View source for Architecture of London

{{Short description|Overview of the architecture in London}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
[[File:London Tower Bridge 22.jpg|thumb|349x349px|A view of the [[City of London Corporation|City of London]], with [[Tower Bridge]], [[The Tower of London]] and modern high-rise such as [[The Gherkin|30 St Mary Axe]] buildings in the background.]]

London's architectural heritage consists of buildings from a wide variety of styles and historical periods. London's distinctive architectural eclecticism stems from its long history, continual redevelopment, destruction by the [[Great Fire of London]] and [[the Blitz]], and state recognition of private property rights which have limited large-scale state planning. This sets London apart from other European capitals such as [[Paris]] and [[Rome]] which are more architecturally homogeneous.<ref name="Clive Aslet 2015">{{cite book |last=Aslet |first=Clive |title=The Age of Empire |publisher=Aurum Press |year=2015 |page=341}}</ref> London's diverse architecture ranges from the [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] central keep of the [[White Tower (Tower of London)|Tower of London]], the great [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] church of [[Westminster Abbey]], the [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] royal residence [[Queen's House]], [[Christopher Wren]]'s [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] masterpiece [[St Paul's Cathedral]], the [[High Victorian Gothic]] of the [[Palace of Westminster]], the industrial [[Art Deco]] of [[Battersea Power Station]], the post-war [[Modern architecture|Modernism]] of the [[Barbican Estate]] and the [[Postmodern architecture|Postmodern]] skyscraper [[30 St Mary Axe]], also known as "the Gherkin".

[[File:Palace of Westminster from the dome on Methodist Central Hall.jpg|thumb|350x350px|A view of [[Westminster]], with the [[Palace of Westminster]] in the foreground, the [[London Eye]] in the mid-ground and high rise buildings like [[The Shard]] in the background.]]

After the [[End of Roman rule in Britain|Roman withdrawal from Britain]] in the 5th century AD, the layout of the Roman settlement governed the plan of the [[Saxons|Saxon]] and [[Medieval London|medieval city]]. This core of London is known as the [[City of London]], while [[Westminster]], the ancient centre of political power, lies to the west. Relatively few medieval structures survive due to the city's near-total destruction in the Great Fire of London in 1666, with exceptions such as the [[Tower of London]], Westminster Abbey, [[Westminster Hall]], [[Guildhall, London|Guildhall]], [[St James's Palace]], [[Lambeth Palace]] and some [[Tudor style architecture|Tudor buildings]]. After the Great Fire, London was rebuilt and greatly modernised under the direction of the baroque architect [[Sir Christopher Wren]], with the new St Paul's Cathedral as its centrepiece.

[[File:St Paul's Cathedral, 2017-05-27.jpg|thumb|349x349px|[[St Paul's Cathedral]] by [[Christopher Wren]], the centrepiece of the reconstruction of London after The Great Fire of London [[Great Fire of London|of 1666.]]]]

After a period of dramatic expansion in the 18th and 19th centuries, London reached its zenith as the world's largest and populous city from 1831 to 1925, becoming the capital of the [[British Empire]] at its greatest extent and power. In this period London sprawled vastly beyond its historical boundaries, absorbing many formerly rural settlements and creating vast [[Suburb|suburbs]]. The city was further transformed by the [[Industrial Revolution]] as infrastructure projects like the [[West India Docks]], the [[Regent's Canal]], intercity railway termini like [[London Paddington station|Paddington Station]] and [[London Underground|the world's first underground railway system]] set London apart as the pre-eminent city of the [[Industrial Age|industrial age]]. After suffering significant destruction during the Blitz in the [[Second World War]] and a period of economic decline in the [[History of the United Kingdom (1945–present)|post-war]] period, London is once again a global capital of culture and commerce, with much new development adding to its eclectic cityscape.

Throughout most of London's history, the height of buildings has been restricted. These restrictions gradually eroded in the post-war period (except those protecting certain views of St Paul's Cathedral). High-rise buildings have become more numerous since, particularly in the 21st century. Skyscrapers are now numerous in the City of London financial district and [[Canary Wharf]]: a new financial district created in the 1980s and 1990s in the former London [[London Docklands|docklands]] area of the [[Isle of Dogs]]. Examples of such buildings include the 1980s skyscraper [[Tower 42]], the radical [[Lloyd's building]] by [[Richard Rogers]], [[One Canada Square]]: the centre piece of the Canary Wharf district and 30 St Mary Axe (nicknamed "the Gherkin") which set a precedent for other recent high-rise developments to be built in a similar [[High-tech architecture|high-tech style]]. Renzo Piano's [[The Shard]] completed in 2012 set a significant milestone by becoming London's first 'supertall' skyscraper due to its exceeding 1000&nbsp;ft (304.8m) in height.

==Prehistoric==

Although no pre-Roman settlement is known, there were prehistoric crossing points at [[Deptford]] and [[Vauxhall Bridge]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ancientcraft.co.uk/News/2012/Vauxhall%20Bridge%20Survey%20Report%20(270112)%20-%20James%20Dilley.pdf |title=Mesolithic and Bronze Age archaeology on the Thames Foreshore at Vauxhall |publisher=ancientcraft.co.uk |date=23 February 2012 |first=James |last=Dilley |access-date=16 December 2017 |archive-date=12 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212185657/http://www.ancientcraft.co.uk/News/2012/Vauxhall%20Bridge%20Survey%20Report%20%28270112%29%20-%20James%20Dilley.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> and some prehistoric remains are known from archaeology of the [[River Thames]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thamesdiscovery.org/|title=Thames Discovery Programme|website=www.thamesdiscovery.org|access-date=9 December 2017}}</ref> It is likely that the course of [[Watling Street]] follows a more ancient pathway. Ancient [[Wales|Welsh]] legend claims the city of the [[Trinovantes]] – dedicated to the god [[King Lud|Lud]] (''Caer Llud'') – was founded by the followers of [[Brân the Blessed]], whose severed head is said to be buried under the [[White Tower (Tower of London)|White Tower]] facing the continent.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schreiber |first=Charlott |title=The Mabinogion  |chapter=The Story of LLudd & LLeuellys |title-link=Mabinogion |editor-last= |editor-first= |publisher=  |date= |page= }}</ref>{{page needed|date=December 2021|reason=multiple parameters missing}}

==Roman London (60–500 CE)==

<!--[[File:Map Londinium 400 AD-en.svg|thumb|Londinium's plan still informs the city's development.]]-->
[[File:Roman (London) Wall, Barbican - geograph.org.uk - 2699793.jpg|thumb|228x228px|Surviving bastion from [[London Wall]] in the [[Barbican Estate]], with Roman masonry at the base (c.2nd century) and latter medieval additions above (c.13th century).]]

[[Londinium]] was initially founded as a military trading port, while the first capital of the province was at [[Camulodunum]]. But after the [[Boudica]]n Revolt of 61, when both cities were razed to the ground, the capital was removed to London, which rapidly grew to pre-eminence with the establishment of a [[Forum (Roman)|Forum]] and a provincial [[Praetorium]]. The city was originally laid out to a [[planned city|classical plan]] like many other cities in [[Britannia]] and throughout Europe, in a roughly rectangular form with the south side formed by the River Thames, and divided into blocks of [[insulae]].<ref>London Archaeology; Vol 15 Spring 2018</ref> Two east–west streets (now [[Cheapside]] and [[Lower Thames Street]]) led from [[Newgate]] and [[Ludgate]] to form the [[cardo]], presumably leading to a lost gate (or gates) at the present location of the [[Tower of London]] with the road to [[Canterbury]] and [[Dover]]. An extension of Watling Street formed the [[decumanus maximus]], crossing the river from [[Billingsgate]] over the ancient [[London Bridge]] to [[Southwark]] and the south coast road beyond. The Forum was located at the current site of [[Leadenhall Market]], and is said to have been the largest building north of the Alps in ancient times; remains can still be visited in the basement of some of the market shops.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/Londons-Roman-Basilica-Forum/ |title=The Remains of London's Roman Basilica and Forum |publisher=Historic-uk.com |access-date=16 December 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Музей Лондана, 2014 05.JPG|thumb|234x234px|A speculative model of the central [[Roman Forum|forum]] of Londinium at [[Museum of London|The Museum of London.]]]]

The rectangular walled and gridded city was soon extended to the west over the [[River Walbrook]], north towards marshy [[Moorfields]] and east to the area later known as [[Minories]].<ref>London Archaeology, Ibid</ref> A Romano-British tomb sculpture of an eagle was found there in 2013, suggesting that the Minories lay outside the city boundary in the early second century.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/architecture/roman-eagle-rises-again-in-london-after-2000-years-8911721.html |title=Roman eagle rises again in London after 2,000 years |date=29 October 2013 |work=[[The Independent]]}}</ref> Part of the [[amphitheatre]] remains beneath the [[London Guildhall]] square; a Roman [[thermae|bathing complex]] is accessible in the basement of 100 Lower Thames Street.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visit-the-city/attractions/Pages/Roman-Bathhouse.aspx |title=Billingsgate Roman House & Baths |publisher=City of London |access-date=16 December 2017 |archive-date=8 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208070828/https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visit-the-city/attractions/Pages/Roman-Bathhouse.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> The square [[Castrum]] was located at the north-east of the city at the [[Barbican]], close to the [[Museum of London]] where part of the Roman [[London Wall]] remains. For centuries afterward, distances from London were reckoned from the [[London Stone]], once claimed to be a fragment of masonry from the ancient Thames-side [[Praetorium]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/discover/london-stone-seven-strange-myths |title=London Stone in seven strange myths |publisher=Museumoflondon.org.uk |date=4 March 2016 |access-date=16 December 2017}}</ref> Late Roman private houses of leading Christians are thought to have been the foundation of the earliest churches; mosaic remains in the [[crypt]] at [[All Hallows by the Tower]] and perhaps some at [[St Paul's Cathedral]].

== The Middle Ages: Romanesque, Gothic and Tudor (1066–1603) ==

{{See also|Norman architecture|English Gothic|Tudor architecture}}Little remains of London's medieval architecture due to the city's near-complete destruction in the [[Great Fire of London]] in 1666, but a few scattered survivors, as well as other records, provide a vivid picture of the city in this period. In the Middle Ages, London lay predominantly within the boundaries of its Roman city walls – the area now known as the [[City of London]] – with [[Westminster]] being a separate smaller settlement to the west. The city walls were continually repaired and restored throughout the Middle Ages, with most of the structure being demolished in the 18th century to facilitate the expansion of the city. By the 16th century there was moderate development outside the city walls – along river frontage of the [[Strand, London|Strand]], in [[Lincoln's Inn Fields]], and in [[Smithfield, London|Smithfield]]<ref>{{Cite book|last =Jones|first=Sydney R.|title=London Triumphant|year=1942|pages=51}}</ref> – and on the south bank of the Thames at Southwark, with London Bridge connecting the district to the rest of London. The earliest record of London bridge dates from the 10th century, a structure probably built of wood, but the best-known incarnation was constructed between 1176 and 1209. This was a stone bridge 900&nbsp;ft wide with 19 arches, complete with its own street of shops, houses, a chapel and a drawbridge in the centre to allow large boat traffic to pass through.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Holden|first=C.H.|title=The City of London - A Record of Destruction and Survival|page=124}}</ref> The buildings on the bridge were eventually demolished in 1761 and this medieval incarnation of the bridge which survived for over six centuries was finally replaced by a far more uniform classical style design in 1831. With only one bridge for the entire middle-ages, the river Thames was the main means of transportation within the city, as well as providing access to overseas trade by sea; many wharves and quays lined its north bank.{{Wide image|1647_Long_view_of_London_From_Bankside_-_Wenceslaus_Hollar.jpg|1000px|''Long View of London from Bankside'', a [[panorama of London]] by [[Wenceslaus Hollar]], 1647, notable for being rendered all from one viewpoint.}}

=== Romanesque and Gothic ===
[[File:White Tower, City of London.jpg|thumb|[[White Tower (Tower of London)|The White Tower]] (1080) the Romanesque keep of [[Tower of London|The Tower of London]].|292x292px]]

Many of medieval London's most significant structures were initially constructed by the [[Normans]] in the late 11th and 12th-century. Although it is a common mis-conception that the Norman's brought the [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque style]] of architecture to England — the [[Anglo-Saxons]] had already built several substantial churches in the style, most notably the first Westminster Abbey in 1052 — Romanesque buildings built in England after 1066 were far more ambitious in terms of size and style, as well as far more numerous in terms of the number of buildings commissioned.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Webb |first=Geoffrey |title=Architecture in Britain: The Middle Ages |year=1965 |pages=26}}</ref> Almost immediately after their conquest of England the Normans built several fortresses along the River Thames in the center of London to consolidate their power within the city, most notably the Tower of London which survives today.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Holden|first=C.H.|title=The City of London - A Record of Destruction and Survival|pages=108}}</ref> The [[White Tower (Tower of London)|White Tower]], the central keep of the complex, was completed in the 1080s in a Romanesque style and was  the tallest building in the city. It served multiple functions: a fortress, prison, the seats of government and a royal residence for [[William the Conqueror]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Prina |first=Francesca |title=Romanesque Architecture |publisher=Prestel |publication-date=2011 |pages=58}}</ref> One of the oldest and least altered Romanesque churches in England is also built inside the White Tower: the chapel of [[St John's Chapel, London|St John's]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Clapham|first=A.W.|title=English Romanesque Architecture}}</ref> The only other surviving Romanesque church in central London is [[St Bartholomew-the-Great]] in Smithfield, the remains of a much larger priory church founded in 1123. The Tower of London complex reached its approximate current format with two outer defensive walls by the end of the 13th century.

[[File:St Bartholomew-the-Great Altar, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|264x264px|[[St Bartholomew-the-Great]] (1123) a very rare example of a Norman church in The City of London.]]

Another significant London structure initially constructed by the Normans was [[Westminster Hall]]. The first incarnation of this was completed in 1097 during the reign of [[William II of England|William II]], the centerpiece of the [[Palace of Westminster]] which was built as a royal residence. Whereas previously William the Conqueror had lived at the Tower of London, the transplanting of the monarchy from the City of London to Westminster created a polarity between commerce and state which still persists to this day.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McxRTW1vCoE |title=London's Great Estates |date=2015-08-03 |last=New London Architecture |access-date=2025-01-08 |via=YouTube}}</ref> This complex of buildings gradually expanded throughout the Middle Ages with later additions such as [[St Stephen's Chapel|St. Stephen's Chapel]] (1297), a royal chapel built in a very ornate gothic style to rival [[Sainte-Chapelle|Sainte-Chapelle in Paris]], notable for the elaborate wall paintings of its interior.<ref name=":5" /> After being converted for use by parliament as a debating chamber, the chapel was mostly destroyed in the fire of 1834, with the exception of the crypt which has been converted into [[St Mary Undercroft]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dan Cruickshank explores the Palace of Westminster |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE81VeStEFg&t=311s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/jE81VeStEFg |archive-date=2021-12-21 |website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

[[File:Westminster Hall of the Parliament of the United Kingdom 2024-04-05.jpg|thumb|264x264px|A view of the exceptionally wide-span [[hammerbeam roof]] of [[Westminster Hall]] added in the 14th-century.]]

