Historic England’s decision to relist nine structures associated with the Festival of Britain recognises the lasting cultural resonance of mid-century modernism and the urgent environmental need to recognise the value of our existing building stock.
Photograph by Morley von Sternberg
The Festival of Britain, held from May to September 1951, marked a transition as the country faced the future. As Britain withdrew from the empire while re-establishing its economy after the second world war, it sought to promote its progress in both science and the arts. It sought, in the words of the then Princess Elizabeth in 1948, to develop ‘Britain’s leadership in the world of ideas’. The main exhibition on London’s South Bank had to reflect the duality between science and the arts, trade and culture.
Such times echo our own, even down to the discovery of partying in the open air during a wet summer, the abiding image being of couples dancing on the South Bank under twinkling lights in their overcoats. Architecturally, the legacy was slight, since rationing was still in force. Apart from the Royal Festival Hall – the only building on the South Bank intended to be permanent – the main legacy was the Live Architecture exhibition at Lansbury, a real piece of the East End that was rebuilt after wartime bombing. This makes Historic England’s recent relisting of nine structures associated with the festival the more significant. They include the upgrading of two churches – one at Lansbury and one in Coventry – for the novelty of their construction and decoration.
The festival style, more widely known now as “mid-century modern”, tempered modernism with bright colour, natural materials, murals and sculpture. It was inclusive in its references and in its appeal – whether in the sophisticated Royal Festival Hall or the flock of coffee bars that sprang up in the years after 1951. Its influence has been felt since the Festival Hall was first listed in 1988, in the work of firms such as Allies and Morrison (restorers of the building in 2007) and AHMM. After 30 years, this neo-modernism must be one of the most durable architectural styles ever.
Still more important was the festival’s influence on town planning, with its rejection of formal straight lines in favour of picturesque asymmetry, and landscaping. The festival was the first time in Britain that people saw a whole group of modern buildings together, the spaces in between as important as the structures themselves, achieving a unity through diversity.
This was an important influence on the new towns of the 1950s and a lesson for new settlements today. The relistings show that enthusiasm for the festival shows no signs of abating anytime soon.
The relistings also help highlight the value of conservation in retaining and protecting the historic environment – an environment that reflects the knowledge, beliefs and traditions of diverse communities, providing continuity and a source of identity. The social and economic benefits of conservation are well documented. Places encompassing heritage values often generate tourism or are used as learning and recreational resources. There is also, however, a growing appreciation for the environmental foundations associated with preserving that which already exists.
The manufacturing of building materials, their transportation and the construction process are all responsible for creating significant carbon emissions. Retaining buildings, such as those included in the celebratory relistings, places value on the carbon spent during their construction, further avoiding the additional emissions associated with demolish and rebuild. This, therefore, sees conservation align with the principles of sustainability: that preserving and sustaining the historic environment has social, economic and environmental benefits.
The UK’s VAT system is weighted towards new-build development ahead of the approaches that retain the old. Repair and maintenance work – which increase a building’s life span – and retrofit measures, which reduce both carbon emissions and
obsolescence, are currently subject to a 20% tax rate, while the labour and materials required for new-builds are VAT-free. This system needs a rethink.
The Festival of Britain was built out of the rubble of the second world war, when new buildings were needed in bomb-scarred cities across the country. Today, the buildings from this time need to be treasured as part of our shared heritage, but also because we know that the greenest buildings are those that already exist.
Elain Harwood is senior architectural investigator and Dr Douglas Phillips is senior environmental analyst at Historic England.
The Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall was designed by the London County Council Architect’s Department as part of its contribution to the Festival of Britain. The building was completed on 3 May 1951, just in time for the festival opening, with further additions made during the 1960s. The style of the building is best described as “in the spirit of the Festival of Britain”, as highlighted by its concrete, curved profile. It was the first postwar building to become listed at Grade I (in 1987) and is considered an iconic landmark of London’s South Bank as well as one of Britain’s premier concert halls.
Its “egg in a box” plan was considered a novel and remarkable idea at the time as the multiple foyers not only provided spaces for audiences to gather, but also helped to shield the concert hall from outside noise. The interior has hardly changed since 1951 and the original panelling, stone finishes, internal fittings and fabrics (like the wooden and bronze handrails in the main foyer and cantilevered red boxes along the auditorium walls) survive remarkably well, as well as some hangings and sculptures preserved from the festival itself.
