C20 Society

📍 How can you join the campaign to save Cooling Towers?

✊🏻 Sign and share the petition: change.org/p/save-brita...

✍🏼 If you're an architect, developer, artist, or public figure, sign our open-letter.
Email coordinator@c20society.org.uk

📖 Order C20's new book: shop.c20society.org.uk/products/pre...

Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station, Nottinghamshire - BDP, 1963-67 Image © David Noton

💥12 months ago Britain's last coal-fired power station, Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, shut down after 50 years powering the national grid. We can now confirm that C20's listing application for Ratcliffe's 8 cooling towers has been rejected by DCMS, while their demolition has been approved.

Image: Mosaics in St George’s Chapel by Tom Phillips CBE RA (2016), credit: Diocese of Westminster

EVENT: Join C20 and Art + Christianity for a tour of the extraordinary 20th century art and interiors of Westminster Cathedral, including works by Eric Gill, Giacomo Manzu, Leonard McComb and Tom Phillips.

🗓️ Sat 22 Nov 2025, 10:45-12:00
🎟️ Book tickets: secure.c20society.org.uk/Default.aspx...

Oasis Beach Pool, Bedford - Yates Owen Partnership, 1990-91 Image © Ian Evans

Oasis Beach Pool, Bedford - Yates Owen Partnership, 1990-91 Image © Better Leisure

Oasis Beach Pool, Bedford - Yates Owen Partnership, 1990-91 Image © Darren Rose

FOR SALE: The Great Pyramid of Bedford - includes flumes, wave machine and lazy river.

Bedford Borough Council are seeking a long-term partner to 'acquire and regenerate for continued leisure use' the 6.29 acre site of the Oasis Beach Pool in Bedford, designed 1990-91 by Yates Owen Partnership.

On Tue 8 Oct, Olympia Auctions presents From the Studio: Works from Twenty Artists’ Estates. With 204 works by figures like Kathleen Guthrie, Cyril Mann and Lionel Bulmer, estimates start at just £100, offering collectors access to overlooked C20 modernists #Ad

➡️ olympiaauctions.com/auction/sear...

Remarkably the station and masts at Brookmans Park have been broadcasting continuously for nearly a century. They pioneered global advances in mass media communication and were the site of the first public transmission of simultaneous sound and vision in the world, in 1930.

BBC Brookmans Park Transmitting Station, Hertfordshire - Wimperis, Simpson and Guthrie, 1928-29 Image © Tony Summers (Flickr)

NEWS: DCMS has rejected the historic BBC Brookmans Park Transmitting Station in Hertfordshire (1928) for listing, overruling the recommendation of Historic England and C20 to designate the site Grade II. The decision is the latest in a spate of controversial ministerial interventions in heritage.

Image © Keystone Press Photo shows Mrs. Ingeboug Paine with her daughter 7 year old Diane, standing on their 19th story balcony overlooking the collapsed block of flats Ronan Point, taking a last look before leaving for their new home in another block of flats in Canning Town [Jan 20 1969].

To celebate the launch of 'Up in the Air: A History of High-Rise Britain', join author Holly Smith and C20 in conversation with architectural historian Neal Shasore on the future of public housing.

🗓️ Fri 14 Nov 2025, 6.30pm
📍 Cowcross St Gallery + Online
🎟️ secure.c20society.org.uk/Default.aspx...

Sir Terry Farrell portrait © Phil Sayer

Henley Royal Regatta HQ (1986) - Grade II Image © Farrells

SIS / MI6 Building, Vauxhall (1994) Image © ArchDaily

C20 is saddened to hear of the death of Sir Terry Farrell (1938-2025), an architect who traversed myriad styles - from Modernism to High-Tech and PoMo - and was a champion of conservation, urbanism and contextual design.
We’re raising a glass, or perhaps that should be a TV-am eggcup, in his honour.

‘Nonconformist’ architect of MI6 building Terry Farrell dies aged 87 Farrell was a key member of the hi-tech movement of the 1980s and 90s, with buildings including the TV-am studios and Embankment Place in London, and the Deep in Hull Sir Terry Farrell, the “nonconformist” architect and planner, whose bold designs defined the “hi-tech” era and included the MI6 headquarters in London, has died aged 87. The architect’s studio in London confirmed the death in an Instagram post, writing: “It is with deep sadness that, on behalf of his family, the partners and practice of Farrells acknowledge the death of our founder, Sir Terry Farrell.” Continue reading...

‘Nonconformist’ architect of MI6 building Terry Farrell dies aged 87

'His n Hers' mural, Deptford High Street - Patricio Forrester (Artmongers), 2001. Image © Stefano Ravera

One of London's most beloved and recognisable early 21st century murals is being restored!

'His n Hers', more commonly known as the Deptford Pearls mural, was painted in 2001 by artist Patricio Forrester and
Artmongers on Deptford High St.

Back the restoration fund: justgiving.com/campaign/dep...

C20 in the FT on Margate’s Arlington House and the future of the UK’s Brutalist high-rises:

www.ft.com/content/ae73...

demolition is a waste, literally. much better, as Maurice Shapero (project architect) writes in @news.architectsjournal.co.uk:

'... to strip the building back to its concrete structure and let it stand as a folly, a sculpture, a memory of an architectural idea.'

@c20society.bsky.social

Smithdon High School, Hunstanton, Norfolk - Alison and Peter Smithson, 1950-54. Image: RIBA Pix

Smithdon High School, Hunstanton, Norfolk - Alison and Peter Smithson, 1950-54. Image: Jestico + Whiles

Smithdon High School, Hunstanton, Norfolk - Alison and Peter Smithson, 1950-54. Image: Jestico + Whiles

NEWS: Following an extensive pre-app consultation, the Society has given its full support to a scheme led by Jestico + Whiles to restore the Grade II* listed but deteriorating Smithdon High School in Hunstanton, Norfolk, designed by Alison and Peter Smithson in 1950-54.