Westminster hall was radically altered and extended in the 14th-century becoming the largest hall of its kind in medieval Europe. During this extension an exceptionally wide span [[hammerbeam roof]] was added, likely by the King's Master Carpenter [[William Hurley (carpenter)|William Hurley]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Webb |first=Geoffrey |title=Architecture in Britain: Middle Ages |pages=188}}</ref> which is now considered a marvel of medieval engineering, while the Norman outer walls were retained with the addition of gothic windows. Remarkably, Westminster Hall survives to this, escaping the fire of 1834 which destroyed the remainder of the accompanying medieval structure. The hall was later incorporated into the neo-gothic incarnation of The Palace of Westminster. Other surviving examples of medieval halls in London can be found in [[Guildhall, London|Guildhall]] (1440), which once served as London's city hall, although this was largely altered after the Great Fire. Old Hall of [[Lincoln's Inn]] (1492) which retains its original hammerbeam roof.

[[File:John Wycliff, last of the schoolmen and first of the English reformers - OLD ST. PAUL'S EXTERIOR.png|thumb|263x263px|An idealized illustration of [[Old St Paul's Cathedral|Old St. Paul's Cathedral]]. The nave was built in the Romanesque, with the remainder being both Early English and Decorated Gothic.]]

The Normans began the construction of [[Old St Paul's Cathedral]] on [[Ludgate Hill]], replacing a [[Anglo-Saxon architecture|Saxon]] timber-framed building which was destroyed by a fire in 1087.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Holden|first=C.H.|title=The City of London - A Record of Destruction and Survival|pages=136}}</ref> By the time of its completion in the 14th century the cathedral included elements of [[English Gothic architecture|Gothic architecture]], such as an ornate rose window in the [[Decorated Gothic]] style at the east end, alongside the Romanesque nave constructed during the Norman period. According to the architectural historian [[John Harvey (historian)|John Harvey]], the octagonal [[chapter house]], built about 1332 by [[William de Ramsey]], was the earliest example of [[Perpendicular Gothic]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harvey |first=John |title=The Perpendicular Style |year=1978 |pages=105}}</ref> The cathedral was one of the largest and tallest churches in medieval Europe; at one point it was crowned by an exceptionally tall spire similar to that of [[Salisbury Cathedral]] which was about {{convert|158|m|ft|abbr=on}} high, although this was destroyed after being hit by lightning in the 16th century.<ref name=":0" /> Alongside the loss of its spire, the cathedral was generally in poor condition in the 16th century, with much of its ornate interior being destroyed during the reformation. Attempts were made to restore the cathedral in the 17th-century under the direction of Indigo Jones, but the church was latterly destroyed in the Great Fire and replaced by [[Christopher Wren|Sir Christopher Wren]]'s incarnation of the cathedral, which retained its predecessor's [[Latin cross]] layout.

[[File:Westminster abbey.jpg|thumb|The north portal of [[Westminster Abbey]] (13th-14th century) with a French style triple portal and rose window.|257x257px]]

London's other most important church: [[Westminster Abbey]], was rebuilt in the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] style in the 13th century during the reign of [[Henry III of England|Henry III]], who commissioned a substantial quantity of important buildings in this period. This produced the majority of the building which persists to this day, with only small fragments of the original Saxon church still present, most notably the crypt. The architecture of the abbey is distinctive amongst England's large gothic churches due its close resemblance to [[French Gothic architecture|French Gothic Architecture]], particularly [[Reims Cathedral]]. Features akin to French Gothic include its notably tall 32&nbsp;m (102&nbsp;ft) high nave which is the tallest in England, large flying buttresses  and triple portal on the east front.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thurley |first=Simon |title=The Building of England |publisher=William Collins |year=2013 |pages=127}}</ref> This has led to speculation that the master mason was French,<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Webb |first=Geoffrey |title=Architecture of Britain in the Middle Ages |pages=136}}</ref> although the rich decoration of this church is highly English in character, with this abbey being arguably the first example of the Decorated Style of English Gothic. The most significant later addition to this gothic incarnation of abbey was the [[Henry VII Chapel]] (late 15th to early 16th-century) which is notable for its [[fan vault]]ed ceiling. Other significant Gothic churches surviving from the Middle Ages include [[Southwark Cathedral]] which was a former priory, [[Temple Church]] (13th century) a rare round [[Knights Templar|Knights Templar church]], as well as a handful of city churches that survived the Great Fire, such as [[St Andrew Undershaft]], [[St Helen's Church, Bishopsgate|St Helen's Bishopsgate]], [[St Olave's Church, Hart Street|St Olave's Hart Street]] and [[St Sepulchre-without-Newgate]].

=== Tudor and vernacular ===
[[File:This is such a beautiful ceiling.jpg|thumb|261x261px|[[Henry VII Chapel]] (1516) demonstrating the persistence of Gothic well into the 16th-century.]]

The [[Tudor period]] was a period of significant expansion for London, both economically through increased overseas trade and in terms of population which grew from roughly 50,000 in 1500 to 250,000 in 1600. As a result, the city expanded considerably, and by the end of the 16th century, the majority of London's population lived outside the city walls for the first time.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Edward |title=A Guide to the Architecture of London}}</ref> In the history of English architecture, the [[Tudor period|Tudor]] and [[Jacobean era|Jacobean Periods]] are often categorized as part of the Middle Ages. This is because unlike in Southern Europe where [[Classicism]] had emerged as part of the [[Renaissance]], in Tudor England medieval styles largely still persisted. This was particularly of church architecture which was broadly still Gothic, a notable surviving example in London being the Henry VII Chapel completed in 1516, built in the Perpendicular style with a [[pendant vault]] ceiling. Concurrently, [[vernacular architecture]] continued to be timber framed in much the same style as those in the medieval period, with only the house of the wealthy and royalty being built of brick or stone.

[[File:St Jamess Palace.jpg|thumb|272x272px|The gatehouse of [[St James's Palace]] (1536), an example of the use of red brick in Tudor Architecture.]]

[[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] and [[Henry VIII]] commissioned a number of royal works within London, notably the extension and construction of several palaces including the [[Palace of Whitehall]] that stretched all the way from Westminster Hall to [[Charing Cross]], the extravagant [[Nonsuch Palace]] in [[Greenwich]] and [[St James's Palace]], which still partially survives today. By far the most substantial remaining Tudor palace in Greater London is [[Hampton Court Palace]], originally built for [[Thomas Wolsey|Cardinal Wolsey]] and then later becoming a residence of [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]. Although greatly extended by Christopher Wren in the late 17th century, the palace still retains most of its original Tudor architecture and is often regarded as one of the finest examples of the style in England.<ref name=":1" /> A significant development of Tudor architecture that can be observed at Hampton Court was the increased use of red brick, which became more readily available due to technical innovations in the late-15th century in continental Europe.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thurley |first=Simon |date= |title=English Architecture: Coming of Age, 1408-1530 - Professor Simon Thurley |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rwjWmt5768&ab_channel=GreshamCollege |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204113300/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rwjWmt5768&ab_channel=GreshamCollege |archive-date=4 December 2021 |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> Other early examples of this in London can be seen in the form of [[Bruce Castle]], which is believed to be one of the oldest brick houses in England, as well the gatehouses of [[Lambeth Palace]] (1495) and St James's Palace (1536). Perhaps the most substantial way in which the Tudors influenced the future of character London in a manner which can still be observed today, was the establishments of the hunting grounds of [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]], [[Green Park]] and [[St James's Park]]. These were later converted into public parks and are the main reason that [[Central London]] still has a notably high proportion of green space.

[[File:337-338 High Holborn, Staple Inn 01.jpg|thumb|[[Staple Inn]] (late 16th century), one of the last Tudor timber-framed buildings in Central London.|194x194px]]

Despite building largely in brick and stone, Tudor architecture is most closely associated with its distinctive [[Vernacular architecture|vernacular buildings]] which were constructed of a timber frame with [[wattle and daub]], which are usually now painted black and white, but were in reality mostly a plain whitewash colour when originally built. Most commercial and residential buildings in London before the Great Fire assumed this form. Only a small handful of [[List of buildings that survived the Great Fire of London|such buildings survive]] in London today. Some notable examples are [[Staple Inn]], an [[Inns of Chancery|Inn of Chancery]] from the late 16th-century, central London's oldest house 41 [[Cloth Fair]] dating from 1597 and [[Prince Henry's Room]]: a timber-framed [[jettying|jettied]] townhouse built in 1610. Another relic of this kind of architecture is the front façade of [[Sir Paul Pindar]]'s house preserved in the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]]: an early 17th century merchant house on [[Bishopsgate]], which was knocked down in 1890. Although the vast majority of such structures were destroyed in The Great Fire of London, many more did in fact survive until as late as the late 19th and early 20th centuries but were demolished to make way for new development.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Daview|first=Phillip|title=Lost London}}</ref> An example is the demolition of [[Wych Street]] in the Edwardian period to make way for [[Kingsway, London|Kingsway]], a new road between the Strand and [[High Holborn]].

== Early Stuart London: Inigo Jones and the rise of Classicism (1603–1666) ==
{{See also|Inigo Jones|Palladian architecture}}
[[File:Banqueting House London.jpg|thumb|[[Banqueting House, Whitehall|Banqueting house]] (1622) by [[Inigo Jones]], one of London's first true classical buildings.]]

Although late Tudor and in particular [[Elizabethan architecture]] utilised elements of classical architecture, these features were rarely applied in a coherent manner and were usually merely used as decorative features. However, in the early 17th century the a small number of buildings that could be stylistically classified as [[Classical architecture|Classical]] appeared for the first time in London. This late arrival of the classical style to England was largely a product of the cultural division between northern and southern Europe that resulted from the [[Reformation]]. However, in the 17th century, upper-class Englishmen started to travel around Europe, particularly Italy, with the intention of absorbing the cultural influence of [[classical antiquity]] and the [[Renaissance]], a phenomenon which became known as the [[Grand Tour]].

[[File:Queens House.jpg|thumb|[[Queen's House|Queens House, Greenwich]] (1635) a Palladia residence built for [[Anne of Denmark|Queen Anne of Denmark]].]]

One of the first Englishmen to participate in this activity was to become the pre-eminent architect of this milestone in the history of English architecture: [[Inigo Jones]]. Jones was appointed Surveyor of the King's Works in 1615, and having travelled around Italy and owning a copy of ''[[I quattro libri dell'architettura]]'' by [[Andrea Palladio]], was one of the first English architects to be influenced primarily by classical architecture, both of classical antiquity and the [[Neoclassical architecture|revival of the style]] epitomised by Palladio.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Thurley|first=Simon|title=English Architecture, 1650 to 1760: The Rise of Consensus - Simon Thurley|website=[[YouTube]]|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBhx98WIM5w&t=44s&ab_channel=GreshamCollege|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204113300/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBhx98WIM5w&t=44s&ab_channel=GreshamCollege |archive-date=4 December 2021 }}</ref> His first completed major work in inner London was [[Banqueting House, Whitehall]] (1622), an extension to the mostly medieval Palace of Whitehall, with a Palladian Portland stone façade and a fine painted ceiling by the [[Flemish people|Flemish]] painter [[Peter Paul Rubens]]. As the first truly classical building in London – a then predominantly medieval city in an architectural sense – it is a very significant building in the history of London's Architecture, described by Eric de Mare as:

''"an architectural innovation that must have startled Londoners with its sophisticated Palladian Masonry, for its main façades containing rhythmical rows of tall windows, carved decorations and classical pilasters, all in mathematically, carefully proportioned precision, must have seemed to them like a stage set than a building."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Eric |first=De Mare |title=Wren's London |publisher=Folio Society |publication-date=1975 |pages=90–91}}</ref>''

[[File:St. Paul's Church, Covent Garden, London.jpg|thumb|[[St Paul's, Covent Garden]] (1633) by [[Inigo Jones]], the first Classical church in London.]]
[[File:Nebot covent garden market clean.jpg|thumb|301x301px|A painting of the Covent Garden piazza in 1737, showing [[Inigo Jones|Indigo Jones's]] colonnaded houses on the right. This was a highly influential piece of urban planning.]]

Another royal commission [[Queen's House, Greenwich]] was completed in 1635, despite being started three years before Banqueting House. It again shows Jones's purist [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] style that did not mirror the exuberant [[Baroque]] fashionable in much of mainland Europe at the time. Perhaps Jones' most significant architectural commission in London that greatly influenced the future urban planning of London was his redevelopment of [[Covent Garden]]. In 1630 Jones was commissioned by the Earl of Bedford to redevelop the area in the west of the city with fine houses to attract wealthy tenants. Between 1630 and 1633 Jones designed and constructed London's first modern square; a classical style piazza lined with colonnaded terraced houses and the [[St Paul Covent Garden|Church of St Paul]] on the western side: the first church in London built in a classical style, with a monumental Tuscan portico. The piazza became a blueprint for the fashionable squares built across the [[West End of London]] in the [[Georgian era]] and the Church of St Paul was an architectural blueprint for the baroque [[List of Christopher Wren churches in London|city churches]] built by Wren after The Great Fire of London.

The outbreak of the [[English Civil War]] in 1642 greatly interrupted building activity in England, and after the parliamentarian victory Jones was heavily fined due to his close connections to [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]. He later died in poverty in 1652.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Outline of English Architecture|last=Gardner|first=A.H.}}</ref> His London works the Banqueting House, [[Queen's House]], [[St Paul's, Covent Garden|St Paul's Covent Garden]] and [[Queen's Chapel]] all survive to this day. [[Lindsey House, Lincoln's Inn Fields|Lindsey House]] (1640) on Lincolns Inn Fields, a very early Palladian townhouse, is possibly by Jones. Jones's apprentice [[John Webb (architect)|John Webb]] was commissioned to build a palace at Greenwich for [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] in 1661 after the [[Stuart Restoration]]. One wing of this palace was built before funds ran out in 1664. It is very much in a style reminiscent of Indigo Jones and was later incorporated into the Old Royal Naval College.

== Baroque London: The Great Fire of London and Christopher Wren's Reconstruction (1666–1714) ==
{{See also|Baroque Architecture|Christopher Wren|List of Christopher Wren churches in London}}
[[File:Sir Christopher Wren's plan of London as reproduced by Gwynn. Wellcome M0003248.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|[[Christopher Wren]]'s classical style plan for the reconstruction of London with an entirely new street plan, piazzas and wide boulevards.]]

The Great Fire of London in 1666 is one of the most significant turning points in the history of London's architecture. Paradoxically, despite being perceived as a cataclysmic event at the time, the enormous destruction it caused presented a historic opportunity to modernise the predominantly medieval city which in many was architecturally primitive and medieval in character compared to other European capitals. Starting at a bakery on Pudding Lane on Sunday September 2, 1666, the fire destroyed around 90% of the city, including a total of 13,500 houses, 87 parish churches, 44 [[Livery Company|Company]] Halls, the [[Royal Exchange (London)|Royal Exchange]], the [[Custom House, City of London|Custom House]], Old St Paul's Cathedral, the [[Bridewell Palace]] and other City prisons, the [[General Post Office|General Letter Office]], and three city gates; Ludgate, Newgate, and [[Aldersgate]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Porter |first=Stephen |title=The Great Fire of London |publisher= |pages=87–88}}</ref> Due to the majority of the population being made homeless, as well as the destruction of the majority of London's businesses and infrastructure, there was a strong emphasis on the reconstruction being as a rapid as possible, made the planning of the new city more pragmatic than aesthetic in focus.