Calvary Charismatic Baptist Church
The Calvary Charismatic Baptist Church in Tower Hamlets, London (originally known as the Trinity Congregational Church) was built in the 1950s as part of the Festival of Britain’s Live Architecture exhibition. Designed by Cecil Handisyde and D Rogers Stark, the church sits around a courtyard alongside a church hall and offices.
As is common of the festival style, the three buildings are made from brick, concrete and copper cladding, combining modernism with whimsy and Englishness. It was an early example of an English non-conformist church designed in the modern style, with recreational facilities and meeting rooms to supplement the main worship space, becoming widely renowned and a model for subsequent churches of many denominations.
Contrapuntal Forms
Barbara Hepworth’s Contrapuntal Forms sculpture was commissioned by the Arts Council for the Festival of Britain and was designed to symbolise “the spirit of discovery”.
It stood outside the Dome of Discovery on the South Bank during the festival, before being presented to the new town of Harlow, Essex, in 1953. The semi-abstract figures, made from Irish blue limestone, were listed at Grade II in 1998.
Hepworth was an English artist and sculptor and a leading figure in the colony of artists who resided in St Ives during the first and second world wars. Her work exemplifies modernism and both Contrapuntal Forms and Turning Forms (her other sculpture commissioned for the festival) are perfect examples of this.
Susan Lawrence and Elizabeth Lansbury schools
The Susan Lawrence and Elizabeth Lansbury schools in Tower Hamlets, east London, first opened between 1913-14 as the Ricardo Street Schools but were bombed during the second world war and replaced as part of the Festival of Britain’s Live Architecture exhibition.
The schools were named after Elizabeth Lansbury (1859-1940), wife of former Labour leader George Lansbury, and Susan Lawrence (1871-1947), MP for East Ham who was described as a “zealot in the cause of education”.
The area of Lansbury needed rejuvenation following the war and so was chosen for development as part of the festival. The buildings have a distinctive festival style, as highlighted by the open-well staircases, an exterior steel frame clad in concrete panels, the use of brick and stone materials and a copper roof finish. Of all the Lansbury exhibition buildings, the festival was particularly pleased with the schools, believing they represented the standard of architecture expected and appreciated at the festival.
Newbury Park Bus Station Canopy
Newbury Park Bus Station Canopy in Redbridge, London, was designed by Oliver Hill in 1937 but not built until after the war.
The high arched, open structure with its copper vaulted roof and concrete arches belongs architecturally to the modernist festival style.
It is an unusual design for a bus shelter and won a Festival of Britain Award, which is marked with one of the iconic Festival of Britain plaques.
Citizens of Battersea War Memorial
The Citizens of Battersea War Memorial, Battersea, south London, was built as a dedication to the people of Battersea who lost their lives during the second world war and is one of the borough’s contributions to the Festival of Britain. The memorial is carefully designed, with its crescent shape and sheltered, open-fronted seating providing the local community with a place to rest and reflect. The memorial was listed at Grade II* in 2015.
Christ Church
Christ Church, Coventry, was designed in 1953 by Alfred H Gardner and built between 1956 and 1958.
Directly inspired by the Festival of Britain, the building has a concrete frame with large areas of self-supporting brickwork, and is covered with a lightweight vaulted, copper roof.
The lavish interior is considered one of the most eclectic of its era, making it very rare.
The Architects’ Journal (1953) described the church as “Pleasure Gardens pastiche”, no doubt inspired by the Festival Pleasure Gardens at Battersea Park that ran alongside the South Bank exhibitions and was based on fun fairs such as Copenhagen’s Tivoli.
Some of the church’s notable architectural features include the hanging birdcage light fittings, likely inspired by the Lion and Unicorn Pavilion at the Festival of Britain, whose overall form the building resembles, as well as the chequerboard pattern used on the window and tower which is also repeated across the walls in purple and gold.
Church of St Mary and St Joseph
The Grade II-listed Church of St Mary and St Joseph in Tower Hamlets, east London, was designed by English architect Adrian Gilbert Scott, replacing an 1850 church destroyed in the second world war. It was completed in 1954 as part of the Festival of Britain’s Lansbury Estate Live Architecture project, demonstrating British redevelopment in real time.
