clive Shenton Keele University, Staffordshire The 1960s saw an expansion in the numbers of students going to university. Keele was one of the new universities built as a campus with all facilities on one site.
Add to My Favourites English Heritage.NMR/Mr Gareth Parry Halls of Residence, Cottingham, Hull Traditional city centre universities such as Hull expanded in the '60s and needed to provide more accommodation. These brick buildings were erected in a village on the edge of Hull and designed to allow light into all the rooms.	Add to My Favourites English Heritage.NMR/Miss Patricia Philpott Headquarters for the Royal College of Physicians, Camden, London This building from the early '60s was typical of many being built of concrete with few features to break up the outside walls
Add to My Favourites English Heritage.NMR Centre Point, New Oxford Street, Holborn, London A 1960s office block that was very controversial when it was built.	Add to My Favourites English Heritage. NMR/Mr David March Royal Festival Hall, Lambeth, Greater London The Royal Festival Concert Hall was built 1949-51. It was designed as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations. It's main structure is built using reinforced concrete for all load-bearing walls.
Add to My Favourites English Heritage.NMR/Mr Brendan Oxlade Roman Catholic Cathedral, Liverpool This building was very different from existing cathedrals and provoked strong reactions when it opened in 1967. It has several nicknames including 'Paddy's Wigwam' and the 'Mersey Funnel'	Add to My Favourites English Heritage. NMR/Mr Edward Alvey Cathedral of St Michael Coventry The medieval church of St Michael in the centre of Coventry was destroyed by bombing in World War Two. This new cathedral was built close to the site preserving the ruins of the old church. The new cathedral took ten years to build to a very modern design.