Architecture of Commercial Redevelopment in Post-War Britain

Abstract

The architectural styles associated with the redevelopment of British central business districts since World War II are described, largely through an examination of two provincial centers, one an administrative, commercial and industrial town and the other a suburban town. The influence of the historical legacies with which the two centers entered the post-war period is emphasized and the succession of styles, especially neo-Georgian, modern and post-modern, is discussed in relation to the characteristics of the owners and architects of buildings. Owner-occupiers tended to adopt new architectural fashions more rapidly than speculative developers. After the mid-1950s increasing influence from outside the study centers was channelled primarily by national property companies, with the financial backing of insurance companies. Architectural styles diversified after the late 1960s, and within individual centers, though not nationally, they were the responsibility of a greater range of firms, mostly operating countrywide.