File:Centre Point - New Oxford Street, Holborn.jpg

Modern architecture in Holborn.

Seen after we left the British Museum.

Initially we were heading down New Oxford Street. I wasn't sure which way Tottenham Court Road Underground Station was, so ended up going via Centre Saint Giles onto High Holborn (then found our way to Holborn Underground Station).

Was probably better to go there, as only had to get two tube trains back to Victoria.

Centre Point seen down New Oxford Street.

It's at 101–103 New Oxford Street.

Built between 1961 and 1966.

The current construction work is due to Crossrail.

The building is Grade II listed.

Centre Point and Pond to Front, Camden

   CAMDEN

   TQ2981SE NEW OXFORD STREET

   798-1/104/1892 (East side)

   24/11/95 Nos.101 AND 103
   Centre Point and Pond to front

   GV II

   Includes: Nos.5-24 ST GILES HIGH STREET.
   Includes: Centre Point and Pond to front CHARING CROSS ROAD.

   Offices with shops and residential maisonettes, including pond to front. 1961-66. Richard Seifert and Partners (George Marsh designer). Reinforced concrete, that to the ground floor of the tower clad in ceramic mosaic and polished granite; that to the tower and rear block clad in high quality pre-cast panels. Flat roof.
   EXTERIOR: 35-storey tower block facing on to Charing Cross Road, with raised glazed link at first floor level to rear block containing shops, offices and flats. Tower of slender form with slightly convex sides. Ground floor glazed entrance hall set back behind expressed piers of angular waisted form. Open-tread staircase leading from the left up to projecting entrance platform. First floor with vertical concrete 'brise soleil' with integral hexagonal terminations to top and bottom, set to left side of facade. The right side of this floor and the remaining storeys have precast external mullions of inverted and facetted `Y'-shape, which are partially load bearing and diminish in thickness from bottom to top. Above the top storey is an unglassed viewing gallery beneath a "cornice" which projects to the building edge and has a facetted edge which answers that of the structual frame below. Words "CENTRE POINT" in capital letters are set within. Metal framed windows. Sculpted bronze panel relief attached to wall by entrance. Original patterned floor to entrance hall. Light, single storied glazed link to rear block at first floor level with narrower link above (the latter of 1 bay in width) with full-height armour plate glazing. Rear block is glazed to round floor, with 'brise soleil' to first and second floors, forming irregular rectangular pattern in front of windows. Above, 36 cross-over maisonettes on 6 levels with 3 'banks' of projecting balconies and otherwise metal framed curtain wall glazing with opaque glass panels beneath the windows. Bank facing New Oxford Street retains original frontage and internal mosaic decoration by Jupp Dernbach-Mayen.
   SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: linked to front of building is a pool, its sides clad in blue mosaic and with concrete fountains set within, whose sculptural `Y'-shaped form reflects that of the tower mullions above.
   HISTORICAL NOTE: Centre Point was one of the most important speculative office developments of its period in Britain. It is an early example of off-site pre-casting, the panels being hung from the frame without the use of scaffolding.

   (The Builder: London: 1968-: 99-105; New Society: Banham R: An Added Modern Pleasantness: London: 1966-: 13-14).

   Listing NGR: TQ2988081365

This text is a legacy record and has not been updated since the building was originally listed. Details of the building may have changed in the intervening time. You should not rely on this listing as an accurate description of the building.

Source: English Heritage