Carbuncle Cup 2018: Redrock Stockport takes home prize for 'worst' building
- Published
The winner of Building Design's (BD) Carbuncle Cup 2018 has been announced - and it's gone to a regeneration project in Stockport, near Manchester. The £45m leisure complex and car park contains a cinema, shops, restaurants and a gym, as well as a multi-storey car park, which are said to be popular with people who live in the area.
But the judges of the award said that the building - which had been designed for the local council to breathe some new life into the area - had in fact “ridiculed” the town centre. One judge even said: "You feel sorry for the people of Stockport." We don't imagine this was the plan at all!
Another development that was in the running to win the award was these housing blocks in Lewisham in London. The buildings were described by BD as "bland" and "boxy", like a "street gang" overlooking the traffic. Oh dear!
Beckley Point in Plymouth, which provides accommodation for students, was on the list for its "squashed together" multi-coloured sides, the design of its entrance and its big spire on top. As it is built on one of the highest points in the city, it can be seen from miles around.
The 28-storey residential Haydn Tower in London also made the unfortunate list, described as "one of the most confusing...buildings in Vauxhall". BD readers described it as a "hideous disjointed mess", which we don't imagine is what the architects were hoping for!
The person who nominated this building - 20 Ambleside Avenue, also in London - described it as "garish" and "clumsy" with its all-orange look. With its orange shutters across the windows, BD says the low-energy house doesn't really look like a home at all. Ouch!
Finally, an extension on the Shankly Hotel in Liverpool (at the top of this building) found itself in the running after judges said that it was out of keeping with the "attractive" original building, which you can see at the front of this photograph with the dome on top.
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