The Brunswick Centre is a grade II

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

residential and shopping centre in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It is located between

Brunswick Square Brunswick Square is a public garden and ancillary streets along two of its sides in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. It is overlooked by the School of Pharmacy and the Foundling Museum to the north; the Brunswick Centre to the w ...

and

Russell Square Russell Square is a large garden square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, built predominantly by the firm of James Burton. It is near the University of London's main buildings and the British Museum. Almost exactly square, to the ...

and is administratively in the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and S ...

Planning and design

Inside the residential area of the estate

The centre replaced streets of run-down Georgian era terrace housing. It was designed by

Patrick Hodgkinson Patrick Hodgkinson (8 March 1930 – 21 February 2016) was a British architect, best known for his design of London's Brunswick Centre. Biography Hodgkinson was born in Putney, London on 8 March 1930. His father, Geoffrey Walter Hodgkinson was ...

in the mid-1960s, based on studies by

Leslie Martin Sir John Leslie Martin (17 August 1908, in Manchester – 28 July 2000) was an English architect, and a leading advocate of the International Style. Martin's most famous building is the Royal Festival Hall. His work was especially influence ...

. It was initially planned as a private development at a time when private,

mixed-use development Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to ...

in the UK was rare. Building started in 1967 and was completed in 1972, though the building fell some way short of its intended size. The original plan extended up to

Euston Road Euston Road is a road in Central London that runs from Marylebone Road to King's Cross. The route is part of the London Inner Ring Road and forms part of the London congestion charge zone boundary. It is named after Euston Hall, the family s ...

but the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

would not release the site of a building they leased for use by the Territorial Army (and that still stands next to the Centre today). After failing to attract sufficient private buyers on time, the residential section was leased to the

for use as

council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

, while the developer retained ownership of the structure and shopping areas. The exterior of the building was never painted because the

Borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

could not afford to complete work on the building after they took control. In Hodgkinson's design, the blocks would have been painted cream, a shade typical of the Georgian period, as a homage to the terraced houses that previously stood on the site and those that still surround it.

21st century

Renoir Cinema, The Brunswick Centre - panoramio

Despite being widely disliked by those who are unsympathetic to modernist architecture, it was listed Grade II on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

in 2000. By this time, however, many of its shop premises were unoccupied. Plans for renovation had repeatedly been blocked by residents' committees but in November 2002, the £22 million project began. This included the painting of the blocks in their originally-planned colour and the commissioning of artist

Susanna Heron Susanna Heron (born 1949) hon FRIBA is a British site-specific artist recognised for her work in stone relief. Her best known works include ''Stone Drawing'' for St John's College, Oxford, completed in 2019, and ''Henslow's Walk'' at Sainsbury L ...

to introduce water features to the central space. The major work was completed in late 2006 with the opening of branches of several high street chain stores and restaurants. The dual management has caused problems though, as the landlord restored the structure of the estate but the council is responsible for maintenance of the residential properties – so while the concrete structure was restored, the windows remained untouched, detracting from the overall aesthetic of the development. In 2007, the council started work on replacing the windows. Now referring to itself as The Brunswick, the centre contains 560 flats, various shops, cafés and restaurants, a

Waitrose Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...

supermarket, and a Curzon cinema.

Appearances in popular culture

The centre is regularly used as a location for films, TV, photography and music videos including ''

Alexei Sayle's Stuff ''Alexei Sayle's Stuff'' is a British television comedy sketch show which ran on BBC2 for a total of 18 episodes over 3 series from 1988 to 1991. Cast Alexei Sayle's Stuff stars stand-up comedian Alexei Sayle, with a recurring cast including A ...

'', ''

The Comic Strip The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series ''The Comic Strip Presents...'', which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The ...

'', ''

Crime Traveller ''Crime Traveller'' is a 1997 science fiction detective television series produced by Carnival Films for the BBC based on the premise of using time travel for the purpose of solving crimes. Anthony Horowitz created the series and wrote every ep ...

'', ''

Gangster No. 1 ''Gangster No. 1'' is a 2000 British crime drama film directed by Paul McGuigan. It is based on the stage play ''Gangster No.1'' written by Louis Mellis and David Scinto. The film stars Paul Bettany in the title role and features Malcolm McDo ...

'', the BBC's skateboarders trailer and Egg Card's guineapig advert. *

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

strolls along the concourse and down the main staircase (now demolished) in the 1975 film '' The Passenger''. *The 2022 series set in the

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

universe ''Andor'' filmed

Coruscant Coruscant () is an ecumenopolis planet in the fictional '' Star Wars'' universe. Its first appearance was onscreen in the 1997 Special Edition of ''Return of the Jedi'', but was first depicted and mentioned by name in Timothy Zahn's 1991 novel ' ...

scenes at the centre. *

Mansun Mansun were an English alternative rock band, formed in Chester in 1995. The band comprised vocalist/rhythm guitarist Paul Draper, bassist Stove King, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Dominic Chad, and drummer Andie Rathbone. It was announ ...

's music video for "Wide Open Space" was filmed at the centre. * Lodger wrote a song dedicated to the building.

References

External links

The Brunswick websiteArticle from The Guardian, October 2006
{{Coord, 51.524, -0.124, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title 1972 establishments in England Buildings and structures completed in 1972 Buildings and structures in Bloomsbury Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden Brutalist architecture in London Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Camden Shopping centres in the London Borough of Camden Housing estates in the London Borough of Camden

Planning and design

21st century

Appearances in popular culture

See also

References

Further reading

External links