[[File:Giovanni Antonio Canal - The River Thames, detail.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|[[St Paul's Cathedral]] and [[List of Christopher Wren churches in London|The City Churches]] by [[Canaletto]] (1747) illustrating the picturesque skyline that resulted from the restrictions placed on the height of non-church buildings. ]]
[[File:King's Bench Walk, Inner Temple - geograph.org.uk - 1650827.jpg|thumb|Early brick terraces at King's Bench Walk, dating from just after the Great Fire.]]
A radical new classical style reconstruction plan was drawn up by [[Christopher Wren]] which proposed to completely discard the city's ancient street plan in favour of a rationalised grid system with wide boulevards, piazzas and a uniform classical style for all new buildings. A new St. Paul's Cathedral and Royal Exchange would be the focus points of the new city plan complete with their own piazzas. The plan aimed to beautify the city, assist commerce, increase ease of transport within the city by road, modernise shipping infrastructure on the river front and most importantly make the city fireproof.<ref>{{Cite book |last=de Mare |first=Eric |title=Wren's London |publisher=The Folio Society |year=1975 |pages=58–59}}</ref> However, due to a shortage of labour necessary to complete such grandiose plans, complications with redistributing and compensating property that had been lost in the fire, and the intense urgency of rebuilding the city, it was decided to rebuild the city around the original medieval street plan.<ref name=":2" /> London nonetheless witnessed a radical transformation in its reconstruction; with perhaps the most striking characteristic of the new city being its uniformity. This was largely a result of new building regulations introduced by an act of parliament called The Act for the Rebuilding of the City of London in 1667. This act stated that all new houses were to be built to a uniform height and plot size,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thurley |first=Simon |title=The Building of England |publisher=William Collins |year=2013 |pages=270}}</ref> as well all being built of brick rather than wood to reduce fire hazard. The majority of new houses and small commercial buildings assumed the form of neatly proportioned brick terraces, while more prominent buildings were usually built of Portland stone. Additionally, the stylistic uniformity of the new architecture was largely due to the dominance of Christopher Wren in the planning of the new city due to being appointed [[Surveyor of the King's Works]] in 1669, which also meant he was the chief designer of the most significant new public and ecclesiastical buildings in the city. This cemented his status as the dominant architect in England for the remainder of the 17th century and the English Baroque movement.

=== St Paul's Cathedral and The City Churches ===
{{Double image
| image1            = St Paul's Cathedral Dome from One New Change - Square Crop.jpg
| image2            = St Pauls Cathedral from West adj.JPG
| direction         = horizontal
| total_width       = 450
| caption1          = The 111m (365ft) dome of St. Paul's Cathedral (1710) Christopher Wren. This was the tallest building in London until 1963.
| caption2          = The west front of St. Paul's Cathedral, comprised of a double Corinthian order in a manner which arguably more neoclassical than baroque.
}}
[[File:St Paul's Engraving by Samuel Wale and John Gwynn (1755)..gif|thumb|The internal structure of the dome, showing the difference in height between the dome, as well the brick cone that supports the lantern and iron cladding.]]
The most striking architectural achievement of the new city was the reconstruction of St Paul's Cathedral and the City Churches by Christopher Wren and his design team, which included other notable architects like [[Nicholas Hawksmoor]] and [[John Vanbrugh]]. Much like his masterplan for the reconstruction of the city, Wren's original design for the new St Paul's Cathedral was rejected and a compromise design had to be reached. Inspired by [[St. Peter's Basilica]] in Rome, Wren originally wanted to build a domed baroque style cathedral built in a [[Greek Cross|Greek cross]] layout, but this design was rejected by the church as a result of the [[papist]] connotations of the Southern European design.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_Dlu-zVHq0&t=2307s|title=Baroque: From St Peter's to St Paul's - Part Three (Art History Documentary)|website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead YouTube link|date=February 2022}}</ref> In an act of compromise, the design that was eventually built is a hybrid design which utilises baroque ornamentation and a great dome but built on the Latin cross layout of the former gothic cathedral. This use of a Gothic layout meant that many structural features not typically associated with Baroque architecture such as the use of buttressing to support the nave; these are behind a screen wall to give the illusion of a homogenously Baroque structure. The design of the completed building changed substantially over the course of the 30 year building, differing substantially from what was known as 'The Warrant Design' which was his original proposal. Construction began in 1675 and was finally completed in 1710, with much of the later work being overseen by Wren's son [[Christopher Wren the Younger]]. [[File:St Mary-le-Bow Nov 2022.jpg|thumb|[[St Mary-le-Bow]] (1680) displays a blend of baroque, classical and gothic influences.]]
The most notable element of Wren's new cathedral is the 111-metre-high dome completed in 1710, described by [[Nikolaus Pevsner|Nicholaus Pevsner]] as "one of the most perfect in the world".<ref name=":6" /> It has become one of London's most enduring landmarks and was London's tallest building from 1710 until 1963 with the completion of the [[Millbank Tower]].<ref name=":3" /> One of the most illusory aspects of the dome, as well as an integral part of its structure is the great difference in height between the inner and outer dome. The dome viewed from the inside is not the interior of outer dome viewed from the exterior, with the two being connected by a brick cone which supports the stone lantern on top and the timbers which horizontally support the lead cladding on the dome's exterior. The dome alongside the main west façade on [[Ludgate Hill]], which utilises a double [[Corinthian order]] similar to [[Claude Perrault|Claude Perrault's]] façade at the [[Louvre]] (1665), is arguably more akin to Neoclassicism than the typical Baroque style found in continental Europe. However, English Baroque often deviated from the stereotype elements of the style in other European countries and other features of the cathedral such as the double towers on the main west façade, as well as much of the ornate exterior decoration are undeniably Baroque in character.<ref name=":6" /> The interior was originally relatively plain with most of the internal surfaces being originally comprised of bare Portland Stone and white plaster, while the inner dome was painted as it is today. The ornate mosaics concentrated around the high altar and quire were in fact added much later by [[William Blake Richmond]] between 1891 and 1904 in a Byzantine-influenced style.

The 51 city churches (25 of which survive, the remainder being lost to demolition or The Blitz) designed by Wren and his team are of great architectural significance. Stylistically they are eclectic and inventive designs, often built on small and limiting sites with the towers being the most architecturally inventive feature of their exteriors. Their variation in design and style is a result of the restraints relating to the location and context of each of these churches, but also because much of the design work was caried out by other architects in Wren's team, most notably [[Nicholas Hawksmoor]] and [[John Vanbrugh|John Vanburgh]], who were to become the other most prominent figures in the emerging English Baroque style and were arguably more exuberant in their style than Wren. Among the most famous of these new churches is [[St Bride's Church|St Bride's Fleet Street]] with its unique tiered spire and [[St Mary-le-Bow]], which blends Baroque and Gothic influences. 
[[File:St-brides-church-london.jpg|thumb|[[St Bride's Church|St Bride's, Fleet Street]] (1703) [[Christopher Wren]], the tallest of the City Churches at 69m (226ft).]]
Stylistically most of the churches are not purely baroque in style, with a notable exception being [[St Stephen Walbrook|St Stephen's Walbrook]] which has a fine domed interior.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Pevsner |first=Nikolaus |title=An Outline of European Architecture |pages=324}}</ref> Many of the churches such as [[St Peter upon Cornhill|St Peter Upon Cornhill]] showcase influence from [[Dutch Classicism|Dutch Baroque]] and Palladianism, whereas others like [[St Mary Aldermary]] are purely neo-gothic recreations of the former medieval churches, complete with a fan vaulted ceiling recalling the perpendicular gothic of the late Middle Ages.<ref name=":0" /> The majority of these churches were built of white [[Portland stone]] but some were also built of red-brick. Perhaps the most significant achievement of Wren's reconstruction of St Paul's and the city churches was their overall interaction as an ensemble. Canaletto's 1750 views of the City of London show how St Paul's and the City Churches soar above the city. The result was a picturesque skyline whose beauty astounded visitors.<ref name=":2" /> And so the Great Fire gave a new lease of life to the city. In the words of the architectural historian [[Simon Thurley|Dr Simon Thurley]]:

"This apparent catastrophe [...] was in reality one of the best things that ever happened to London. [...] The Great Fire of London of London enabled a new start - mass housing, handsome paved streets with modern churches and public buildings. There was a new [[Royal Exchange, London|Royal Exchange]], a new Cathedral, a rebuilt Guildhall. London now was cleaner, more modern and more uniform than any other city in Europe [...] and it remained so until the mid 19th century."<ref name=":2">{{Citation|title=The Five Catastrophes That Made London - Professor Dr Simon Thurley|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZrzY0R_yz8 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/1ZrzY0R_yz8 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|language=en|access-date=21 October 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

=== Late Baroque architecture: Wren's hospitals and The Queen Anne Churches ===
[[File:Old Royal Naval College and Queen's House, Greenwich - 2021-10-30.jpg|thumb|374x374px|[[Old Royal Naval College|The Old Royal Naval College]] (1712); widely regarded the masterpiece of the [[English Baroque architecture|English Baroque]] style, it forms an ensemble with Queen's House (1635) by Indigo Jones. ]]
Christopher Wren, as well as presiding over London's post-fire reconstruction, was also tasked with the design of two new military hospitals: the [[Royal Hospital Chelsea]] for army veterans completed in 1692, and the [[Greenwich Hospital, London|Greenwich Hospital]] (latterly known as the [[Old Royal Naval College]]) completed in 1712. Royal Hospital Chelsea is one of Wren's more restrained works, with its red brick facades resembling long residential terraces, but it nonetheless has a fine chapel and great hall with decorative interiors. In contrast, Old Royal Naval College is a truly opulent baroque design, which is widely considered to be the pinnacle of the English Baroque style. This is exemplified by the famous Painted Hall, with its elaborate Baroque painted walls and ceiling by [[James Thornhill]], who worked on the room between 1707 and 1726,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Painted Hall |url=https://ornc.org/explore-whats-here/painted-hall/ |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=Old Royal Naval College |language=en-GB}}</ref> the largest painted ceiling and interior in Britain. [[File:Greenwich - Old Royal Naval College 1712 Sir Christopher Wren - Painted Hall 1708-24 by Sir James Thornhill - The Lower Hall viewed from the Upper Hall 12.jpg|thumb|373x373px|The famous painted hall of Old Royal Naval College, with wall and ceiling paintings by James Thornhill (1726)]]
As with the city churches, this complex of buildings was a collaboration between Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor, with many sections displaying the latter's distinctive monumental style. The design made careful consideration of existing buildings, namely the [[Queen's House]] by [[Inigo Jones|Indigo Jones]], which is framed by the east and west wings, as well as John Webb's uncompleted Greenwich Palace which was incorporated into the new complex. Wren's [[Royal Observatory, Greenwich]] (1675) on the hill to the south is also a dramatic addition to this picturesque ensemble. The result is a dramatically set group of buildings which appear to be part of a unified plan despite being built in different periods and designed by several different architects. The complex is now part of the UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]]: [[Maritime Greenwich]], which is described as "the finest and most dramatically sited architectural ensemble and landscape ensemble in the British Isles."<ref>{{cite web |title=Maritime Greenwich, UNESCO |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/795/}}</ref>

[[File:Christ Church exterior, Spitalfields, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|403x403px|[[Christ Church, Spitalfields]] (1729), [[Nicholas Hawksmoor]], showcasing his unique and monumental style.]]

Some of the finest examples of the latter stages of the English Baroque style built in the reign of Queen Anne are the [[Commission for Building Fifty New Churches|Commissioners Churches]], also known as the Queen Anne Churches. These were built in response to a [[New Churches in London and Westminster Act 1710|1710 act of Parliament]] requesting 50 new churches in London, but only 12 were built due to limited funds. The majority of these were designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, who is notable for his unique interpretation of Baroque that draws upon influences from Greek, Roman, Gothic and even Egyptian architecture. Perhaps the most best known of these churches is [[Christ Church, Spitalfields]], which showcases Hawksmoor's ability to create buildings with an imposing sense of monumentality on a small site, described by Richard Morrice as an "idiosyncratic amalgamation of Venetian window, triumphal arch and medieval spire."<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Morrice |first=Richard |title=The Buildings of Britain: Stuart and Baroque |publisher=Barrie & Jenkins Ltd. |year=1982 |pages=93}}</ref> Some of his other designs utilise unusual archaeological quotations, most notably St. George's, Bloomsbury which combines a large Corinthian portico resembling a Roman Temple, with a tower topped with a pyramid which is a recreation of the [[Mausoleum at Halicarnassus]] (4th century BC): one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World|Seven Wonders of The Ancient World]].<ref name=":7" /> The six churches not designed by Hawksmoor were by other significant late Baroque and early Georgian architects such as [[James Gibbs]], whose contribution [[St Mary le Strand|St Mary-le-Strand]] (1724) now prominently sits on a traffic island on [[Strand, London|the Strand]] in front of [[Somerset House]], with a tower that displays a strong Wren influence. [[St John's, Smith Square|St John's Smith Square]] by [[Thomas Archer]], was a particularly ornate contribution, which displays a strong Italian influence and is dramatically set at the Centre of a square of early Georgian terraced houses. As the Georgian period began, the Baroque style began to decline in popularity being supplanted by a more restrained Palladian approach to classicism. However, many late Baroque architects such as James Gibbs went on to become formative influences on this stylistic shift.

==Georgian (1714–1811)==

{{See also|Georgian architecture}}
[[File:A New and Correct Plan of the Cities and suburbs of London & Westminster & borough of Southwark with the Country adjacent, the New Buildings, Roads &c to the Year 1763 - from an Actual Survey Corrected & Engrav'd by... - btv1b53056487s.jpg|thumb|284x284px|A map of Georgian London from 1763, illustrating how the city had expanded significantly to the west and now lay mostly outside the [[London Wall|city walls]]. The population reached one million in 1801, the largest in Europe at that time.]]

The [[Georgian era]] (1714–1830) saw substantial economic and colonial expansion as Britain emerged as a global trading power with London as its centre. This wealth flowed readily into London through [[Port of London|its port]], with shipping infrastructure being dramatically modernised and expanded in the late-Georgian period with the construction of several enclosed docks. This increased wealth was reflected in London's rapid growth in population during this period, which surpassed one million people for the first time in 1801. As a result, the city sprawled, with substantial new development in the west of the city such as at [[Bloomsbury]], [[Marylebone]], [[Mayfair]] and [[Kensington]]. This development was frequently centred around the construction of terraces and fashionable new squares like [[Grosvenor Square]] and [[Bedford Square]], becoming the home of the burgeoning middle classes that emerged from Britain's new mercantile economy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McxRTW1vCoE |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/McxRTW1vCoE |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=London's Great Estates|website=[[YouTube]] }}{{cbignore}}</ref> New working-class neighbourhoods associated with industry and shipping also appeared in the late-Georgian era, particularly in the east such as at [[Limehouse]] and [[Shadwell]] and with the construction of new bridges across the Thames in the mid-18th-century, the first since the early Middle Ages, the city also began to spread significantly south of the river.

[[File:Gallery of Somerset House Vit Brit edited.jpg|thumb|284x284px|An engraving of the former Somerset House by [[Inigo Jones|Indigo Jones]] (demolished 1775) from [[Colen Campbell|Colen Campbell's]] Vitruvius Britannicus. Such books set the tone of architectural taste in the Georgian era.]]

