At first glance, Ana Francisco Sutherland’s Modern Buildings: Blackheath and Greenwich might seem to be very tightly focused. The monograph, looking at the post-war architecture of a single south London borough, might feel a bit niche, but as Sutherland’s book reveals, this became a focal point of an incredibly rich era of modern design.
'Modern Buildings: Blackheath and Greenwich', 1950-2000, Ana Francisco Sutherland, Park Books, CHF39, Park-Books.com, also available from Amazon
Explore ‘Modern Buildings: Blackheath and Greenwich’
For various reasons explored in the book, Blackheath and Greenwich became a petri dish of quiet innovation. With the capital in desperate need of new housing, the run-down grand villas and estates in south-east London offered up the requisite space for expansion. Many of the larger sites were taken on by firms like Span, set up by developer Leslie Bilsby in collaboration with the architect Eric Lyons.
Spangate, inner courtyard and communal garden
Span’s impressive output is one of the core focuses of Modern Buildings. The company built modestly but sensitively, with high levels of quality and great consideration for preserving open space, communal gardens and a sense of community. Span houses were – and still are – highly desirable, a club of sorts for progressive, liberal types who wanted an architectural framework to match their ideals.
Vanbrugh Park Estate, the central core and access walkways of the tower
New housing in Blackheath and Greenwich wasn’t just about estates. The book delves into the numerous single-family houses, small terraces and compact blocks of flats that were built during the period. It includes work by architects like Pierre d’Avoine, Royston Summers, Trevor Dannatt, James Gowan and Allies and Morrison, and many more, combining potted biographies with original photography and – crucially – selected site plans and floorplans.
20 Blackheath Park, the open-plan split-level living spaces
Sutherland, whose studio Francisco Sutherland Architects has worked on several projects in the area, has brought together a huge volume of research. Sixty-four buildings and 38 architects are included, presented in an elegantly functional and era-appropriate layout by Studio Blackburn.
The book includes a map and walking routes (we suggest combining the book with Things You Can Buy’s Perambulations maps), making it a very welcome addition to the canon of British architectural guidebooks.
35a Hyde Vale, front elevation with entrance gap
'Modern Buildings: Blackheath and Greenwich', 1950-2000, Ana Francisco Sutherland, Park Books, CHF 39, Park-Books.com, also available from Amazon
-
‘Nothing just because it’s beautiful’: Performance artist Marina Abramović on turning her hand to furniture designMarina Abramović has no qualms about describing her segue into design as a ‘domestication’. But, argues the ‘grandmother of performance art’ as she unveils a collection of chairs, something doesn’t have to be provocative to be meaningful
-
A local’s guide to Los Angeles by defiant artist Fawn RogersOregon-born, LA-based artist Fawn Rogers gives us a personal tour of her adopted city as it hosts its sixth edition of Frieze
-
Shakara is a stylish new addition to London's West African dining sceneShakara, a new Marylebone bar and dining room, adds to the city's ever-more impressive high-end West African dining scene
-
A Danish twist, compact architecture, and engineering magic: the Don’t Move, Improve 2025 winners are hereDon’t Move, Improve 2025 announces its winners, revealing the residential projects that are rethinking London living
-
This Hampstead house renovation in London transcends styles and periodsThe renovation of a Hampstead house in London by Belgian architect Hans Verstuyft bridges the classic and the contemporary
-
London’s Sloane Street has been transformed into a ‘green boulevard’Iconic shopping destination Sloane Street has had a facelift, now boasting wider pavements, enhanced seating and lighting, and a massive planting scheme
-
New book takes you inside Frinton Park Estate: the Essex modernist housing scheme‘Frinton Park Estate’, a new book by photographer James Weston, delves into the history of a modernist housing scheme in Essex, England
-
Conran Building's refresh brings a beloved London landmark into the 21st centuryConran Building at 22 Shad Thames has been given a new lease of life by Squire & Partners, which has rethought the London classic, originally designed by Hopkins, for the 21st century
-
Inside Powerhouse: The redevelopment of Lots Road Power Station, which once fuelled the London UndergroundThe twin-turreted building has followed in the footsteps of Battersea Power Station, being transformed into luxury homes and retail units
-
Sadler’s Wells East opens: ‘grand, unassuming and beautifully utilitarian’Sadler’s Wells East by O’Donnell and Tuomey opens this week, showing off its angular brick forms in London
-
2025 Serpentine Pavilion: this year's architect, Marina Tabassum, explains her designThe 2025 Serpentine Pavilion design by Marina Tabassum is unveiled; the Bangladeshi architect talks to us about the commission, vision, and the notion of time
