Jun22nd

Property Insights: 20th Century Listed Buildings

Property Insights: 20th Century Listed Buildings

Think of a listed building and more often than not you will picture a structure that was built centuries ago and yet has — at least partially — stood the test of time. Not all listed buildings are old and archaic though, since a building can make the list if it’s over 30 years old.

We join listed building insurance provider Lycetts as they look at some entries on the listed buildings list, which were only built in the latter half of the past century:


Carbrain Totem, near Glenhove Road, Cumbernauld 1966

Found at: Near Glenhove Road, in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire

Grade of the listed building: Category C

Significant dates associated with the listed building:

·  1962: Artist Brian Miller began working in the engineers’ department at Cumbernauld Development Corporation as a draughtsman, before being appointed as Town Artist within the Chief Architect’s and Planning department.

·  1963: Construction of Cumbernauld’s new town began.

·  1964: Miller set up a Design Team, with their first major task to design and construct the car park in Cumbernauld Town Centre — the forerunner to the Totem sculpture’s concept.

·  Early 1970s: Division of north and south areas of Carbrain completed.

·  1993: Cumbernauld town centre is listed as one of Docomomo’s 60 key monuments of the post-war period.

·  2017: Carbrain Totem became a listed building on March 13th 2017.


The Dorset Martyrs Memorial 1986 (main picture)

Found at: Dorchester, in West Dorset, Dorset, DT1

Grade of the listed building: Grade II

Significant dates associated with the listed building:

·  16th and 17th century: Number of people executed for their religious beliefs at Gallows Hill, in Dorchester.

·  Early 1980s: Elisabeth Frink commissioned to make a public sculpture to be placed at the former site of Dorchester’s gallows on Gallows Hill, following funding from the Art Council's 'Art for Public Places Scheme', the Council of Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, and the Catholic Community in Dorset.

·  1983: Frink designed the Dorset Martyrs Memorial public sculpture.

·  1986: Dorset Martyrs Memorial installed on the site of the former gallows.

·  2017: The Dorset Martyrs Memorial became a listed building on March 13th 2017.


Tomb of Rosalind Franklin 1958

Found at: Brent, in London, NW10

Grade of the listed building: Grade II

Significant dates associated with the listed building:

·  1920: Crystallographer and pioneer of the study of molecular structures Rosalind Franklin born in Notting Hill, in London.

·  1941: Franklin took her degree in chemistry.

·  1947: Franklin’s study of carbons took her to the Laboratoire Central des Services Chimiques de l’État in Paris. There, she learned advanced analytical X-ray techniques.

·  1953: Franklin attended Birkbeck College, where she began work in J D Bernal’s crystallography laboratory on plant viruses.

·  1956: Franklin asked to construct large-scale models of viruses to be showcased at the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair Science Exhibition.

·  1958: Franklin passed away at the Royal Marsden Hospital, in Chelsea. She was buried in Willesden Jewish Cemetery.

·  2017: The Tomb of Rosalind Franklin became a listed building on March 7th 2017.


Schlumberger Gould Research Centre and attached perimeter wall to the north 1984-9

Found at: Cambridge, in Cambridgeshire, CB3

Grade of the listed building: Grade II

Significant dates associated with the listed building:

·  1927: Brothers Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger founded the oilfield services company Schumberger.

·  1982: Following the interviewing of 20 architectural practices, Sir Michael Hopkins was selected to design the Schlumberger research centre that is to be based in Cambridge.

·  1984-1989: The scientific research facilities and offices of the Schlumberger Gould Research Centre erected.

·  2017: Schlumberger Gould Research Centre and attached perimeter wall to the north became a listed building on February 17th 2017.


Margam Crematorium 1969

Found at: Along a service road that is south from Heol Cae’r- Bont, west of Junction 38 of the M4 motorway, in the county of Neath Port Talbot.

Grade of the listed building: Grade II

Significant dates associated with the listed building:

·  1968: FD Williamson designed Narberth Crematorium — a smaller scale modernist precursor to Margram Crematorium.

·  1969: The Margam Crematorium chapel byFD Williamson & Associates of Porthcawl was opened by the Secretary of State for Wales George Thomas MP.

·  2017: Margam Crematorium became a listed building on February 8th 2017.


Former Wing Headquarters Building, Greenham Common 1985

Found at: Venture West (Building 274), in New Greenham Park, Greenham Common, near to Newbury, Berkshire.

Grade of the listed building: Grade II

Significant dates associated with the listed building:

·  1941: Greenham Common requisitioned by the Air Ministry as a satellite airfield for RAF Aldermaston.

·  1943: The airfield became a United States Army Air Force base.

·  1945: The airfield reverted to the RAF.

·  1947: The airfield was decommissioned.

·  1951: The Air Ministry announced its intention to re-requisition land at Greenham Common.

·  1964-1968: The base was returned to the RAF, and re-opened as a USAF stand-by base.

·  1985: The Wing Headquarters building of the former Greenham Common airbase was constructed as part of the Cold War redevelopment of the base to accommodate cruise missiles.

·  1992: The airbase closed.

·  1997: The airbase was purchased by Greenham Common Community Trust.

·  2014: The Former Wing Headquarters Building became a listed building on September 1st 2014.


No. 78 South Hill Park 1963-65

Found at: Hampstead, in London, NW3 2SN

Grade of the listed building: Grade II

Significant dates associated with the listed building:

·  Early 1950s: Brian Housden studied at the Architectural Association.

·  1958: Now an architect, Housden began designing private house 78 South Hill Park.

·  1963-65: The private house at 78 South Hill Park was built.

·  1964: The Housdens family first occupied the uncompleted house.

·  2014: No. 78 South Hill Park became a listed building on November 19th 2014.


Former bus station, Station Square, Milton Keynes 1982-3

Found at: Elder Gate, in Station Square, Milton Keynes

Grade of the listed building: Grade II

Significant dates associated with the listed building:

·  1967: Milton Keynes designated as a new town.

·  1982-83: The Milton Keynes bus station in Station Square was designed and constructed thanks to a joint effort by Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC), architects under Derek Walker, structural engineer Felix J Samuely and contractors of Costains Construction.

·  1983: The bus station was commended by the Structural Steel Design Award.

·  2014: The former bus station in Station Square, Milton Keynes became a listed building on July 17th 2014.