With regards to architecture, 'Georgian' refers to the British interpretation of 18th-century neoclassical architecture, derived largely from Palladian architecture. The style was largely defined by the publication of books by architects illustrating the designs of buildings which were then utilised as a reference and source of inspiration (or arguably replication) by other architects throughout Britain. Often described as the 'Father of the Georgian style', [[Colen Campbell]]'s influential book ''Vitruvius Britannicus'' (1725) contains engravings of buildings designed by himself and other great English architects like Indigo Jones, helping to set the more Palladian tone of English architecture for the rest of the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Summerson |first=John |title=Georgian London |publisher=        |page=74}}</ref> Equally if not more influential was ''A Book of Architecture, containing designs of buildings and ornaments'' (1728) by [[James Gibbs]], which only contained his own designs, as well as speculative unbuilt variations of these. According to John Summerson, the book was "probably the most widely-used architecture book of the century, not only throughout Britain, but in the [[Thirteen Colonies|American colonies]] and the [[West Indies]]."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Summerson |first=John |title=Architecture in the United Kingdom, 1530–1830 |publication-date=1993 |pages=333}}</ref>

[[File:WestindiaviewofproposalWDaniell1802.jpg|thumb|283x283px|A painting of the [[West India Docks]] completed in 1802. London's large port and being capital of The British Empire made it the epicenter of global trade.]]

The more restrained style of the mid-late 18th-century was to an extent a reaction against the exuberant Baroque of the late 17th century, with a strict emphasis on plain unadorned brickwork, geometrical harmony and restrained classically inspired ornament. Despite this reactionary motive, Georgian architects nonetheless took great influence from the English Baroque style, particularly in the realm of church design. Some early Georgian architects like [[James Gibbs]] started in the Baroque period and then later restrained their work as fashions changed. Some of the significant architects of the period who designed works in London include [[Robert Adams (architect)|Robert Adam]], [[James Gibbs|William Chambers]], [[James Gibbs]], [[William Kent]] and [[James Wyatt]]. Due to the limited stylistic variation in Georgian Architecture (which was largely due to a homogenisation of taste resulting from books such as Vitruvius Britannicus) as well as the then recent development of London after The Great Fire of London, the Georgian period was arguably the era in which London was at its most architecturally uniform.

=== The Georgian terraced house ===
[[File:15 Fournier Street, Spitalfields (01).jpg|thumb|Some early Georgian housing (c.1720-30s) in Spitalfields built for [[Huguenots|Huguenot]] silk weavers: this is one of the best-preserved early Georgian neighbourhoods, paticuarly at [[Fournier Street]].|282x282px]]
[[File:Aaschool.JPG|thumb|282x282px|Late Georgian terraces (c.1783) on [[Bedford Square]] in Bloomsbury, one the grandest and best -reserved Georgian squares that survivesin London. The houses feature the decorative use of [[stucco]] on the exterior.]]

The genesis of the Georgian terraced house in London can be somewhat traced to the reconstruction of London after The Great Fire of London of 1666, which introduced building regulations that standardised plot size, building height and use of brick in new houses. This resulted in the construction of neat brick terraces of uniform proportion, with the terrace at [[King's Bench Walk, London|King's Bench Walk, Temple]] (1677) being a notable surviving example. This format in the main persisted as the basis of housing in the Georgian period.

Georgian houses  in London are distinctive for their sunken basement built on brick arch foundations, [[rustication (architecture)|rusticated]] base storey, taller [[piano nobile]] reception floor and attic storey. They are generally built from buff (pale yellow) London Stock Brick to [[golden section]] proportions, often spanning triple bay frontages with 'implied' columns or [[pilasters]] and carefully proportioned and very large off-white [[sash windows]], slate [[mansard]] roofs above an [[Attic style|Attic]] [[pediment]]. They were grouped in formal [[garden square]]s, [[Crescent (architecture)|crescents]] and [[Terraced house|terraces]] with wide pavements supported on brick [[vault (architecture)|vault]]s on wide, straight public streets, often with private access to [[Romanticism|romantic]]ally landscaped gardens. Later encroachment of commercial properties has significantly reduced the width of historic streets in many parts of London, where the original plans were comparable to those found in Continental urban planning.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fet.uwe.ac.uk/conweb/house_ages/flypast/print.htm |title=Domestic Architecture 1700 to 1960 |publisher=Fet.uwe.ac.uk |access-date=16 December 2017}}</ref>

Parts of London which still retain significant numbers of early Georgian houses are [[Spitalfields]], many of which have continental features;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/culture/step-back-into-the-spitalfields-of-huguenots/8646533.article|title=Step back into the Spitalfields of Huguenots|date=April 15, 2013|first=James|last=Pallister|website=Architects Journal}}</ref> [[Meard Street]] in Soho which has houses dating from the 1720s<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vols33-4/pp238-246|title=The Pitt Estate in Dean Street: Meard Street &#124; British History Online|website=www.british-history.ac.uk}}</ref> and [[Smith Square]] in Westminster, with houses dating from as early as 1726. Mid-late Georgian houses are still numerous in areas such as Bloomsbury, [[Islington]], Marylebone and Mayfair, where they are often built around [[garden square]]s. Perhaps the finest and most complete of these squares is [[Bedford Square]] in Bloomsbury, which contains some particularly fine houses with heavy use of white stucco. Another notable example is [[Fitzroy Square|Fitzroy Square, Fitzrovia]], with notably grand houses on the eastern and southern sides by [[Robert Adam]] (1792), which have Portland stone facades, ionic pilasters and neoclassical friezes, making the combined terrace appear as one large façade to increase grandeur.

A typical Georgian house was designed to accommodate a single family, with front and back rooms on each floor and a partial-width rear 'closet' wing projection. The ground floor was reserved for business, the tall ''piano nobile'' for formal entertaining, and upper storeys with family bedrooms all accessed from a side stair. Servants were accommodated in the below-ground kitchen and in attic rooms in the roof. Each of the distinctions in function was subtly indicated in the decorative scheme of the façade by the sequential height of openings, projecting cornices and restrained decorative mouldings such as round-headed arches and rustication at the base and diminishing columns, sculptural capitals, [[balustrades]] and friezes expressing the top.

=== The Georgian aristocratic townhouse ===

[[File:Spencer House.jpg|thumb|[[Spencer House, London|Spencer House]] (1756) [[John Vardy]]: London's grandest surviving aristocratic [[Townhouse (Great Britain)|townhouse.]]It is built in a [[Palladian architecture|Palladian style]] with heavy [[Rustication (architecture)|rustication]] on the lower floors, use of [[Portland stone]] and [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] statues on the roofline. |284x284px]]

Georgian houses in London did not just come in the form of simple terraces; the upper classes commissioned much larger and opulent houses known as [[Townhouse (Great Britain)|townhouses]], which acted as their urban residence whilst retaining their [[English country house|country house]] or stately home as their primary residence.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Morrice|first=Richard|title=The Buildings of Britain, Stuart and Baroque|publisher=Barrie and Jenkins|year=1982|pages=68}}</ref> This is in contrast to other European countries like Italy in which the upper classes primarily lived in large urban palaces like The [[Palazzo Farnese]] (1537) in Rome. As a result, central London lacks aristocratic houses or palaces on this scale. The grandest of the London townhouses were large detached buildings like [[Spencer House, London|Spencer House]] but some were terraced house like [[Chandos House]]. In the Georgian period many of these grand houses once lined [[Piccadilly]] and [[Park Lane]] but the majority of these were demolished as they went out of fashion in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. A notable example was [[Devonshire House]] on Piccadilly, a large Palladian mansion.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Summerson|first=John|title=Georgian London|publisher=Barrie & Jenkin|year=1988|pages=92}}</ref> The few that do survive to this day include [[Apsley House]], [[Burlington House]] (now heavily altered) [[Cambridge House]], Chandos House, [[Home House]], [[Lancaster House]], [[Marlborough House]], Melbourne House and Spencer House. Whilst often lacking grandeur on the exterior, these townhouses often have far more lavish interiors, with examples such as Home House (1777) being designed by [[Robert Adam]].

=== Georgian stately homes ===
[[File:Syon House, Great Hall.jpg|thumb|329x329px|The grand [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] interior of [[Syon House]] (1769) by  [[Robert Adam]].]]

Alongside these townhouses, in the broader Greater London area there are a number of Georgian stately homes, which would have originally been rural in setting when first built. A particularly notable and influential example is [[Chiswick House]] (1729) by [[Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington|Richard Boyle:]] a self-taught amateur who built the house for himself. A faithful attempt at recreating an Italian [[Palladian villas of the Veneto|Palladian villa]], the house is square, symmetrical in plan with a central dome and a Corinthian portico on one side. The most influential element of this building was arguably its gardens designed by William Kent, which is widely considered to be one of the first true [[English landscape garden]]s which became very popular later in the Georgian period with designers such as [[Capability Brown]] and was an integral part of the early [[Romanticism|Romantic movement]] in England. The garden contains several small classical style 'temples', which are intended as landscape features, precursors of the large [[Folly|follies]] built in the grounds of stately homes later in the century. Other notable example of stately homes in Greater London include, [[Kenwood House]] (1779) [[Osterley Park]] (1765) and [[Syon House]] (1769), all of which were designed by the neoclassical architect and interior designer Robert Adam. These houses are nationally notable for their Adam's interiors, considered by some to be the finest surviving examples in existence. Many of these grand house are house are now open to the public, being owned by charities such as the [[National Trust|National Trust.]]

=== Georgian Church and Civic Architecture ===
[[File:Iglesia de San Martín en los Campos, Londres, Inglaterra, 2014-08-11, DD 164 (brightened).jpg|thumb|395x395px|[[St Martin-in-the-Fields]] (1726) by [[James Gibbs]]. This design was highly influential, becoming the blueprint for Georgian church architecture.]]

Church design in the Georgian era was still very heavily influenced by the work of Christopher Wren who had pioneered the use of classical architecture in English church design with The City Churches. But with the declining popularity of the Baroque style, church design took a more restrained Palladian approach as the 18th century progressed. [[St Martin-in-the-Fields]] (1722) by James Gibbs is arguably the archetypal church of the period which set the stylistic tone for British church design for the rest of the century. It is a simple neo-classical 'temple church' consisting of a monumental Corinthian portico, a simple rectangular nave and a tall spire that evokes Wren's City Churches.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Thurley|first=Simon|title=English Architecture, 1650 to 1760: The Rise of Consensus - Simon Thurley|website=[[YouTube]]|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBhx98WIM5w&ab_channel=GreshamCollege|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204113302/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBhx98WIM5w&ab_channel=GreshamCollege |archive-date=4 December 2021 }}</ref> This building is a case-study in the transition between the English Baroque and Georgian styles. Whilst the simplicity of the overall format is very Georgian in character, the elaborate exterior decorative motifs (such as the key stones around the windows) allude to a continuing baroque influence, a result of the fact that James Gibbs was originally a practitioner of the Baroque style. The format of this church was much copied across Britain and abroad, with notable examples being [[St Andrew's in the Square]] (1756) in Glasgow and [[St. Paul's Chapel]] (1766) in New York City.
 
[[File:Horse Guards Building 2024 Sept.png|thumb|[[Horse Guards (building)|Horse Guards]] (1759), a notably austere example of mid-18th-century Palladianism by [[William Kent]].]]

There was also a similar crossover between English Baroque and Palladianism in early Georgian civic architecture. The best example is [[St Bartholomew's Hospital]] (1732), also by James Gibbs, which features an opulent Baroque gate house, while the north wing which was completed later is far more restrained. By the middle of the 18th-century civic buildings had become even more minimal and faithfully Palladian. This is best exemplified by William Kent's [[Horse Guards (building)|Horse Guards]] on Whitehall (1750), which almost entirely lacks decorative motifs on the exterior, instead utilising heavy [[Rustication (architecture)|rustication]] as the primary decorative feature.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Thurley|first=Simon|title=English Architecture, 1650 to 1760: The Rise of Consensus - Simon Thurley|website=[[YouTube]]|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBhx98WIM5w&ab_channel=GreshamCollege|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204113302/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBhx98WIM5w&ab_channel=GreshamCollege |archive-date=4 December 2021 }}</ref> The most substantial civic building commissioned in London in the Georgian Era was [[Somerset House]] (1776), which was built to house government offices, replacing a 16th-century house of the same name on The Strand. The resulting building was designed by [[William Chambers (architect)|William Chambers]], built in a quadrangle plan surrounding a large courtyard, with two additional floors below street level. The design utilises the Corinthian order, rustication on the ground floor and neoclassical statues in visual focal points: a far-less austere approach than William Kent's Horse Guards yet by no means opulent.

[[File:Somerset House Strand London.jpg|thumb|285x285px|The inner courtyard of [[Somerset House]] (1776) by [[William Chambers (architect)|William Chambers]], the most substantial civic building of the period.]]
[[File:Museum of London Docklands - Joy of Museums.jpg|thumb|287x287px|Sugar Warehouse on the [[East India Docks]] (1802), now housing The Museum of London.]]

A significant development for the future development of London which occurred in the 18th century was the construction of multiple new bridges across the River Thames: the first bridges built in London since the 13th century. The first of which was Westminster Bridge, completed in 1750. A Westminster was proposed in 1664, but was opposed by the [[Corporation of London]] and the [[Watermen's Company|watermen]], the fearing the bridge would compromise their monopoly on river crossings. This persisted until finally in 1724 the bridge was given parliamentary approval. This was followed by [[Blackfriars Bridge]] (1769, built by the city), [[Kew Bridge]] (1759), [[Battersea Bridge]] (1773), and [[Richmond Bridge, London|Richmond Bridge]] (1777) by which date roads and vehicles were improved and fewer regular goods transported by water. All were built in a neoclassical style, with only original survivor being Richmond Bridge. These were highly significant to London's expansion as London Bridge had been the only bridge across the river for over 500 years and their construction greatly encouraged development south of the river in areas such as Southwark.

Meanwhile, in the far east of London the first enclosed docks were built on the Thames, most notably the [[East India Docks]] (1802) and [[West India Docks]] (1803). This greatly increased London's capacity and potential as a port, a direct result of the dramatic accent of Britain's Empire in the 18th century and the lucrative maritime trade of products from the colonies such as coffee, sugar and tea. Revenues from the slave trade were also an important part of London's maritime economy in this period. This accelerated broader urban development in adjacent areas such as [[Limehouse]], [[Shadwell]] and [[Whitechapel]], which still contain areas of Georgian residential buildings today. Some of the original dockland buildings on the East India Docks still survive, such as the former warehouses which now contain the [[London Museum Docklands|London Museums Docklands]] (built in 1802) and the adjoining Ledger Building (1804), a single storey neoclassical office building with a small Doric portico.

==Regency (1811–1837)==
{{See also|Regency architecture}}

[[File:Park Crescent Regent's Park London W1B 1PH.jpg|thumb|[[Park Crescent, London|Park Crescent]] (1821) [[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]], a grand stucco Regency terrace. |219x219px]]
<!--[[File:Athenaeum Club, London - Nov 2006.jpg|thumb|[[Athenaeum Club, London|Athenaeum Club]] (1830) by [[Decimus Burton]], a grand neoclassical clubhouse on [[Pall Mall, London|Pall Mall]] ]] -->
[[File:Cumberland Terrace, from Regents Park.jpg|thumb|[[Cumberland Terrace]] (1826) [[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]], a grand terrace on [[Regent's Park]] with a Greek-inspired portico.]]

