Every week, I write about a different building in Europe, using it as a lens to look at a piece of history you might not know.
Different eras, styles and histories. I started Building of the Week because I’m fascinated by what the buildings around us can tell us about the past. I set myself just two rules:
- It has to be a story I find fascinating, and want to share with others
- I have to have visited it myself
I live in London, so there’s naturally a focus on buildings in and around the capital. I also spend a lot of time in Spain, so expect plenty of Spanish heritage too!
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A building worth knowing about, every Friday.
History, architecture and the stories most people walk straight past. One short read, completely free.
County & Cross Arcades, Leeds: a story of beauty and displacement
Leeds's County Arcade is a Victorian jewel. But who lived on the land before it was built, and where did...
The Net Shops, Hastings: wooden skyscrapers born from the town’s other battle
Hastings is famous for one battle. But it was a lesser-known fight between the town's fishermen and its council that...
German Gymnasium, London: A Relic of a Forgotten Community
The German Gymnasium at King's Cross is one of London's most overlooked buildings. But it tells the remarkable, largely forgotten...
Jew’s House, Lincoln: a story of wealth and persecution
Jew's House in Lincoln is one of England's oldest surviving homes, built in the 12th century when Lincoln's Jewish community...
The Archiginnasio, Bologna: student power, the Pope & an extraordinary anatomical theatre
Bologna's Archiginnasio is one of Italy's most extraordinary buildings, its story bound up in papal power, student politics, and a...
Boundary Estate, London: the complicated legacy of the UK’s first council estate
Some cities are planned. They expand in an organised way; they’re made up of straight lines, long boulevards and avenues....
Dreamland & Arlington House, Margate: Art Deco vs Brutalism by the Sea
The story of Dreamland and Arlington House: two buildings, two visions of the future, and what they tell us about...
Córdoba Synagogue: Modest Survivor of the Spanish Inquisition
Córdoba Synagogue is one of only three surviving medieval synagogue in Spain - and a beautiful mudéjar building that survived...
Highbury Stadium, Islington: Football as an Architectural Statement
How Arsenal's Highbury became England's most remarkable football ground, and why its Art Deco facades still stand today as a...
St Mary’s Church, Battle: the Norman church in the shadow of England’s most famous battlefield
St Mary the Virgin is one of Sussex's most rewarding medieval churches, hiding surviving wall paintings, crusaders' crosses and a...
Canonbury Tower, Islington: London’s Tudor skyscraper
Canonbury Tower in Islington is one of London's rarest Tudor survivals. From Thomas Cromwell to Francis Bacon, this six-storey brick...
Building of the Week: Patio de la Infanta, Zaragoza
Behind the glass doors of a Zaragoza bank is a Renaissance courtyard built by a persecuted merchant for the woman...
Building of the Week: Millennium Mills, East London
What do Paddington 2, the Smiths and Danny Boyle all have in common? Answer: a ruined Art Deco industrial building,...
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