As a birthday request, I’d sent an article from the Londonist, on ‘underappreciated buildings on the Southbank’; south-bank-lesser-known-buildings, to my running buddy asking if they could create a route for us to see them all. My running buddy is a Strava mapping genius and duly created the most excellent Londonist running birthday present.
My birthday is in February, when the weather can be pretty challenging so a date was set for March to see what I’d been missing, there’s one thing reading about fantastic buildings and another actually visiting all 10 of them.
London is littered with amazing architectural feats with equally impressive histories and uses. Armed with the Strava map and article we set off to see what we could see.
My running buddy had created a circular route which would take in all the sights, firstly going up to Vauxhall, over to Black Prince Road in Kennington where the first of the sights was to be found;
Royal Doulton, Black Prince Road; with ornate detail similar to the Natural History but in the colour palette of the Victoria & Albert Museum this was a strong start. Built by John Doulton in 1871 it was a design studio and ceramic museum. Having had many iterations it is now called Southbank House providing art and work studios.
Less than 20ms away was site number two;
International Maritime Organisation, 4 Albert Embankment; the signature feature of this building is the 10-ton International Memorial to Seafarers. Designed by Michael Sandle, it’s a classic cargo ship and anchor with a sailor standing on the ship’s brow.
We then set off down Westminster Bridge Road, passing Lambeth Palace, the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury and then reaching site number three;
St Thomas’s Hospital, Westminster Bridge Road; what struck me was the modern building built next to it with modern materials yet perfectly complimenting the old Victorian building.
We resumed running going over Westminster Bridge onto York Road for building no4.
General Lying In Hospital, 85 York Road; originally this was a maternity hospital but only for married women! When it was relocated to York Road in 1828 it became open to all women.
Running behind the Royal Festival Hall etel, the streets were significantly quiet, we ran up the stairs on Waterloo Bridge and then to site no 5.
Royal Waterloo Hospital; next to Cornwall House this red brick and terracotta building has a particularly impressive green marble entrance on the corner.
Less than 20m away on Stamford Street we gazed at building no 6.
127 Stamford Street, the location of the retailing giant WHS back when it was a printing works. Sadly my camera couldn’t capture the details of the freeze and other details.
Staying on Stamford Street 100m down the road brought us to the tallest of the buildings on this list, the Southbank Tower.
South Bank Tower, 55 Upper Ground; standing 151 tall, this building took my breath away. Featured in a popular weekly science-fiction comic 2000AD this building still looks like it’s from the future.
We then carried on East passing Blackfriars Bridge before reaching Hopton Almshouse.
Hopton’s Almshouses; These 20 small one-storey houses are built around a courtyard and were originally for unmarried poor decayed men of the local parish of Christ Church, Southwark. These almshouses have been consistently occupied since 1752! Now dwarfed by high-rise apartments behind them, it makes for the most surreal meetings of architecture I’ve ever seen, think the Hobbit meets Interstellar. Definitely worth going to see.
We then ran down the road to Southwark Bridge, the most ornate and quiet bridge in London. The building of interest, previously the HQ for the Financial Times has actually been demolished. We paid our respects and carried on. We passed under London Bridge, going past the London Dungeons and arrived at the final building on this excellently designed 12k route, the St Olaf House.
10. St Olaf House; King Olaf of Norway had assisted with the pulling down of London Bridge in 1014 in the defence of London against invading Danish armies. This building built between 1929 and 1931 in a Art Deco black and gold mosaic style is without doubt the star of the buildings on this tour. It is simply something which shouldn’t be there but it is with an equally crazy story, shining more light on this incredible city.
For a fuller account of all the buildings visited please click here; https://londonist.com/london/art-and-photography/south-bank-lesser-known-buildings
I’ve saved the route to my Strava account in case you’d like to replicate it. A huge thank you to my running buddy for such an excellent birthday present.
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