London has some of the finest examples from the late-Georgian phase of British architecture known as Regency. This is aesthetically distinct from early Georgian architecture, though it continues the stylistic trend of Neoclassicism. Technically the [[Regency era]] only lasted from 1811 to 1820, when the [[George IV of the United Kingdom|Prince Regent]] ruled as proxy for his incapacitated father George III, but the distinctive trends in art and architecture extended roughly into the first 40 years of the 19th century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Summerson |first=John |title=Georgian London |publisher=      |year=1945 |page=135}}</ref> Regency is above all a stringent form of Classicism, directly referencing Graeco-Roman architecture.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.buildinghistory.org/style/georgian.shtml |title=Architectural Style: Georgian Architecture (1740–1830) |publisher=buildinghistory.org |access-date=12 July 2018}}</ref> Regency employed enhanced ornamentation like [[frieze]]s with high and low [[relief]] figural or vegetative motifs, statuary, urns, and porticos, all the while keeping the clean lines and symmetry of early Georgian architecture.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/style-guide-regency-classicism/ |title=Style Guide: Regency Classicism |publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum |year=2016 |access-date=22 September 2018}}</ref> Typically Georgian features like [[sash windows]] were retained, along with first-floor balconies, which became especially popular in the Regency period, with either delicate cast iron scrollwork or traditional [[baluster]]s.<ref name="Matthew Weinreb 1999">{{cite book |title=London: Portrait of a City |last=Weinreb |first=Matthew |publisher=Phaidon |year=1999 |page=218}}</ref> The most noticeable difference between early Georgian and Regency architecture is the covering of previously exposed brick façades with stucco painted in cream tones to imitate marble or natural stone.<ref name="Matthew Weinreb 1999" /> [[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]] was the leading proponent of Regency Classicism, and some of his finest works survive in London.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/architecture/john-nash.htm |title=John Nash: Biography of English Neoclassical Regency Architect |publisher=visual-arts-cork.com |access-date=12 July 2018}}</ref> These include the grand residential terraces surrounding [[Regent's Park]]: [[Cumberland Terrace]], [[Cambridge Terrace]], [[Park Square, London|Park Square]], and [[Park Crescent, London|Park Crescent]].<ref name="James Stourton 2012">{{Cite book |last=Stourton |first=James |title=Great Houses of London |publisher=Frances Lincoln |year=2012 |pages=242–246}}</ref> Nash's heavy use of stucco on these buildings was often deceptive, as it could serve to obscure inferior-quality construction: Nash had a financial interest in the Regent's Park developments.<ref>{{cite book |last=Weinreb |first=Matthew |title=London: Portrait of a City |publisher=Phaidon |year=1999 |page=49}}</ref>

[[File:British Museum from NE 2.JPG|thumb|The [[British Museum]] (1827) by [[Robert Smirke (architect)|Robert Smirke]], the archetypal [[Greek Revival architecture|Greek Revival]] building in London.]]

The designs for the other Regent's Park terraces ([[Cornwall Terrace|Cornwall]], [[Clarence Terrace|Clarence]] and [[York Terrace|York]]) were entrusted to [[Decimus Burton]], an architect who specialised in Greek Revival.<ref name="James Stourton 2012" /><ref>{{cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-4125 |title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |section=Decimus Burton |first=Dana |last=Arnold|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/4125 |isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 }}</ref> These terraces employ all the signature features of Regency Classicism: imposing, temple-like frontages covered in gleaming stucco with projecting porches, porticos with Corinthian or Ionic capitals, large pediments, and figural friezes extending along the upper part of the façades.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/style-guide-regency-classicism/ |title=Style Guide: Regency Classicism |publisher=vam.ac.uk |access-date=12 July 2018}}</ref> Burton's design for the [[Athenaeum Club, London|Athenaeum Club]] (1830) on [[Pall Mall, London|Pall Mall]], whose sculptural frieze was modelled on the recently acquired [[Elgin Marbles]] in the [[British Museum]], is another splendid example.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.athenaeumclub.co.uk/ |title=The Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall |access-date=12 July 2018}}</ref> Close to the Athenaeum, Nash designed what has been called "London's finest Regency terrace", [[Carlton House Terrace]] (1829), on the site of [[Carlton House]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stourton |first=James |title=Great Houses of London  |publisher=Frances Lincoln |year=2012 |page=256}}</ref> It had been demolished in 1826 after the new King, [[George IV]], moved to [[Buckingham Palace]], and Nash was employed to design the three-house terrace in his signature, rigidly Classical style: clad in stucco, with an imposing Corinthian portico, balconies, pediments, and Attic parapet, over a podium with squat Doric columns.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=68416 |chapter=Chapter 9: Carlton House Terrace and Carlton Gardens |editor1-first=G. H. |editor1-last=Gater |editor2-first=F. R. |editor2-last=Hiorns |title=Survey of London: Volume 20, St Martin-in-The-Fields, Pt III: Trafalgar Square & Neighbourhood |location=London |publisher=London County Council |year=1940 |pages=77–87 |via=British History Online |access-date=12 July 2018}}</ref>

[[File:All Souls Langham Place 2024-02-09.jpg|thumb|[[All Souls Church, Langham Place|All Souls Church]] by [[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]] (1824). This was intended as a major visual focal point of Regency Street, which compensated for an un-intended bend in the road.]]

Nash's most defining association was with the Prince Regent, his greatest patron. The most enduring legacy of this relationship is [[Buckingham Palace]], which was transformed from the modest Buckingham House of George III's reign into a grand Neoclassical palace to Nash's designs. Beginning in 1825, Nash extended the house westwards and added two flanking wings, creating an open forecourt, or ''[[Cour d'honneur]]'', facing [[St. James's Park]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Marsden |first=Jonathan |title=Buckingham Palace |publisher=Royal Collection Publications |year=2011 |pages=18–20}}</ref> The style is similar to Nash's terraces on the edges of Regents Park, except that the Palace was built in golden-hued [[Bath stone]] instead of stucco-faced brick.<ref name="NHLE 1000795">{{NHLE |num=1000795 |desc=Buckingham Palace  |access-date=13 July 2018}}</ref> The front façade of the main block features a two-storey porch of Doric columns on the bottom, tall fluted Corinthian columns above, with a pediment topped by statuary and adorned in high-relief sculpture.<ref name="NHLE 1000795"/> All the hallmarks of Regency Neoclassicism appear, including an encompassing frieze with vegetative scrollwork of [[Coade stone]], balconies accessible from the first floor, and an attic with figural sculptures based on the Elgin Marbles. The west front overlooking the main garden features a bay window at its centre, with a long terrace with balustrades and large Classical urns made of Coade stone.<ref name="NHLE 1000795"/> Preceding{{clarify|date=January 2020}} the forecourt was a monumental Roman arch, modelled on the ''[[Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel]]'' in Paris, which currently stands as the [[Marble Arch]] at the north-eastern corner of [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Marsden |first=Jonathan |title=Buckingham Palace |publisher=Royal Collection Publications |year=2011 |page=27}}</ref> The addition of the East Wing early in the reign of Queen Victoria enclosed the forecourt and created the frontage of Buckingham Palace known ever since, but the bulk of the Palace exterior remains from Nash's Regency additions, particularly the long garden front on the west side.

[[File:St Pancras New Church, February 2015 01.jpg|thumb|The Caryatid pillars of [[St Pancras New Church]] by William and Henry Inwood (1822).]]

Contemporaneous to Nash's building work in Regent's Park and St. James', the development of [[Belgravia]] further west offers the most uniform and extensive example of Regency architecture in London in the form of [[Belgrave Square]], [[Eaton Square]], [[Wilton Crescent]] and [[Chester Square]]. An ultra-exclusive housing development built on a formerly rural swathe of land on the [[Grosvenor Estate]], building was entrusted to [[Thomas Cubitt]] and began in 1825 with Belgrave Square; the three main squares were completed and occupied by the 1840s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stourton |first=James |title=Great Houses of London |publisher=Frances Lincoln |year=2012 |page=169}}</ref> Like Nash, Cubitt designed elegant Classical terraces,. All were covered in white-painted stucco, with the entrance to each house featuring projecting Doric porches supporting first floor balconies with tall pedimented windows, and attics resting on cornice-work in the Greek manner.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol39/pt1/pp127-140 |title=The Architecture of the Estate: The Reign of the Cundys |publisher=Survey of London Vol. 39, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair (Part 1) |year=1977 |access-date=12 July 2018}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE |num=1000792 |desc=The Grosvenor Estate: Belgrave Square |access-date=12 July 2018}}</ref>

[[File:St Luke's Church Exterior 2, Chelsea, England - Diliff.jpg|thumb|[[St Luke's Church, Chelsea|St Luke's Church Chelsea]] by James Savage (1824) one of the earliest Commissioner's Churches and a notably early example of [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic-Revival architecture]].]]
[[File:Waterloo Bridge (22427758288).jpg|thumb|An image of [[Waterloo Bridge]] in 1907, a large Regency bridge built in Neoclassical style.|288x288px]]

The Regency period saw the construction of some of London's finest neoclassical churches, many of which are known as [[Commissioners' church|Commissioner's Churches]]. A Commissioners' church is an [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] church built with money voted by [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] via the [[Church Building Act]]s of 1818 and 1824. The 1818 Act supplied a grant of money and established the Church Building Commission to direct its use, and in 1824 made a further grant. The First Parliamentary Grant for churches amounted to £1 million (equivalent to £73,550,000 in 2019). The Second Parliamentary Grant of 1824 amounted to an additional £500,000 (£44,320,000 in 2019). Commissioner's churches in London include [[All Souls Church, Langham Place|All Souls, Langham Place]] by John Nash: its circular tower was deliberately placed on a bend on Nash's [[Regent Street|Regents Street]] to create a picturesque view from [[Oxford Circus]], the fine neoclassical [[St Mary's, Bryanston Square]] by [[Robert Smirke (architect)|Robert Smirke]] and [[St Luke's Church, Chelsea|St Luke's, Chelsea]] one of London's first Gothic-revival churches: an early indication of the shift away from neoclassicism that followed later in the 19th century. Other fine Regency churches include [[St Pancras New Church]] (1822) by William and Henry Inwood: one of the most authentic [[Greek Revival architecture|Greek-revival]] churches in London. In notably features a recreation of The Porch of the Maidens from the [[Erechtheion]] temple in [[Athens]], illustrating the archaeological rigor of the practitioners of this revival style. Another notable church nearby is [[St Marylebone Parish Church]] (1819) by [[Thomas Hardwick]], which is notable for its tower crowned with gilded angels.

The Regency era saw the construction of another three bridges over the Thames: [[Vauxhall Bridge]], [[Waterloo Bridge]] and [[Southwark Bridge]], all built in a classical style (all have been replaced). Two significant public buildings by [[William Watkins (architect)|William Watkins]] were built at the end of the Regency, the first being the [[UCL Main Building]] (1827) and then the [[National Gallery]] (1837). Both are similar in design, featuring a monumental Corinthian portico and a small cupola. The latter was very widely criticised after completion, with its limitations being largely a product of a lack of funding and planning complications rather than poor design.

==Victorian (1837−1901)==
{{further|Victorian architecture|19th-century London}}
[[File:Westminster.jpg|thumb|290x290px|A 19th-century photograph of the [[Palace of Westminster]] by [[Charles Barry]] and [[Augustus Pugin]] (1840–60). This was arguably the archetypal Victorian building.]]

Buildings from the [[Victorian era]] (1837–1901) and their diverse range of forms and ornamentation are the single largest group from any architectural period in London.<ref name="Christopher Winn">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/london/articles/unsung-buildings-of-victorian-london/ |title=The unsung buildings that bring Victorian London to life |first=Christopher |last=Winn |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=7 March 2018 |access-date=24 April 2018}}</ref> The Victorian era saw unprecedented urbanisation and growth in London, coinciding with Britain's ascendancy in the world economy and London's global pre-eminence as the first [[metropolis]] of the modern world. As the political centre of the [[British Empire|world's largest Empire]] and the trading and financial hub of the [[Pax Britannica]], London's architecture reflects the affluence of the period. The continuing numeracy of Victorian architecture throughout London is a reflection of the huge amount of building that occurred in the 19th century, which was largely a result of a massive growth in population from one million in 1801 to over five million in 1900.
  
[[File:1890s pictorial map of London - London towards the close of the 19th century.jpg|thumb|293x293px|A map of London at the end of the 19th-century, illustrating the numerous railway termini and bridges present in the city center.]]
[[File:Kensington slums large.jpg|thumb|295x295px|A slum in [[Kensington]] in the 1860s. Overcrowding and the exceptionally poor living conditions of the working classes presented new challenges for urban planning.]]

London also became the pre-eminent city of the [[Industrial Revolution]] in this period, with many new and highly innovative industrial building types and infrastructure being built in the city before anywhere else such as the world's first underground railways, large intercity railway termini, extensive sewage systems and coal-fired power stations. Stylistically this was a somewhat paradoxical period in London's architectural history, as on the one hand the Industrial Revolution created a variety of new possibilities in terms of materials and construction methods, as well as new building types, but on the other hand London's Victorian architecture was mostly highly [[Historicism|historicist]]: attempting to recreate or re-invent a plethora of styles from the past. This tension between modernity and archaeology is one of the defining features of this period of London's built environment.

As London grew during the 19th century, the former compact, close proximity of different social classes in the [[City of London]] transformed into a taste for specially developed suburbs for specific classes of the population. This is reflected in styles of domestic and commercial architecture. [[Donald Olsen]] wrote in ''The Growth of Victorian London'' that "the shift from multi-purpose to single-purpose neighborhoods reflected the pervasive move towards professionalization and specialization in all aspects of nineteenth-century thought and activity."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ackroyd |first=Peter |title=London: The Biography |publisher= |year=2000 |page=516}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=December 2021|reason=publisher needed}} The growth of the suburbs and the increasing de-population of Central London as the 19th century progressed was largely made possible by the arrival of the railways, which enabled workers to live much further from their work places in the city center.

In contrast, while the middle classes moved to the suburbs, in Inner and East London rapid population growth, a lack of suitable housing, overcrowding and unsanitary conditions so severe that they lead to outbreaks of cholera, meant that living conditions in the working class districts of London were often dire. This presented substantial new urban planning challenges, which were counteracted by interventions such as the construction of the world's first modern sewage system, slum clearance and philanthropists like the [[Peabody Trust]] constructing affordable homes to improve working class living conditions.

=== Gothic Revival ===
{{further|Gothic Revival architecture}}
[[File:St Pancras International Railway Station.jpg|thumb|The [[Midland Grand Hotel]] at [[St Pancras railway station|St. Pancras Railway Station]] (1868), one of London's finest Gothic-Revival buildings by the prolific architect [[George Gilbert Scott]]. While the likes of [[Augustus Pugin|Pugin]] utilised [[English Gothic architecture|English Gothic]] as their primary influence, this building references medieval commercial buildings of the [[Low Countries]] like [[Ypres Cloth Hall]]. |320x320px]]

The style most strongly associated with the Victorian period is [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic-Revival]] architecture, which utilised the Gothic architecture of the medieval period — such as the great English cathedrals of [[Lincoln Cathedral|Lincoln]] and [[Salisbury Cathedral|Salisbury]] — as its primary source of inspiration.<ref name="Peter Ackroyd 2000">{{Cite book |title=London: The Biography |last=Ackroyd |first=Peter |year=2000 |page=570}}</ref> Contrary to popular knowledge, even in the 18th century, when Classicism was dominant, a small number of buildings continued to be built in Gothic styles. [[Vanbrugh Castle]] (1719) by John Vanburgh, while not being purely Gothic, is an early example of the medievalism that would become prominent in the design of some Georgian houses. Nicholas Hawksmoor, one of the great architects of the English Baroque style, designed the twin towers of Westminster Abbey (1745) which in keeping with the medieval Gothic of the existing church. The most famous example of Georgian Gothic is [[Strawberry Hill House]] (1753), which blended Gothic and [[Rococo]] to produce a building described by [[Dan Cruickshank]] as "a mock medieval asymmetrical fantasy."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cruickshank |first=Dan |title=A Guide to the Georgian Buildings of Britain and Ireland |publisher=George Weidenfeld and Nicolson Ltd |publication-date=1985 |pages=77}}</ref> Far more authentic attempts at recreating genuine medieval gothic appeared in the Regency period with churches such as [[St Luke's Church, Chelsea|St Luke's Church Chelsea]] (1824).

