Brunswick Centre

Patrick Hodgkinson, London, 1972

 

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Looking east along Bernard Street 

Richard Einzig     Download Original

  • Looking east along Bernard Street    
  • View from the gardens of Brunswick Square    
  • Entrance from Brunswick Square    
  • View of concrete superstructure    
  • Looking south along Marchmont Street    
  • The use of glazing is striking in these well-lit living areas. Concrete grilles on the ground provide ventilation to the car park below    
  • Main shopping square    
  • Entrances to galleries between two strongly expressed ventilation shafts    
  • New urban form provides dramatic contrast to the nineteenth-centry fabric it replaces    
  • Raking colums give support to the galleries which give access to the flats    
  • Grand steps lead up to a public terrace    
  • Corner shop at the Coram Street entrance    
  • Glazed living room area with a sun balcony    
  • Living area - view into kitchen    
  • Overlooking Brunswick Square    
  • Site plan    
  • Lower basement plan    
  • Plan at level A (ground)    
  • Plan at level C (terrace)    
  • Roof plan    
  • Three room maisonette floor plans and section    
  • Standard flat plan and section    
  • Varied flats plans and section    
  • West-east perspective section    
  • Long section    
  • Model photograph    

The Brunswick Centre is a grade II listed residential and shopping centre in Bloomsbury, London

Patrick Hodgkinson's brief was to create an ideograph of city-centreness. He formed this design to make housing a central component of the city.

The project is designed to house 1286 people, with a ratio of 2:1 for the commercial sections of shops, offices, cinema, pubs, restaurants and garages.

The basement comprises garages and shops with the upper basement used as a mezzanine level for these stores. The ground level contains a pedestrian shopping street joining Bernard Street to Tavistock Place, as well as 80 shopping units. Another mezzanine level sits above this, with housing along flanks and more shops.

On this level there is a terrace with a landscaped public realm; trees have been planted, and play and sheltered sitting areas created. This level is where the main housing entrance is situated along with professional chambers and welfare rooms.

The ground level is defined is also characterised by concrete grills, which operate to provide the facilities with natural ventilation.

Data

  • Begun: 1967
  • Completed: 1972
  • Sectors: Residential, Public realm, Office, Retail
  • Total cost: £7.5M
  • Address: Brunswick Centre, Marchmont Street, Bloomsbury , London, WC1N 1AF, United Kingdom

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