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London boasts some fine examples of Brutalist architecture.
Sadly, London has also lost some notable examples.
One of those is Robin Hood Estate, and although it has been demolished, you can see part of it in the V&A East Storehouse, where a 9-meter section of the faรงade hangs in the atrium.
The V&A East Storehouse is a marvel and worth a visit, even if it’s just to see what’s left of Robin Hood Gardens.
Here are the best Brutalist buildings in the city, presented in a semi-specific order, grouped roughly by their proximity to Trafalgar Square in central London to aid navigation.
Brutalist Architecture in London
It’s challenging to pinpoint precisely why these buildings are so appealing.
Perhaps it’s the scale, utility, geometry or even the aesthetic rebellion against the often soulless buildings that are popping up and slowly dissolving the character of towns and cities across the UK.
However, they aren’t appealing to everyone, as Brutalist architecture often divides opinion.
Its concrete surfaces, massive scale, and lack of ornamentation can be seen as cold and oppressive, and the stark forms clash with traditional urban landscapes.
In post-war Britain, Brutalism was widely adopted for public housing.
While the intent was progressive, providing modern and affordable homes, many estates suffered from underfunding, poor upkeep, and social challenges, which led to Brutalism being recognised for broader systemic issues, bringing with it a negative view of the architecture, and perhaps more specifically, the Brutalist housing estates.
Today, opinion towards Brutalism is shifting, leaning towards a positive re-evaluation of its boldness, structural honesty, and social ambition, which can be seen in some of the places listed below, such as the Barbican and Glenkerry House.
Preservation efforts, design retrospectives, and social media are also helping to reframe these buildings as cultural artefacts, leading them to become admired, particularly the cultural places such as the Barbican, the National Theatre, and the Southbank Centre.
Brutalist Meaning
Brutalism seems like an unusual and perhaps unfair name for this type of architecture, suggesting a connection to “brutal”, but the origin lies in the material and construction techniques used in the style, which, in its most basic form, emphasises exposed concrete.
The etymology originates from France, where concrete is known as bรฉton brut, which translates directly to ‘raw concrete’.
Used to describe the concrete in his Unitรฉ d’Habitation in Marseille, Swiss-French architectural designer Le Corbusier popularised “bรฉton brut”, which was later embraced and adapted by British architects to form “Brutalism.”
1 | Southbank Centre
Constructed between 1963 and 1968, the Southbank Centre was designed by a team led by Norman Foster for the London County Council.
The building was developed as part of a post-war vision for accessible public arts.
The Centre comprises three main parts: the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Purcell Room, and the Hayward Gallery, making it the largest arts centre in the UK.
The standout part of the Centre is the Hayward Gallery, and one of the best views of the building can be seen from the concourse by Belvedere Road.
๐ Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
2 | National Theatre
The National Theatre sits by the River Thames, along London’s South Bank, and is one of the city’s most recognisable buildings.
Designed by Denys Lasdun and completed in 1976, it comprises three main theatres, outdoor terraces, public spaces, foyers, bars, and restaurants.
Originally divisive in appearance, like many Brutalist buildings, it was granted Grade II listed status in 1994, recognising its architectural and cultural significance.
As you pass over Waterloo Bridge, don’t miss two icons of the London landscape, the view of the National Theatre with St Paul’s Cathedral beyond.
๐ National Theatre, London, SE1 9PX
3 | 102 Petty France
102 Petty France is a government office building in Westminster, occupied by the Ministry of Justice.
Designed by Fitzroy Robinson & Partners with Sir Basil Spence and completed in 1976, it replaced the Victorian-era Queen Anne’s Mansions.
Its scale and location, overlooking St James’s Park, unsurprisingly, drew criticism. Nicknamed “the Lubyanka” by civil servants, some saw it as overbearing and out of place, but that is no longer the case today.
Despite this, it reflects post-war efforts to modernise government infrastructure beyond Whitehall and remains an outstanding, and surprisingly unimposing, example of state-sponsored Brutalism.
๐ 102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9AJ
4 | Centre Point
Centre Point, completed in 1966, is a 34-storey tower located at the junction of Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road.
Designed by Richard Seifert, it was one of London’s first skyscrapers, featuring a striking precast concrete faรงade with a honeycomb pattern.
Centre Point gained Grade II-listed status in 1995, and despite the emergence of many other skyscrapers around London, Centre Point remains a bold and impressive presence on the skyline.
๐ Centre Point, London, WC2H 8LH
5 | St Giles Hotel
We’ve walked past this place plenty of times and never noticed it.
Perhaps that’s because it feels penned in by the surrounding buildings and the busyness of Tottenham Court Road.
Completed in the 1970s, the hotel was initially part of a larger development that included the Central YMCA building, which was the world’s first purpose-built YMCA building.
The hotel’s design features a tall, monolithic concrete structure with minimal ornamentation, reflecting the Brutalist ethos of material honesty and functional clarity.
With over 670 rooms, it prioritises density and efficiency, typical of post-war urban planning.
There’s a great view of St Giles Hotel and Centre Point from where Bayley Street meets Morwell Street.
Finally, the hotel is just a stone’s throw from Bedford Square, which is reputed to be London’s finest and most intact Georgian square.
Whether it is or isn’t, it’s certainly worth a wander around.
๐ St Giles Hotel, 12 Bedford Avenue, London, WC1B 3GH
6 | Space House
Space House is a fab piece of overlooked Brutalist architecture in London.
Completed in 1968 and designed by George Marsh of Richard Seifert & Partners, Space House is an unusual cylindrical building.