[[File:Clock Tower - Palace of Westminster, London - September 2006.jpg|thumb|491x491px|The [[Big Ben|Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben)]], Palace of Westminster, (1860) by [[Augustus Pugin]].]]

This new wave of enthusiasm for gothic architecture in the early Victorian period had a largely ethical and religious basis. The first source of this moralism was a product of two developments in Victorian Christianity: firstly the rise of the [[High church]] movement in Anglicanism and the increasing tolerance of [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholics]] in Victorian England, both of which sought to create a sense of continuity between themselves and pre-reformation [[Catholic Church in England and Wales|English Christianity]] with which gothic architecture is associated.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stevens Curl |first=James |title=Victorian Architecture |year=1990}}</ref> The second source of this moralism was a product of the [[Romanticism|Romantic movement]], a movement in the arts and culture which regarded the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] (which in architecture was associated by many with [[Neoclassicism]] and in politics with the [[French Revolution]]) and the Industrial Revolution as eroding the authenticity, morality and true identity of European culture, with the Middle Ages representing a more authentic and virtuous age to be replicated.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=A. W. N. Pugin: God's Architect? An Interview with David Lewis |url=https://www.sacredarchitecture.org/articles/a_w_n_pugin_gods_architect |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=Sacred Architecture}}</ref> This acted as motive to reference not only to reference Gothic tyle, but also other pre-neoclassical styles, as well as use decorative motifs influenced by nature.

The individual that embodied both of these moral arguments in favour of Gothic-revival architecture was [[Augustus Pugin]], a highly influential architect, interior designer and critic who in many ways set the tone for the Victorian Gothic revival more than any other individual. This was largely due to publishing a series of volumes of [[architectural drawing]]s between 1821 and 1838 that were to remain as standard references for Gothic Revivalists for at least the next century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hill |first=Rosemary |title=God's Architect: Pugin and the Building of Romantic Britain. |year=2007 |pages=52–53}}</ref> Pugin was a convert to Catholicism who wrote several influential books espousing his admiration of gothic architecture and urging its revival.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Charlesworth |first=Michael |title=The Gothic Revival 1720–1870 – Literary Sources and Documents: Gothic and National Architecture |date=2002 |pages=168–171}}</ref> He went on to design many ornate catholic churches across the country, whose highly decorative interiors were an idealistic attempt to recreate [[English Gothic architecture|England's]] churches prior to the Reformation.<ref name=":4" /> An example of a Pugin church in London is [[St George's Cathedral, Southwark]] (1840).
 
[[File:London - The Parliament - 2773.jpg|thumb|323x323px|The central lobby of the [[Palace of Westminster]] (1860) by [[Augustus Pugin]], showing a strong [[Perpendicular Gothic|Perpendicular]] influence.]]

By far Pugin's most significant work in London that is arguably the most famous building of the entire Victorian era is [[Palace of Westminster|The Palace of Westminster]] (1840–60), which he worked on alongside the classical architect [[Charles Barry]]. The original building was a varied collection of medieval and Georgian structures which burnt down in 1834, with the exception of Westminster Hall which survived. Barry came up with the overall plan of this highly complex building, while Pugin decorated the interior and exterior with gothic ornamentation which was heavily influenced by [[Perpendicular Gothic|English Perpendicular Gothic]], associated with buildings such as [[Gloucester Cathedral]]. He also designed the iconic clocktower [[Big Ben|Big Ben (The Elizabeth Tower)]]. Despite being very positively received upon completion, Pugin was not satisfied with the finished building because he did not consider it to be truly Gothic, instead considering it as simply a Classical building with Gothic ornamentation, being quoted as saying: "All Grecian, Sir; Tudor details on a classic body."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The architects: Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/architecture/palacestructure/the-architects/ |access-date=2025-01-05}}</ref>

[[File:St Augustine's Church, Kilburn Interior 2, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|238x238px|[[St Augustine's, Kilburn|St. Augustine's, Kilburn]] (1880), one of the largest and most ornate Gothic-Revival churches in London: an attempt to recreate the vibrant interior of a pre-Reformation church.]]

Many new churches were constructed in ornate Gothic Revival designs in reference to the ideals of Pugin and to re create the vibrant interiors of pre-reformation churches. The finest of these include [[All Saints, Margaret Street|All Saints]] church in [[Fitzrovia]], the French-Gothic [[St Augustine's, Kilburn]] designed by [[John Loughborough Pearson]] (founded 1870), [[St Mary Magdalene, Paddington]], and [[St Cuthbert's, Earls Court]], designed by [[Hugh Roumieu Gough]] and built between 1884 and 1887.<ref name="church">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/dec/15/london-gothic-victorain-churches-architecture-simon-jenkins |title=London's Victorian churches deserve a second Gothic Revival |first=Simon |last=Jenkins |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=15 December 2019 |access-date=29 August 2020}}</ref> St. Cuthbert's, according to [[English Heritage]], has "one of the most lavish and consistent [interior] schemes in any Victorian church" and is "one of the richest ecclesiastical interiors in London."<ref name="HC">{{cite news |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1266119 |title=Church of St Cuthbert and St Matthias |publisher=historicengland.co.uk |access-date=29 August 2020}}</ref> Modelled in its proportions after [[Tintern Abbey]], and packed with decoration in marble, stone, wrought iron, and oak, the masterpiece of St. Cuthbert's is the 50-foot high wooden [[reredos]] carved in an elaborate late-Gothic Spanish style.<ref name="HC" />

[[File:Prudential Assurance Building 1 (6266184307).jpg|thumb|326x326px|[[Holborn Bars]] (1876–1901), an example of Gothic-Revival in a large commercial building.]]

Gothic-revival architecture optimises the somewhat contradictory combination of cutting-edge construction methods and replication of historic styles that was often present in Victorian architecture. This can be seen in the widespread use of [[cast iron]], and from the mid-19th century [[mild steel]], which were used in Gothic revival iron structures like Blackfriars Bridge (1869) and [[St Pancras railway station]] (1868).<ref>{{cite book |title=London: Portrait of a City |first=Ben |last=Weinreb |publisher=Phaidon |year=1999 |pages=20–21}}</ref> Other significant buildings built in Gothic Revival are the [[Royal Courts of Justice]] (1882), the [[Midland Grand Hotel]] (1876) adjoining St Pancras station, [[Liverpool Street railway station]] (1875), and the [[Albert Memorial]] (1872) in [[Kensington Gardens]].<ref name="Style Guide: Gothic Revival">{{cite web |title=Style Guide: Gothic Revival |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/style-guide-gothic-revival/ |access-date=21 April 2018 |publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum}}</ref> Even the suburbs were built in derivative Gothic Revival styles, sometimes called "[[Wimbledon, London|Wimbledon]] Gothic".<ref name="Peter Ackroyd 2000" /> With the exception of late-Victorian examples such as [[Holborn Bars]] (1876–1901) the Gothic-Revival style was not emphatically embraced in London's commercial architecture, with most banks and offices in the City of London continuing to be built in neoclassical styles in the 19th century. An unusual use of [[High Victorian Gothic]] used in the design of a relatively small commercial building can be seen in [[Robert Lewis Roumieu|33-35 Eastcheap]] (1868), a vinegar warehouse that was described by Nicholaus Pevsner as "one of the maddest displays in London of [[Victorian Gothic]]".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pevsner |first=Nikolaus Pevsner |title=London 1: The City of London |publisher=Yale University Press. |location=New Haven and London |publication-date=1997 |pages=481–482}}</ref>

=== Victorian Neoclassicism and Italianate ===
[[File:Reform Club 02.JPG|thumb|240x240px|The [[Reform Club]] (1841) by Charles Barry: a highly influential [[Italianate architecture|Italianate]] design strongly referencing the [[Palazzo Farnese]].]]

Contrary to the popular belief that the Gothic-Revival lead to Neoclassical architecture becoming unfashionable in the mid-19th century, classically influenced architecture did continue to persist in London throughout the Victorian period, albeit in a different style to that of the Palladianism which characterised most Georgian and Regency architecture. More specifically Neoclassicism persisted as a fashionable building style for particular building types, such as large commercial buildings like banks, private members clubs and certain types of public buildings such as educational institutes and museums. This was in contrast to other British cities like Manchester in which the Gothic-revival was the dominant style for such building types.

[[File:The V&A John Madejski Garden-8674 copy.jpg|thumb|244x244px|The central courtyard of the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] (1854–69), an ornate Italianate design. ]]

The most prominent neoclassical trend in Victorian architecture was [[Italianate architecture|Italianate]], which took strong influence from [[Italian Renaissance architecture|Italian renaissance architecture]]. A notable example in central London is the [[Reform Club]] (1841) by the famous classical architect [[Charles Barry]], which was heavily influenced by the palazzos of Renaissance Italy such as The Palazzo Farnese and is one of the earliest examples of the style in Britain; it somewhat became a blueprint for the style. A far more ornate example is the central courtyard of the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] (1854–69), which utilises red brick, friezes made of mosaics and terracotta on its exterior. This building illustrates the increasingly eclecticism and inventiveness of late Victorian architecture in general, as this building is not a faithful recreation of Italian Renaissance architecture by any means, rather it uses Italianate as a loose basis for a more eclectic design that makes use of a broader array of influences, materials and construction methods.

[[File:Gibson Hall (cropped).jpg|thumb|246x246px|[[Gibson Hall, London|Gibson Hall]] (1867) a grand [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] bank, demonstrating the persistence of the style.]]
[[File:Brompton Oratory Nave 2, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|247x247px|The interior of [[Brompton Oratory]] (1884) somewhat foreshadowing the [[Edwardian architecture|Baroque-revival]] that became prominent in the Edwardian era.]]

In commercial buildings, conventional Neoclassism that was more akin to that of the 18th-century than the renaissance revivalism of the Italianate style continued to persist for the design of large banks, offices and other commercial buildings in the City of London.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Is Neoclassicism the Vernacular Architecture of the City of London? |url=https://www.sahgb.org.uk/features/neoclassicism-in-london |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=SAHGB |language=en-GB}}</ref> The most famous example is the [[Royal Exchange, London|Royal Exchange]] (1844), which has a main façade comprised of a monumental Corinthian portico which replicates a Roman temple, a clock tower in an English Baroque style on the eastern side of the building and an ornate central courtyard with renaissance influences.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jellinek |first=L. |date=2019-11-08 |title=The Royal Exchange - C L A X I T Y |url=https://claxity.com/the-royal-exchange/ |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=claxity.com |language=en-GB}}</ref> A later example is [[Gibson Hall, London|Gibson Hall, Bishopsgate]] (1867) an opulent bank building which was described by Nicholas Pevsner as ''“the best bank in the Victorian City”''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Banking, Finance, Service Work and the Growth of Victorian Financial Markets |url=https://victorianweb.org/economics/gooch2.html |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=victorianweb.org}}</ref>''.'' This was built in conventional 18th-century-style Neoclassicism, utilising a monumental Composite order, statues on the roof-line and decorative friezes on the outer walls.

Towards the end of the 19th-century, classicism still persisted but in a far more diluted manner which was mixed with an array of other influences. A prominent example of this is Leadenhall Market (1881), whose street facades are evocative of [[Dutch Baroque architecture]], while the interior utilises vibrant colours and a glass ceiling with cast-iron frame in a manner which is loosely Classical in style, but has no historical precedence.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jellinek |first=L. |date=2019-10-15 |title=National Provincial Bank - C L A X I T Y |url=https://claxity.com/national-provincial-bank/ |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=claxity.com |language=en-GB}}</ref> This kind of Victorian eclecticism was superseded by conventional Neoclassicism once again in The Edwardian period with rise of the [[Edwardian architecture|Edwardian Baroque]] and [[Neo-Georgian architecture|Neo-Georgian]] styles. A precursor to this can be seen in the City of London at James Edmundson's house +  Harris & Sons (1887), a recreation of a grand early Georgian townhouse house with Baroque decorations which was utilised as office.<ref>{{Citation |title=Parrott, Sir (James) Edward, (1 June 1863–5 April 1921), Editor to publishing house of Thomas Nelson &amp; Sons since 1898 |date=2007-12-01 |work=Who Was Who |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u201391 |access-date=2025-01-05 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> An exceptionally grand and faithful recreation of the Italian Baroque style can be seen at [[Brompton Oratory]] (1884), a large catholic church complete with a dome and highly decorative interior. This foreshadows the grand scale of many neo-Baroque buildings that would be built in London in the Edwardian period.

=== Other Victorian styles ===
[[File:Natural History Museum 001.jpg|thumb|[[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] (1881)  the most prominent example of [[Romanesque Revival architecture|Romanesque Revival]] in London.  |320x320px]]

Although Victorian architecture is most closely associated with the Gothic Revival and to a lesser extent the Italiante style, many other [[Historicism (art)|historicist]] styles were utilised in London's Victorian architecture particularly in the late 19th century, to the extent that no individual style was dominant. Other revival styles that were utilised in Victorian architecture in London include [[Byzantine Revival architecture|Byzantine Revival]], [[British Queen Anne Revival architecture|Queen Anne Revival]], [[Jacobethan]], [[Renaissance Revival architecture|Renaissance Revival]], [[Tudor Revival architecture|Romanesque Revival]] and [[Tudor Revival architecture|Tudor Revival]]. Some buildings built in such revival styles were genuine attempts at faithful re-creations of the original style by strongly referencing historic examples, such as the [[Tudor Revival architecture|Tudor Revival]] Great Hall of [[Lincoln's Inn]] (1845) which utilises red brick and a hammerbeam roof in an attempt to replicate late Tudor halls such as Lambeth Palace and the Byzantine Revival [[Saint Sophia Cathedral, London|Saint Sophia Cathedral]] (1882) which was inspired by [[Hagia Sophia]], featuring a centralised dome and use of decorative mosaics on the interior.
   
[[File:At Lincoln's Inn 2023 044.jpg|thumb|240x240px|[[Lincoln's Inn|Great Hall, Lincoln's Inn]] (1845) a [[Tudor Revival architecture|Neo-Tudor]] design that strongly references [[Lambeth Palace]].]]

In contrast, many Victorian buildings mixed a variety of these different historical influences in an eclectic manner that transcended stylistic category. An example of this eclecticism was the [[Commonwealth Education Trust|Imperial Institute]] (1888), a highly eclectic design which referenced Gothic, Renaissance, Tudor and Baroque architecture simultaneously; it was mostly demolished in 1957. New styles not based on revivals of historic architecture were also avidly adopted, like that of the [[Second Empire architecture|Second Empire]] copied from France in the 1870s<ref name="Kathryn Hughes">{{cite news |last=Hughes |first=Kathryn |date=11 September 2011 |title=Victorian buildings: architecture and morality |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/sep/11/victorian-edwardian-british-architecture |access-date=22 April 2018 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> and [[Arts and Crafts Movement|The Arts and Crafts Movement]], which was somewhat a British equivalent of continental [[Art Nouveau]].
 
[[File:St Sophia's Greek Orthodox Cathedral Interior 2, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|240x240px|[[Saint Sophia Cathedral, London|Saint Sophia Cathedral]] (1882), an example of Byzantine-revival inspired by [[Hagia Sophia]].]]

