A guide to the buildings of London

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‘No limp tourist-guide observations here’, says Rosalind Ormiston, in this ‘terrific book to own and use’

Guide to the Architecture of London by Christopher Woodward and Edward Jones

Edward Jones, a partner in and director of the London-based architectural practice Dixon Jones Ltd, and Christopher Woodward, once Sir Banister Fletcher lecturer in architecture at University College London and an architect in private and public practice, have just released Guide to the Architecture of London, the fifth edition of their guidebook, documenting over 1,000 of the city’s buildings. First published in 1983 with regular updates, this is a timely new edition amid the city’s current building boom, particularly in east London.

The book begins with a history of London from Roman and Anglo-Saxon times to the present day, with a timeline of events and architects of significance. Commentaries, from short paragraphs to two pages, dexterously manage to give a building’s history, with dates, architect, location, materials, and why they were built, with the authors’ knowledge of the subject an underlying factor above opinion alone. It is like having your own architectural guide to hand in one slim volume. Major historical monuments such as Hampton Court are given special attention.

Opening the book my first thought was to look at the authors’ opinion of a controversial structure, London’s tallest building ‘The Shard’ (2000–12), at London Bridge Street and St Thomas Street SE1, designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop, and Arup. At 72 storeys it is in effect a group of buildings, with a 200-room hotel, 586,504sq.ft of office space plus flats and observation points. Woodward and Jones’ commentary, on a building opposed by English Heritage, the Royal Parks and some London boroughs at a planning enquiry in 2003, is pithy:

‘…permission for what would be the tallest building in the European Union was granted by the then Secretary of State for the Environment, John Prescott, who regarded the proposal as being “of the highest architectural quality”...The Shard with its bulk and height but tentative architectural treatment ….would be as utterly alien to most European cities as it is to London, representing as it does nothing but itself’.  No limp tourist-guide observations here.

Parts of east London have been transformed by the Olympic Games, 2012. Their site, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (2007– ) E15, is robustly outlined in the guide. The text gives its history and discusses plans for the conversion of buildings in the aftermath of the Games. Concise words catch a reader’s attention. The Athletes’ Village, a complex about to re-open in August 2013 with 2,818 new homes, a school, plus cafes and bars and 27 acres of parkland, is ‘remote from the common understanding of “village”… the ensemble has an abrupt, eastern European air. Cold War retro’. And the illustration confirms their viewpoint.

Not all new-builds are regarded with an air of disapproval. And there are fascinating inclusions that may not be known to all readers, such as the sports facility Hackney Marshes Centre, E9 (2010) by Stanton Williams; the Evelyn Grace Academy, SE24 (2010), a secondary school designed by Zaha Hadid; and the Northala Fields (2008), Northolt UB5, by FoRM Associates: four grassy mounds, that look similar to ancient burial mounds but are part of Ealing Council’s Northolt and Greenford countryside park, built to protect the parkland from traffic noise. Included are older buildings – perhaps less well known today – that you might walk past, such as offices and showrooms at 45–6 Albemarle street, W1 (1953–8), designed by Ernö Goldfinger.

The handbook includes area maps, and colour photographs of each building. It is divided into 16 sections (A-P), with eight outer areas (Q-X) each with an opening summary of the area, its history and architecture; and over 1,000 entries arranged in chronological order within N,S,W,E geographical divisions of the city. Appendices include The Great Estates, a chronology of the London Squares, four model squares, and Legal London. The indices, probably due to be the most-used part of the book, are comprehensive, providing a general index and an index by building type, both easy to use.

A terrific book to own and use.

Guide to the Architecture of London by Christopher Woodward and Edward Jones is published by Phoenix (Orion Publishing),  2013. 496 pp. £16.99. ISBN: 9781780224930