No. 1 Poultry

James Stirling’s office and retail complex at No. 1 Poultry in London is the youngest listed building in England. Located at the junction of Poultry and Queen Victoria Street, it was completed in 1997, five years after Stirling’s death. The post-modernist complex was controversial since its inception, as it required the demolition of an 1870 neo-gothic building designed by John Belcher, known as the Mappin and Webb building. In the 1960s Mies van der Rohe designed a modernist office tower for the site, but the scheme was heavily opposed by local advocates, including Prince Charles. Two decades later Stirling’s proposal was also heavily contested, but the Mappin and Webb building was finally demolished in 1993 and construction of No. 1 Poultry began soon thereafter. The characteristic post-modernist shapes of No. 1 Poultry have made the building very popular since its construction, and interestingly, the site was designated a landmark in 2016 to protect it from redevelopment.

Submitted by @cl4ire.tucker