A distinctive new development in external decoration in late Victorian architecture in terms was the use of [[terracotta]] as a decorative appliqué on the outer facade of buildings.<ref name="Ben Weinreb 1999">{{cite book |last=Weinreb |first=Ben |title=London: Portrait of a City |publisher=Phaidon |year=1999 |page=119}}</ref> Entire buildings were covered in elaborately moulded terracotta tiles, like the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] (1880), the rebuilt [[Harrods]] department store (1895–1905), and the Prudential Assurance Building at [[Holborn Bars]] (1885–1901).<ref name="Ben Weinreb 1999" /> Terracotta was advantageous in that it was colourful and did not absorb the heavy air pollution of Victorian London, unlike brick and stone. As Ben Weinreb described terracotta's usage: "it found the greatest favour on the brasher, self-advertising types of building such as shops, theatres, pubs and the larger City offices."<ref name="Ben Weinreb 1999" />

[[File:Imperial Institute.jpg|thumb|241x241px|The [[Commonwealth Education Trust|Imperial Institute]] (1888), an example of Victorian eclecticism; mixing a wide variety of styles.]]

Perhaps the most unique new style to emerge in the late 19th century was the [[Arts and Crafts movement]]. Somewhat mirroring and taking influence from the [[Art Nouveau]] style that was prominent in continental Europe, the [[Arts and Crafts movement]] articulated itself as a reaction against the changes brought about by the [[Industrial Revolution]] in a similar manner to the; embracing traditional craftsmanship and decorative motifs inspired by romanticism, medievalism and nature. Despite this being a similar ethos to the Gothic-revival, this style was far less revivalist and utilised abstract natural forms never seen before in architecture. The most prolific architect of the style in London was [[Charles Harrison Townsend]] who designed the [[Horniman Museum]] (1900) and the [[Whitechapel Gallery]] (1900): two highly original designs described by [[Nikolaus Pevsner|Nicholaus Pevsner]] as "without question the most remarkable example of a reckless repudiation of tradition among English architects of the time"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pevsner |first=Nikolaus |author-link=Nikolaus Pevsner |title=Pioneers of Modern Design |publisher=Museum of Modern Art, New York |year=1949 |isbn= |location= |pages=}}</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2021}} This experimentalism of the Arts and Crafts Movement made it an important formative influence on Modernist architecture in Britain during the early 20th century.

Despite the explosive growth of Victorian London and the scale of much of the building that had taken place, by the 1880s and 1890s there was an increasing belief that London's urban fabric was inferior to other European cities and unsuitable for the capital of the world's largest empire. There was little coherent urban planning in London during the Victorian era, apart from major infrastructure projects like the construction of the railways, [[Thames Embankment]] and [[Tower Bridge]]. Critics compared London to cities like [[Paris]] and [[Vienna]], where state intervention and large scale demolition had created a more regular arrangement, with broad boulevards, panoramas and architectural uniformity. London was "visibly the bastion of private property rights", which accounted for the eclecticism of its buildings.<ref name="Clive Aslet 2015" />

=== The Industrial Revolution: railway, iron-framed and industrial architecture ===
{{further|British industrial architecture}}

[[File:Paddington Station-4269161-by-Oast-House-Archive.jpg|thumb|[[London Paddington station]] (1838–54) by [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]], a marvel of Victorian railway architecture.|242x242px]]

The [[Industrial Revolution]] which began in Britain in the late 18th and early 19th century created a great deal of new building types and infrastructure that were a product of the new industries and technologies that it produced. The most obvious example of this was the arrival of the railways which greatly transformed the cityscape and structure of London. The first railway to be built in London was the [[London and Greenwich Railway]], a short line from [[London Bridge station|London Bridge]] to [[Greenwich]], which opened in 1836. This was soon followed by great rail termini which linked London to every corner of Britain. These included [[Euston railway station]] (1837), [[Paddington station|Paddington railway station]] (1838), [[Fenchurch Street station]] (1841), [[London Waterloo railway station|Waterloo railway station]] (1848), [[London King's Cross railway station|King's Cross railway station]] (1852), and [[St Pancras station|St Pancras railway station]] (1868).
  
[[File:Constructing the Metropolitan Railway.jpg|thumb|242x242px|The construction of the world's first underground railway: [[Metropolitan Railway|The Metropolitan Railway]] (1863)]]

London also became the first city in the world to have an underground railway system. With traffic congestion on London's roads becoming more and more serious, proposals for underground railways to ease the pressure on street traffic were first mooted in the 1840s, after the opening of the [[Thames Tunnel]] in 1843 proved such engineering work could be done successfully. Begun in 1860 and completed in 1863, the [[Metropolitan Railway]] inaugurated the world's oldest [[mass transit system]], the [[London Underground]]; it was created by the [[cut-and-cover]] method of excavating a trench from above, then building reinforced brick walls and vaults to form the tunnel, and filling in the trench with earth. Some of the original underground station architecture from the Metropolitan Railway still survives at [[Baker Street tube station]] complete with a brick arched roof with vents to ventilate the steam from the original Victorian locomotives.

[[File:Crystal Palace General view from Water Temple.jpg|thumb|242x242px|[[The Crystal Palace]] by [[Joseph Paxton]] (1854) an engineering marvel for its time which burnt down in 1936. ]]
[[File:Crossness Pumping Station, Belvedere, Kent - geograph-2280114-by-Christine-Matthews.jpg|thumb|242x242px|The interior of [[Crossness Pumping Station]] (1865) showing the decorative use of cast-iron.]]

Advancements in engineering during the industrial revolution made available the use of new building materials such as iron, enabling its use to build the first iron-framed structures in history. Iron beams afforded unprecedented span and height in new buildings, with the added advantage of being fireproof. The greatest embodiment of iron's possibilities was found in [[Joseph Paxton]]'s [[The Crystal Palace|Crystal Palace]], a 990,000-square-foot (9.2-hectare) exhibition hall made of cast iron and plate glass, which opened in 1851.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crystalpalacefoundation.org.uk/history/history-of-the-crystal-palace-part-1 |title=History of the Crystal Palace |first=David |last=Lancaster |publisher=Crystal Palace Foundation |date=1 October 1988 |access-date=21 April 2018}}</ref> Before that, iron was already being used to gird the roofs of the [[King's Library]] in the [[British Museum]], built between 1823 and 1827, the [[Reform Club]] (1837–1841), [[Travellers Club]] (1832), and the new Palace of Westminster.<ref>{{cite book |title=London: Portrait of a City |first=Ben |last=Weinreb |publisher=Phaidon |year=1999 |page=59}}</ref> The technological advancements pioneered with the Crystal Palace would be applied to the building of London's great railway termini in the latter half of the century: St. Pancras, [[Liverpool Street station|Liverpool Street]], [[London Paddington station|Paddington]], [[London King's Cross railway station|King's Cross]], and [[London Victoria station|Victoria]].<ref>{{cite book |title=London's Termini |first=Alan |last=Jackson |year=1984 |page=396}}</ref> King's Cross was a relative latecomer; built in 1851 to support incoming traffic for the Crystal Palace exhibition, its arched glass terminal sheds (each {{convert|71|ft|m|abbr=on}} wide) were reinforced with laminated wooden ribs which were replaced in the 1870s with cast iron.<ref name="Christopher Winn" /> London Paddington had already set the model for train stations built with iron support piers and framework, when it was completed in 1854 to the designs of the greatest of Victorian engineers, [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]].<ref>{{cite book |title=London's Termini |first=Alan |last=Jackson |year=1984 |page=308}}</ref>
Other innovations in Victorian infrastructure and industry such as new sewage systems, power stations and gas works further transformed London's cityscape. But as well as from a technological point of view, many of these buildings were interesting stylistically, with some examples being remarkably decorative despite their utilitarian functions and often mirroring the stylistic trends occurring in domestic, commercial and even ecclesiastical architecture. A particularly notable example is [[Crossness Pumping Station]] (1865), a former sewage pumping station built in an ornate [[Romanesque Revival architecture|Romanesque-revival]] style, with extensive decorative use of cast-iron. This was described by the historian [[Nikolaus Pevsner|Nicholas Pevsner]] as a "masterpiece of engineering – a Victorian cathedral of ironwork".
 
[[File:Stoke newington castle 1.jpg|thumb|241x241px|The Engine House, Stoke Newington (1854)]]

Another notable example - also a pumping station but in this case for drinking water - was the Engine House, Stoke Newington (1854), a large brick building which was designed to resemble a medieval fortress, complete with towers, battlements, bartizans and other historicist elements. This stylistically somewhat mirrors the trend for building [[Folly|follies]]: an integral part of the early Gothic-Revival. A much more discreet example was the world's first coal-fired power station was built at [[Holborn Viaduct power station|Holborn Viaduct]] in 1882,  intended to provide electricity for the many new streets lamps being installed in the centre of London, as well as for private homes and other buildings. This was completely concealed behind the facades of new commercial buildings with Italianate and Gothic-revival facades, belying its industrial function.

=== Victorian domestic architecture ===
{{further|Queen Anne Revival architecture in the United Kingdom}}
[[File:Terraced houses, Athenlay Road - geograph.org.uk - 4316153.jpg|thumb|Typical mid-late Victorian suburban houses like these dominate large areas of London to this day. Such houses are stylistically eclectic, reflecting the Victorian tendency of mixing [[Historicism|historicist]] influences.|317x317px]]

London's great expansion in the 19th century was driven by housing growth to accommodate the rapidly expanding population of the city. The growth of road building and the railways in this period fuelled the outward expansion of suburbs, as did a cultural impetus to escape the inner city, allowing the world's of 'work' and 'life' to be separate.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date= |title=Suburbia |url=https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/suburbia|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151113134931/http://www.bl.uk:80/romantics-and-victorians/articles/suburbia |archive-date=13 November 2015 |access-date=|website=British Library}}</ref> Suburbs varied enormously in character and in the relative wealth of their inhabitants, with some being for the very wealthy, and others being for the lower-middle classes. They frequently imitated the success of earlier periods of speculative housing development from the Georgian era, although the Victorian Era saw a much wider array of suburban housing built in London.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Suburban Architecture 1700-1960|url=https://fet.uwe.ac.uk/conweb/house_ages/flypast/print.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120126051903/http://fet.uwe.ac.uk:80/conweb/house_ages/flypast/print.htm |archive-date=26 January 2012 |access-date=|website=University of the West of England}}</ref> [[Terraced houses in the United Kingdom|Terraced]], [[Semi-detached house|semi-detached]] and detached housing all developed in a multitude of styles and typologies, with an almost endless variation in the layout of streets, gardens, homes, and decorative elements.

[[File:Tower House, Kensington, January 2015 03.jpg|thumb|[[The Tower House]] (1881) by [[William Burges]] has a highly ornate [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic-revival]] interior.]]

Early in the Victorian era, up to the 1840s houses were influenced by the classicism of Regency architecture. However, the simplicity of Regency classicism fell out of favour as affluence increased and by the 1850s the [[Italianate architecture|Italianate style]] influenced domestic architecture which now incorporated varying quantities of [[stucco]]. From the 1850s domestic buildings became increasingly influenced by the Gothic Revival, incorporating features such as pointed, projecting porches, [[bay windows]], and grey slate.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Anthony |first=Quiney |title=Period Houses, a guide to authentic architectural features|publisher=|year=1989 |isbn=|location=London|pages=}}</ref> This progressive change in style resulted from several factors. In the 1850s, the abolition of tax on glass and bricks made these items cheaper, while suitable materials and the coming of the railways allowed them to be manufactured elsewhere, at low cost and to standard sizes and methods, and brought to site. From the 1850s, building regulations were progressively introduced which to some extent created greater standardisation and uniformity in housing design.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Marshall|first=John|title=The Victorian House|publisher=Sidgwick and Jackson |year=1986|isbn=|location=London|page= }}</ref>

[[File:Front Holly Village.jpg|thumb|Gatehouse to the gardens of Holly Village, Highgate (1865).]]
[[File:Peabody Trust housing, Marshalsea Road - geograph.org.uk - 1750102.jpg|thumb|A brick apartment block built by the Peabody Trust in Southwark.]]

In terms of the more extravagant houses built in London during the Victorian period, many were built in a more gothic influenced style than was the norm for smaller houses. A particularly notable example is [[The Tower House]] (1881) designed by the prominent Gothic-Revival architect [[William Burges]] as his personal home. Its interior is particularly notable, with ornate wall paintings and other medievalist features. It was described by the architectural historian [[J. Mordaunt Crook]] as "the most complete example of a medieval secular interior produced by the Gothic Revival, and the last"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Joseph |first=Mordaunt Crook |title=William Burges and the High Victorian Dream |date=2013 |pages=341}}</ref> Another example of [[High Gothic]] used in a domestic context in London is Holly Village in Highgate (1865), a cluster of ornate gothic cottages set amongst private gardens. They were designed by [[James Cubitt]] and commissioned by the wealthy Victorian philanthropist Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts. They somewhat mirror the format of many Victorians alms-houses, which were also built in a similar garden plan and in a gothic style, such as The Bruce Castle Almshouses in Tottenham (1871). In contrast, the few large houses built within central London during this period tended to retain a more classical style, a prominent example being [[Bridgewater House, Westminster|Bridgewater House]] (1854) by Charles Barry, a significant example of Italianate architecture in London, which was somewhat influenced by the [[Palazzo style architecture|Italian Palazzos]] of the renaissance.

Largely as a result of the extremely rapid expansion of London's population in the 19th century, the living conditions for much of the working classes in Victorian London were extremely poor due to a lack of appropriately planned housing, intense overcrowding and poor sanitation. This was particularly prevalent in Inner and East London, with significant areas of these districts being regarded as slums, typically comprised of very dense late-18th and 19th century terraced housing. Local government took the crude approach of the clearing such areas with little provision of replacement housing for the evicted occupants. Philanthropists and private companies in the form of the [[Model dwellings company|model dwellings companies]] such as the [[Peabody Trust]] made the most concerted effort to provide appropriate housing for London's poor, building homes intended to be affordable and provide good living conditions. These usually took the form of substantially sized brick tenement blocks around five to six stories high. While many were austere in design, other more decorative examples were built in the fashionable styles of the day such as Jacobethan and even Gothic-revival, with many such examples surviving in Inner London to this day.

==Edwardian Architecture (1901–1914)==
{{See also|Edwardian architecture|Edwardian Baroque}}
[[File:Admiralty Arch, London, England - June 2009.jpg|thumb|[[Admiralty Arch]], [[The Mall, London|The Mall]], commissioned by King [[Edward VII]] and designed by Aston Webb (1912).|323x323px]]
[[File:Oldbaileylondon-900.jpg|thumb|[[Old Bailey|The Old Bailey]] (1902), a prominent example of [[Edwardian architecture|Edwardian Baroque]] in London strongly influenced by [[Christopher Wren]].]]

