The Brunswick Centre tiered flats, with ventilation towers

The Brunswick Centre is a grade II listed residential and shopping centre in Bloomsbury, London, England. It is located between Brunswick Square and Russell Square and is administratively in the London Borough of Camden.[1]

Planning and design

Second floor view of the interior concrete structure

The centre replaced streets of run-down Georgian era terrace housing.[2] It was designed by Patrick Hodgkinson[3][4] in the mid-1960s, based on studies by Leslie Martin.[5] It was initially planned as a private development at a time when private, mixed-use development in the UK was rare. Building started in 1967 and was completed in 1972,[6] though the building fell some way short of its intended size. The original plan extended up to Euston Road but the Ministry of Defence 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 London Borough of Camden for use as council housing, while the developer retained ownership of the structure and shopping areas. The exterior of the building was never painted[7] because the Borough could not afford to complete work on the building after they took control. In Hodgkinson's design, the blocks would have been painted cream,[8] 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

The Renoir cinema
Shopping arcade of The Brunswick in December 2006

Despite being widely disliked by those who are unsympathetic to modernist architecture, it was listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England in 2000.[9] 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 to introduce water features to the central space.[10][3] The major work was completed in late 2006[7] with the opening of branches of several high street chain stores and restaurants.[11] 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[6] – 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 supermarket, and a Curzon cinema.

The centre is regularly used as a location for films,[8] TV, photography and music videos including Alexei Sayle's Stuff, The Comic Strip, Crime Traveller, Gangster No. 1, the BBC's skateboarders trailer and Egg Card's guinea pig advertisement.

  • Jack Nicholson 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 universe Andor filmed Coruscant scenes at the centre.
  • Mansun's music video for "Wide Open Space" was filmed at the centre.
  • Lodger wrote a song dedicated to the building.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Davis, Maggie (17 October 2006). "Brunswick Centre". Timeout.com. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  2. ↑ Rose, Steve. "Scrubs up beautifully". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Architecture & Design". Blueprint Magazine. 4 September 2006. Archived from the original on 4 September 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  4. ↑ "Patrick Hodgkinson (1930-2016)".
  5. ↑ Property (24 October 2006). "Bloomsbury set to turn a new page". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Brunswick Centre | London | The Academy of Urbanism".
  7. 1 2 Rose, Steve (23 October 2006). "Steve Rose on the renaissance of the Brunswick Centre". the Guardian.
  8. 1 2 Lovatt, Jane (23 March 2003). "Interiors: The Brunswick Centre". the Guardian.
  9. ↑ Historic England, "1-187a O'Donnell Court, 1-212a Foundling Court, Renoir Cinema, shops (The Brunswick Centre), basement car park, and attached ramps, steps and studios (1246230)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 9 March 2020
  10. ↑ "Susanna Heron". Susanna Heron. 27 March 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  11. ↑ "Brunswick Centre Flats Prone To Flooding". Londonist. 10 March 2010.
  12. ↑ "London's Top Brutalist Buildings". 24 May 2012.

Further reading

Elain Harwood, A Guide to Post-War Listed Buildings, B.T. Batsford and English Heritage, 2003.

Media related to Brunswick Centre at Wikimedia Commons

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