The building is now Grade II listed and has previously been known as One Kemble Street and Civil Aviation Authority House, when it was home to the Civilian Aviation Authority.
Just a stone’s throw from Covent Garden, it presents a fantastic modernist backdrop to the Victorian Peabody Buildings in front.
๐ Space House, 1 Kemble Street, London, WC2B 4AN
7 | UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society
Designed by Sir Denys Lasdun and completed in 1976, the building features bold concrete forms, deep-set windows, and a modular faรงade that contrasts sharply with the surrounding Georgian architecture.
Now Grade II* listed, the building was conceived to house teaching and research spaces for education and social science, reflecting the post-war emphasis on accessible, purpose-built academic environments.
To see it in all its glory and to appreciate the scale of the building, walk up Bedford Way, where you’ll see the full length of it and the strange structures on top of it, which look like something out of Minecraft.
The next best vantage point is from Thornhaugh Street, which provides a view of the stepped rear of the building.
๐ UCL Faculty of Education and Society, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL
8 | The Brunswick Centre
Perhaps our least favourite Brutalist building in London, the Brunswick Centre is a mixed-use development designed by Patrick Hodgkinson.
Though initially underappreciated and left unfinished, the Brunswick Centre was Grade II-listed in September 2000, and a significant refurbishment in the early 2000s followed to restore its intended cream faรงade and revitalise its commercial areas, which has worked a treat.
The Brunswick Centre is among the most lively of the Brutalist buildings in London, thanks to its combination of flats, retail units, a cinema, and public spaces, and accessibility outside of Russell Square tube station (where one of the best views also is).
๐ The Brunswick Centre, Bernard Street, London, WC1N 1BS
9 | The Standard Hotel
The Standard Hotel occupies the former Camden Town Hall Annexe, a 1974 Brutalist building by Camden’s in-house architects in King’s Cross.
With its distinctive red lift, The Standard is a lovely example of adaptive reuse, featuring restaurants, bars, and even a recording studio.
The hotel is also in a great part of town, directly opposite another of London’s iconic buildings, the St Pancras International Railway Station, with its gothic Victorian architecture.
๐ The Standard, 10 Argyle Street, London, WC1H 8EG
10 | Barbican Estate
Designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon architects, the Barbican is an iconic Brutalist estate.
Built between 1965 and 1976 in the City of London on a site destroyed by bombing during World War II, the Barbican is probably London’s most famous example of Brutalist architecture.
Today, the estate is home to over 2,000 flats, gardens, an arts centre, a theatre, a church, a launderette, restaurants, cafes, a lake and the Barbican Conservatory, London’s second-largest conservatory.
Barbican divides opinion among its visitors, but it’s our favourite of the Brutalist sites around London.
๐ Barbican Centre, Silk Streett, Barbican, London, EC2Y 8DS
11 | Alexandra Road Estate
Pushing further out of London is Alexandra Road Estate, which is also one of the most unique designs among all the buildings featured on this list, making it one of the most interesting Brutalist buildings in the capital.
Alexandra Road Estate, officially the Alexandra and Ainsworth Estate, is a Grade II*-listed housing development in Camden.
Designed by Neave Brown and built between 1972 and 1978, it comprises 520 dwellings arranged in three parallel blocks along a unique curved site that runs parallel to the West Coast Main Line.
If you’ve ever caught the train into London down that line, you may have noticed the massive concrete exterior wall of the Alexandra Road Estate.
๐ Alexandra Road Estate, London, NW8 0SN
12 | Trellick Tower
Trellick Tower, completed in 1972, is a 31-storey Brutalist residential block in Kensal Town, West London, designed by Hungarian architect Ernล Goldfinger (whose name inspired the James Bond villain Goldfinger).
Commissioned by the Greater London Council, it was intended to address post-war housing needs with high-density, functional living.
Initially criticised for its stark appearance and social issues, the building was granted a Grade II* listing in 1998 and is now recognised as a modernist landmark.
๐ Trellick Tower, 5 Golbor Road, London, W10 5PA
13 | Balfron Tower
Balfron Tower, located in Poplar, East London, is a 26-storey Brutalist residential block also designed by Goldfinger and was completed in 1967.
Commissioned by the London County Council, it was part of the Brownfield Estate and intended to provide modern housing for working-class families.
Goldfinger famously lived in the building briefly to experience it firsthand.
Balfron Tower was listed as Grade I in 1996.
๐ Balfron Tower, London, E14 0QU
14 | Glenkerry House
Glenkerry House, completed in 1977, is a 14-storey Brutalist residential tower next to Balfron Tower. Also designed by Ernล Goldfinger’s studio, it forms part of the Brownfield Estate alongside Balfron Tower and Carradale House.
Unlike its neighbours, Glenkerry was established as a housing co-operative, managed by residents through a community leasehold model.
Now Grade II-listed, Glenkerry House is recognised for its architectural integrity and pioneering ownership model, offering an alternative vision for affordable urban living that continues to attract interest from architects and housing advocates.
๐ Glenkerry House, London, E14 0SL
15 | Carradale House
Carradale House, completed in 1967, is a mid-rise Brutalist residential block that sits adjacent to Balfron Tower and Glenkerry House.
Also designed by Ernล Goldfinger as part of the Brownfield Estate, it was listed at Grade II in 2000.
Carradale House may not command the same attention as Balfron or Glenkerry, perhaps due to its mid-rise scale, but it remains a notable example of Brutalist architecture in the city nonetheless.
๐ Carradale House, London, E14 0SW
Brutalist Buildings in London Map
Brutalist Buildings Gallery
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