6 CONTEXT 187 : MARCH 2026 has highlighted a continuing upswing in the number of listing cases where a minister at the Department for Culture Media and Sport has rejected a building for listing. The society considers that this a particularly worrying trend. Although ministers’ rejections in recent months have included one Victoria and one Georgian building, the AJ notes that ‘designs from the 20th century have proved particularly unpopular among successive ministers’. While the only legislative criteria in making such decisions is the architectural and historic interest, there is much speculation that ministers have been influenced by an underlying belief that heritage designations slow down development and listed buildings get in the way of the government’s growth agenda, and in particular its house-building targets. The society is challenging several of the recent refusals, and is joining others in pointing out that the heritage sector makes a major contribution to economic growth. In further amplifying the ‘coming of age’ list – as a celebration of the best British buildings turning 30 – the latest issue of C20 highlights 10 important buildings that the society thinks should receive statutory protection.They are the Neasden Hindu Temple, Brent; Harbour Lights Cinema, Southampton; Trinity Bridge, Salford; Hope House (the first experimental zero-energy development (ZED), London; Broadwall Housing, Lambeth; Queen’s Building, Emmanuel College, Cambridge; Tees Barrage, Stockton-on-Tees; St Brigid’s Church, Belfast; the intriguing Photographer’s Hide, Northamptonshire; and Techniquest, Cardiff, the UK’s first science discovery centre. The society raises the issue of the appropriate adaptation of problem modern buildings, highlighting Alison and Peter Smithson’s (Grade II* listed) Hunstanton School, which also featured in the last two issues of Context. The society acknowledges that the original design was technically flawed, and deteriorated to such an extent that closure was seriously contemplated. Although the Department of Education has decided to invest in its renovation, the construction problems are so numerous that ‘subterfuge’ has been adopted, with the proposals aiming to stick as close to the original appearance as possible. These sleights of hand include, for example, replacing the high alumina cement (HAC) pre-cast concrete planks with lookalikes cast in situ, while comprehensive facade replacement will see tinted glass laid over insulated spandrel panels, and double glazing replacing single. Recent environmental monitoring has found simultaneous overheating and underheating, with a 97–100 per cent failure rate for acceptable classroom humidity. Also worth noting is the renaissance of the huge 1930s former Odeon Cinema, Bradford, refurbished during the UK City of Culture celebrations and now transformed into a multipurpose live entertainment venue. Although not listed, the building somehow survived (and in 2014 was included in the 20th Century Society’s 100 Buildings 100Years exhibition and book), testimony to what perseverance can achieve even for large long-vacant buildings if properly mothballed until the right opportunity for regeneration arrives. This is especially so when the prospect of apparently more immediate, less sympathetic, significantly sub-optimal or deceptively attractive (but unviable) proposals are advanced. With the 200th anniversary of the modern British railway well underway, Simon Bradley has identified some of the best examples of stations, and David Lawrence looks at 10 worthwhile candidates for future listing. The earliest dates from 1961, the most recent from 1996. The Georgian The Georgian, the magazine of the Georgian Group (Issue 2, 2025) highlights this year’s celebration of the tercentenary of Sir John Vanbrugh, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This will comprise a variety of activities, from exhibitions and lectures to special Vanbrugh weekends. Learning programmes will celebrate six of the great historic houses he designed: Blenheim Palace, Grimsthorpe Castle, Kimbolton Castle, Seaton Delaval Hall, Castle Howard and Stowe House.There is a website www.vanbrugh300.co.uk, and a regular VANBURGH300-themed newsletter is being published. An essay by Charles Saumarez Smith assesses the great architect’s life and legacy. A bicentenary from 2025 belatedly marked the death of the influential but often overlooked architect George Dance theYounger (1741–1825). As Clerk of the City Works to the Corporation of London from 1768 to 1816, Dance
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