Larkhill Health Centre

A stone-cold classic example of mainstream modernism. It was designed by the Blackburn Borough Architect, Cyril Fretwell, and opened on 16th October 1968. Tucked into a sloping site to the north-west of the town centre, its playful form was prominent against the grass embankment and a visual cursor on the town’s ring road. The cantilevered upper floor  created a sheltered soffit all the way around the perimeter of the building and, where it was more heavily recessed, the concrete structure came to rest on tapering geometric columns, elongated hexagons at their base to rectangular where they met the beams. An oversailing section of the first floor formed a gateway to the inner courtyard. Orthogonally ordered, but with significant play in the articulation of the structure and fenestration of the facades. Typically, this building was described as an eyesore in the local press, before being demolished in 2015.