🎙️"It looks like it could be there for 500 years!"

@merlinfulcher.bsky.social and Dr Jane Hall of Assemble discuss the ongoing campaign to save the former Museum of London and Bastion House complex, in this weeks episode of The Brief podcast by @opencity-uk.bsky.social

▶️ open-city.org.uk/podcast

The Lovell Health House, Los Angeles - Richard Neutra (1927-30) Image © Zachary Gray

EVENT: Join C20 for the launch of a major new book
on Richard Neutra’s Lovell Health House in Los Angeles (1927-30); a masterpiece of the international modernist movement and cinematic star of ‘L.A. Confidential’.

🗓️ Wed 15 Oct 2025, 6.30pm
📍 Cowcross St Gallery + Online
🎟️ c20society.org.uk/events

Campaigners get green light for legal challenge against Barbican demolition Campaigners get green light for legal challenge against Barbican demolition

Campaigners fighting Sheppard Robson and Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s plans to redevelop an area on the edge of the Barbican Estate have won permission to proceed with a legal challenge that claims alternatives to demolition were overlooked

High Court to hear objections to Museum of London demolition - Arts Professional Plans to demolish the defunct Museum of London site have hit a roadblock, with permission granted for a legal challenge to the central London transformation project. Campaign group Barbican Quarter Organisation...

Plans to demolish the defunct Museum of London site have hit a roadblock, with permission granted for a legal challenge to the central London transformation project.

Museum of London and Bastion House, City of London – Powell & Moya (1976-77)

BREAKING NEWS: The campaign to save Bastion House and the former Museum of London (Powell & Moya, 1976-77) has won the right to present its case to the High Court. The Judicial Review will challenge the City of London's decision to demolish the buildings.

➡️ c20society.org.uk/news/museum-...

✉️ Read all about it!

Sign-up to C20’s monthly email newsletter for all the latest news on our casework, campaigns, publications and booking alerts for forthcoming events, lectures and tours.

✍🏼 c20society.org.uk/newsletter-s...

Chapel of Reconciliation, Berlin – Rudolf Reitermann and Peter Sassenroth, 2000 Image credit: Florian Monheim

Chapel of Reconciliation, Berlin – Rudolf Reitermann and Peter Sassenroth, 2000 Image credit: Ansgar Koreng / CC BY 3.0 (DE)

Building of the Month for Sept 2025: Chapel of Reconciliation, Berlin - Reitermann and Sassenroth, 2000

Mark Bessoudo explores a modest yet radical building of rammed earth and floating timber slats; a reflection of its communitarian design and construction.

➡️ c20society.org.uk/.../chapel-o....

Southend-on-Sea British Rail Poster by Kenneth Steel

The Sun Shelter, Cliff Gardens, Southend-on-Sea Image © Historic England

Fairy castles in Shrubbery Gardens, Southend-on-Sea Image © Historic England

NEWS: A 1930s moderne-style Sun Shelter and Peter Pan-inspired mini fantasy fairy castles in Southend-on-Sea have been Grade II listed, following support from C20 Society. The pair perfectly capture the glamour of the 'Essex Riviera' during the Interwar period.

c20society.org.uk/news/southen...

Portrait of Sir Nicholas Grimshaw © Phil Sayer

Waterloo International Terminal, Lambeth (1988-93) Submitted for listing (2024)

The Society is saddened to hear of the death of Sir Nicholas Grimshaw (1939-2025). An inspirational architect and always a gentlemen, his buildings are beautiful, original and inventive solutions to elegantly analysed briefs. We can think of no finer tribute than listing his Waterloo Int. Terminal.

Bath Fire Station, Cleveland Bridge, Bath – Alfred J. Taylor and Molly Taylor, 1938 Image credit: Andrew Jankunas

🔥NEWS: Bath Fire Station (1938) has just been rejected for listing by DCMS, the second case in a week where the Minister has controversially overruled the advice of both Historic England and C20 Society, who recommended a Grade II designation. Avon Fire & Rescue Service are now proposing demolition.

Happy to be in this fantastic book from @c20society.bsky.social with my elegy for the cooling towers of Didcot. If we know how to look, these structures and their places are full of meaning and stories.

The Standard Hotel, Kings Cross Images © Timothy Soar

The Stanley Picker House, Kingston Image © Jim Stephenson

🎉 London Open House Festival is here! Starting tomorrow and running 13-21 September 2025, it's our favourite time of the year.

C20's new Head of Casework, Laura Mark, has picked ten of the best twentieth century buildings to see during the Festival.

➡️ c20society.org.uk/2025/09/10/o...

Yup, looking into it!

Cooling Towers: A celebration of sculptural beauty, industrial history and architectural legacy by Batsford Books, 2025

Cooling Towers: A celebration of sculptural beauty, industrial history and architectural legacy by Batsford Books, 2025

Cooling Towers: A celebration of sculptural beauty, industrial history and architectural legacy by Batsford Books, 2025

💥 C20 Society's definitive new book 'Cooling Towers: A celebration of sculptural beauty, industrial history and architectural legacy' (by @batsfordbooks.bsky.social) is published today!

🛒 Order your copy now: lnkd.in/ecKRAPMR

I am personally of the opinion that DCMS should simply not be allowed to overrule the recommendation of Historic England

Image © Dave Lowe

🔥BREAKING NEWS: Shoreditch Fire Station (1959-65) in Old Street has just been controversially rejected for listing by DCMS, ignoring the recommendation of Historic England and C20 to designate the building at Grade II

The issuing of a COI now paves the way for potential redevelopment or demolition.