Post-war listedbuildings Pete Smith suggests that not all buildings since 1945 deserve bulldozing. For those who associate post-war architecture with unsuccessful high-rise housing projects and windswept shopping plazas, the idea of giving statutory protection to buildings built after 1945 is a hard concept to swallow. But to those growing number of people concerned to see the finest examples of post-war architecture threatened with mutilation and even destruction it is becoming an urgent necessity. Yet it was only with the issuing of a Statutory Instrument by the Department of the Environment in 1987 that it even became possible to consider buildings built after 1939 for inclusion on the list of historic buildings, and itwas not until August 1987 that the first post-war building was actually approved and listed. This building, Bracken House, a newspaper office in the City of London which was designed by SirAlbert Richardson and completed in 1959, has thereby become a milestone in the history of listing, a history which has only gradually been allowed to develop to include the architecture of the late 20th century. Fig. 1. HollinsBuilding,Manchester,1957, by LeonardC Howitt.Affectionatelyknownas"thetoast rack1111 destruction of the Firestone Factory in 1980, and the resulting public outcry, that Ministers began to readily accept recommendations for the inclusion of Art Deco and Neo-Georgian style buildings. The 1987 Statutory Instrument introCONSERVING TWENTIETH CENTURY BUILDINGS duced a new system which allowed for the constant extension of the period for which buildings could be eligible for listing.This system, known as the 'Thitty Year Rule', allows for any building which was begun more then 30 ago to be considered for listing. At the same time the still more revolutionary 'Ten Year Rule' was introduced, which allows for any building begun more than 10 years ago to be considered for inclusion on the list if it satisfies two conditions: one, that it is threatened with alteration or demolition, and two, that it qualifies for inclusion on the list as an 'outstanding' example at either grade II* or grade I. The best known example of a building given statutory protection under this rule was the Willis Faber Building in Ipswich, begun to the designs ofFoster Associates in 1972, and listed at grade I in 1991. Post-war listing has been part of a slow and steady progression which has developed both as a response to public opinion and to changes in our architectural knowledge. The present list includes over 350,000 entries of which 92% are listed grade II, 5.5% grade II* and a mere 2.5% grade I. These grades are rated in ascending order grade II, grade II*and grade I. The proportion of highly graded post-war buildings is slightly higher, because of the Ten Year Rule, and because many potential grade When listing was first set up during the Second World War, it was largely restricted by the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works to buildings built before 1840. Until the 1970s only the finest examples of Victorian and Edwardian architecture were eligible for inclusion, for it should be remembered that the first widely available studies of British 19th centmy architecture were only just beginning to appear at this time. The founding of the Victorian Society in 1958 and the public outcry following the destruction of the Euston Arch in 1962 began the change in public opinion in favour of the preservation of the architecture of the 19th centmy. FarnleyHey,Huddersfield,1955, by PeterWomersley.Interiorof mainliving space. A radical change took place in 1970 when the 'cut-off' date was extended to 1939. This allowed for the listing of a whole new range of inter-war buildings, and the first truly Modern style buildings such as High and Over in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, designed by Amyas Connell in 1929, were added to the list in late 1970. The founding of the Thirties Society, later the Twentieth Centrny Society, and the popularity of the Thirties exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in 1979, were clear indicators of public concern about the buildings of this period. But it was only with the 14 Context65 March2000
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