Welbeck Street Car Park, a Photographic Tribute

by Nick Miners March 24, 2017

Welbeck Street Car Park, a Photographic Tribute

Tucked away behind Oxford Street, London's busiest shopping street, is a building that has been attracting a lot of attention from a group of people (myself included) who are fond of posting black and white photographs of 20th Century concrete buildings on Instagram. It's got to the point where it's been photographed so much, it has become almost impossible to find an angle from which at least 10 photographs haven't already been posted online.

I'm talking about Welbeck Street Car Park, the now endangered Brutalist masterpiece that is the work of Michael Blampied. With an exterior composed almost entirely of interlocking inverted triangles of concrete, it is unlike anything else in the vicinity, and arguably unlike anything else in London. However its future is uncertain after the recent sale of the site to a hotel group, meaning there has been an increase in pilgrimages to the building by people hoping to get a last chance to photograph this striking façade before it's gone for good.

I have visited this site myself on numerous occasions, as a quick browse through my Brutal London series of photos will testify, but on my most recent visit, along with some friends, I ventured inside to try to capture some more of the soul of this behemoth. I have here compiled photos taken from all my recent visits to this site, and would encourage anyone who has a taste for the unusual or even a passing interest in modern architecture to head along and witness this fascinating place in person, while you still can. 

 





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