Limestone cladding : The case of modernist architecture of London

Abstract

Modernism flourished on the European Continent during the interwar period. Its impact in Britain, although for a short period, was mainly after the Second World War, most notably in London. Key buildings developed over the period 1956-64 are Bracken House, the Shell Centre and the Economist Building, the latter two including a high-rise block as part of the development. Despite the fact that modernism exiled the use of masonry from architecture because it was considered to be a conveyor of historical styles, these iconic buildings use it to clad the structure. This paper attempts to investigate why this is the case by delving into who was the client, the design brief and the design philosophy of the architect responsible for each of these case studies. Besides these factors, another important parameter which played a key role was the awareness of cultural environs at the time which was significantly stirred by planning regulators.