=== Edwardian Baroque, Beaux Arts and other classical styles ===
The dawn of the 20th century and the death of Queen Victoria (1901) saw a shift in architectural taste and a reaction against Victorianism. The popularity of Neoclassicism, semi-dormant during the latter half of the 19th century, revived with the new styles of [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux-Arts]] and Edwardian Baroque, also called the "Grand Manner"<ref>{{cite book |title=The Buildings Around Us |first=Thom |last=Gorst |year=1995 |publisher=Chapman & Hall |page=63}}</ref> or "Wrenaissance", for the influence that Wren's work had on this movement. Neoclassical architecture suited an "Imperial City" like London because it evoked the grandeur of the [[Roman Empire]] and was monumental in scale. Trademarks include rusticated stonework, banded columns or [[quoin]]s of alternating smooth and rusticated stonework, exaggerated ''[[voussoirs]]'' for arched openings, free-standing columns or semi-engaged pilasters with either Corinthian or [[Ionic order|Ionic]] capitals, and domed roofs with accompanying corner domes or elaborate [[cupola]]s.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book |title=The Age of Empire |first=Clive |last=Aslet |publisher=Aurum Press |year=2015 |page=42}}</ref> In adopting such styles, British architects evoked hallowed English Baroque structures like [[St. Paul's Cathedral]] and Inigo Jones' [[Banqueting House]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/sep/11/edwardian-neo-baroque-architecture |title=Edwardian architecture: Five of the best examples |first=Leo |last=Benedictus |newspaper=The Guardian |date=10 September 2011 |access-date=1 April 2018}}</ref> Municipal, government, and ecclesiastical buildings of the years 1900–1914 avidly adopted Neo-Baroque architecture for large construction works like the [[Old Bailey]] (1902), [[County Hall, London|County Hall]] (begun in 1911), the [[Port of London Authority]] building (begun 1912),<ref>{{NHLE |num=1079138 |desc=Former Port of London Authority Building |access-date=1 May 2018}}</ref> the [[War Office]] (1906), and [[Methodist Central Hall]] (1911).

The most impressive commercial buildings constructed during the Edwardian era include the [[The Ritz Hotel, London|Ritz Hotel]] on Piccadilly (1906), [[Norman Shaw]]'s Piccadilly Hotel (1905), [[Selfridges]] department store (1909), and [[Whiteleys]] department store (1911). All of these were built in variations of Neoclassicism: Beaux-Arts, Neo-Baroque, or Louis XVI. The firm of [[Charles Mewès|Mewès]] & [[Arthur Joseph Davis|Davis]], partners who were alumni of the [[École des Beaux-Arts]], specialised in [[18th-century French art|18th century French]] architecture, specifically Louis XVI. This is evident in the Ritz Hotel and [[One Aldwych|Inveresk House]], the headquarters of the [[Morning Post]], on Aldwych.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Age of Empire |first=Clive |last=Aslet |publisher=Aurum Press |year=2015 |page=45}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE |num=1210080 |desc=Inveresk House |access-date=4 May 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Harrods, London - June 2009 (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Harrods]] (1905), a large department store with terracotta cladding.]]

The popularity of terracotta for exterior cladding waned in favour of glazed ceramic tiles known as [[glazed architectural terracotta]] (often called "faience" at the time). Outstanding examples include the [[Strand Palace Hotel]] (1909) and [[Regent Palace Hotel]] (1914), both clad in cream-coloured 'Marmo' tiles manufactured by [[Burmantofts Pottery]]; [[Michelin House]] (1911); and [[Debenham House]] (1907).<ref>{{cite book |title=London Portrait of a City |first=Ben |last=Weinreb |publisher=Phaidon |year=2000 |page=138}}</ref> London Underground stations built during the Edwardian years, namely those on the [[Piccadilly Line]] and [[Bakerloo Line]], all employ glazed tile cladding designed by [[Leslie Green]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.londonreconnections.com/2010/the-man-who-painted-london-red/ |title=The Man Who Painted London Red |first=John |last=Bull |publisher=londonreconnections.com |date=1 January 2010 |access-date=1 May 2018}}</ref> The signature features of these stations are glazed [[oxblood]] red tiles for the station exteriors, ticket halls clad in green and white tiles, and platforms decorated in individual colour themes varying between stations.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.citylab.com/design/2015/12/a-design-guide-to-londons-underground-stations/419694/ |title=A Design Guide to London's Underground Stations |first=Mark |last=Byrnes |publisher=citylab.com |date=9 December 2015 |access-date=1 May 2018}}</ref> Glazed tiles had the added advantages of being easy to clean and impervious to London's polluted atmosphere.

[[File:Chelsea , Michelin Building - geograph.org.uk - 6163793.jpg|thumb|283x283px|[[Michelin House]] (1911), a rare example of [[Art Nouveau|Art-Nouveau Architecture]] in London clad in [[Glazed architectural terra-cotta|glazed terracotta tiling.]]]]

The two most important architectural accomplishments in London during the Edwardian years were the building of Kingsway and the creation of an enormous processional route stretching from Buckingham Palace to St. Paul's Cathedral. A grand parade route for state pageantry, a common feature of European cities, was felt to be sadly lacking in London.<ref name="Jonathan Marsden 2011">{{cite book|title=Buckingham Palace Official Souvenir Guide |first=Jonathan |last=Marsden |year=2011 |page=36}}</ref> To accomplish this a group of buildings standing between the Mall and [[Trafalgar Square]] were demolished and replaced with the grand Neo-Baroque edifice of Admiralty Arch. This created one grand east–west parade route encompassing Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square via Admiralty Arch, then connecting with the newly widened [[The Strand, London|Strand]], and thence to [[Fleet Street]].<ref name="Clive Aslet 2015"/> The {{convert|82|ft|m|abbr=on}} high [[Victoria Memorial, London|Victoria Memorial]] was erected in front of Buckingham Palace (unveiled in 1911) and encircled by four ceremonial gates dedicated to the British [[dominion]]s: Canada Gate, Australia Gate, South and [[British West Africa|West Africa]] Gates.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/st-jamess-park/things-to-see-and-do/monuments-fountains-and-statues/the-queen-victoria-memorial |title=The Queen Victoria Memorial |publisher=royalparks.org.uk |access-date=1 May 2018}}</ref> In 1913 the decaying [[Caen stone]] on the façade of Buckingham Palace, blackened by pollution and deteriorating, was replaced with a more impressive facing of [[Portland stone]].<ref name="Jonathan Marsden 2011"/><ref>{{cite book |title=The Buildings Around Us |first=Thom |last=Gorst |year=1995 |publisher=Chapman & Hall|pages=39–40}}</ref>

Kingsway, a {{convert|100|ft|m|adj=on}} wide boulevard with underground tram tunnel stretching north–south from the Strand to High Holborn, was the culmination of a [[Slum clearance in the United Kingdom|slum clearance]] and urban regeneration project initiated by the Strand Improvement Bill of 1899.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite book |title=The Age of Empire |first=Clive |last=Aslet |publisher=Aurum Press |year=2015 |page=36}}</ref> This involved the clearance of a notorious [[Holborn]] slum known as [[Clare Market]], between Covent Garden and Lincoln's Inn Fields The north side of the Strand was demolished, allowing the street to be widened and more impressive and architecturally sound buildings to be constructed. Lining these grand new boulevards were impressive new theatres, hotels, and diplomatic commissions in imposing Neoclassical, Portland stone-clad designs. These new buildings included the headquarters of Britain's most important imperial possessions: [[India House, London|India House]], [[High Commission of Australia, London|Australia House]], with [[South Africa House]] built in the 1930s opposite Trafalgar Square. There were plans to demolish two churches along the Strand, St Mary le Strand and [[St Clement Danes]], the latter designed by Sir Christopher Wren, because they were protruding into the street and causing traffic congestion. After public outcry the Strand was instead widened to go round these churches, creating 'islands' in the middle.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

===Steel===
[[File:Detail of sculpture above the entrance of Selfridges on the Oxford Street, London 2013 (3).JPG|thumb|The extravagant steel-framed [[Selfridges, Oxford Street|Selfridges]], Oxford Street (1909), an example of the [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux-Arts]], a late Neoclassical style that was most prominent in France and the USA. |306x306px]]

In the first decade of the 20th century, the use of steel to reinforce new buildings advanced tremendously.<ref name="Historic England">{{cite news |url=https://heritagecalling.com/2014/04/08/victorian-and-edwardian-london-at-the-dawn-of-the-steel-age/ |title=Victorian & Edwardian London at the Dawn of the Steel Age |author=Historic England |publisher=heritagecalling.com |date=8 April 2014 |access-date=2 May 2018}}</ref> Steel piers had been used in isolation to support the [[National Liberal Club]] (1886) and the rebuilt Harrods department store (1905). The extension of 1904–05 to the [[Savoy Hotel]] used steel framing for the whole construction, followed closely by the Ritz Hotel (1906); the latter gained popular reputation as the first building in London to be steel-framed.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |url=https://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/Downloads/chs/final-chs-vol.14/chs-vol.14-pp.21-to-40.pdf |title=The Development of Steel-Framed Buildings in Britain, 1880–1905 |first=Alastair A. |last=Jackson |publisher=Construction History Vol. 14 |year=1998 |pages=21–37}}</ref> The abundance of domes in the Edwardian period is partly attributable to steel girders, which made large domes lighter, cheaper to build, and easier to engineer.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Selfridges on Oxford Street, modelled after American-style department stores, was the true watershed, because its size was unprecedented by British standards and far exceeded existing building regulations. To gain planning approval, Selfridge's architect [[Sven Bylander]] (the engineer responsible for the Ritz) worked closely with the [[London County Council]] (LCC) to update the LCC's woefully outdated regulations on the use of steel, dating back to 1844.<ref>{{Cite book |title=English Shops & Shopping: An Architectural History |first=Kathryn A. |last=Morrison |publisher=         |year=2003}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=December 2021|reason=publisher needed}}<ref name="auto"/> In 1907 he gained approval for his plans, and by 1909, when Selfridges opened, the LCC passed the LCC (General Powers) Act (the Steel Act), which provided comprehensive guidelines for steel-framed buildings and a more streamlined process for gaining planning permission.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G2xKjURYgHgC&q=Sven+Bylander+selfridges&pg=PA172 |title=The European Cities and Technology Reader: Industrial to Post-Industrial City |first=David |last=Goodman |year=1999 |page=172 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=9780415200820}}</ref><ref name="Historic England"/> By this point, steel reinforcement was ''de rigueur'' in any sizable public or commercial building, as seen in the new buildings proliferating along Aldwych and Kingsway.

==Art Deco & Interwar Architecture (1919–1939)==

[[File:The Hoover Building-1392797985.jpg|thumb|The [[Hoover Building]] (1933) one of London's most notable examples of the [[Art Deco]] and [[British industrial architecture|"Bypass Modern" industrial style]] |328x328px]]

After the end of World War I, several outstanding building projects begun before 1914 were finally completed. The sombre mood and straitened financial circumstances of interwar Britain made the flamboyant Neo-Baroque style no longer suitable for new architecture. Instead, British architects turned back to the austere, clean lines of Georgian architecture for inspiration.<ref name="Simon Thurley">{{cite news |url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/forwards-and-backwards-architecture-in-inter-war-england |title=Forwards and Backwards: Architecture in Interwar England |first=Simon |last=Thurley |publisher=Gresham College |date=6 February 2013 |access-date=21 May 2018}}</ref> Consequently, Neo-Georgian was the preferred style for municipal and government architecture well into the 1960s.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://heritagecalling.com/2016/09/30/you-didnt-know-it-was-neo-georgian/ |title=You Didn't Know it was Neo-Georgian |first=Elizabeth |last=McKellar |publisher=Historic England |date=30 September 2016 |access-date=22 May 2018}}</ref> The sale and demolition of many of London's grandest aristocratic houses gave rise to some of the largest private building projects of the interwar period, built to [[Art Deco]] or Neo-Georgian designs. These include [[The Dorchester]] (Art Deco) and the [[Grosvenor House Hotel]] (Neo-Georgian) on Park Lane, both on the sites of grand London houses of the same names. Many buildings clustered around Georgian squares in Central London were demolished and replaced, ironically enough, with Neo-Georgian edifices in near-identical styles but larger. [[Grosvenor Square]], the most exclusive of London's squares, saw the demolition of original Georgian buildings in favour of the uniform Neo-Georgian townhouses which currently surround the square on the north, east and south sides.<ref name="Simon Thurley"/> In [[St James's Square]] several buildings were demolished and rebuilt in the Neo-Georgian style, including [[Norfolk House]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vols29-30/pt1/pp187-202 |title=St. James's Square: No 31, Norfolk House |website=british-history.ac.uk |access-date=22 May 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Senate House, University of London.jpg|thumb|[[Senate House, London|Senate House]] (1937), often described as one of London's first skyscrapers.]]

[[Neo-Classical architecture]] remained popular for large building projects in London, but it dispensed with the heavy ornamentation and bold proportions of the Baroque-revival that characterised the Edwardian era. It remained the preferred style for banks, financial houses, and associations seeking to communicate prestige and authority. Perhaps the most prominent example of interwar Neoclassicism is the rebuilt [[Bank of England]] in the City of London, designed by [[Sir Herbert Baker]] and built between 1921 and 1937.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=1170 |title=Bank of England Rebuilding (1933) |publisher=engineering-timeline.com |access-date=21 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE |num=1079134 |desc=Bank of England  |access-date=21 May 2018}}</ref> The most influential proponent of Neoclassicism in interwar Britain was [[Sir Edwin Lutyens]]. His distinctive form of Neoclassicism can be seen in London with the [[The Cenotaph, Whitehall|Cenotaph]],<ref>{{NHLE |num=1357354 |desc=Cenotaph, Whitehall, Westminster, Greater London |access-date=22 May 2018}}</ref> the monolithic, streamlined war memorial built of Portland stone on [[Whitehall]]; the [[Midland Bank]] building;{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} and Britannic House in [[Finsbury Circus]], both in the City of London, and the headquarters of the [[British Medical Association]] in [[Tavistock Square]], [[Bloomsbury]].<ref>{{NHLE |num=1378968 |desc=BMA House |access-date=22 May 2018}}</ref> In Westminster, a fine example of interwar Neoclassicism is Devonshire House, an office building constructed between 1924 and 1926 on the site of the former London house of the [[Dukes of Devonshire]].<ref>{{NHLE |num=1226746 |desc=Devonshire House |access-date=22 May 2018}}</ref> Classicism of this style was almost exclusively executed in the ever-popular [[Portland stone]].

===Art Deco Architecture===
[[File:Battersea Power Station (5) - 2022-04-30.jpg|thumb|[[Battersea Power Station]] (1933), an example of the [[Art Deco Architecture|Art Deco]] style used in an industrial building. ]]

Existing alongside the more prevalent Neo-Georgian and Neoclassical forms of architecture used in the capital in the 1920s and 1930s, [[Art Deco]] was nonetheless an extremely popular style from about 1925 to the later 1930s.<ref name="Beau Peregoy">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/art-deco-london |title=7 of the Best Art Deco Buildings in London |first=Beau |last=Peregoy |magazine=Architectural Digest |date=17 December 2016 |access-date=20 April 2018}}</ref> The true stimulus was the 1925 [[International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts]] in Paris, where Art Deco had been developed roughly 20 years earlier. London, alongside New York City and Paris, became an innovative and experimental ground for [[Art Deco architecture]]. This is defined by clean lines, curves, geometric patterns, bold colour, and elaborate, stylised sculptural accents.<ref name="Suzanne Waters">{{cite news |url=https://www.architecture.com/knowledge-and-resources/knowledge-landing-page/art-deco |title=Art Deco |first=Suzanne |last=Waters |publisher=Architecture.com |access-date=22 May 2018}}</ref> Art Deco was adopted most enthusiastically by "modern" businesses and those seeking to advertise their modernity and forward-thinking attitude. These included cinemas, media headquarters, airports, swimming pools, factories, and power stations (such as [[Battersea Power Station]]). It was a flashy, luxurious style, so it was well adapted for department stores (e.g. [[Simpsons of Piccadilly]]), theatres, hotels, and blocks of flats.<ref name="Suzanne Waters"/>

[[File:Express Building (1).jpg|thumb|[[Daily Express Building, London|The Daily Express Building]] (1932), an example of the [[Streamline Moderne|Streamline-Moderne]] style of Art Deco. The glass outer walls are a very modern feature for the time.]]

Two of London's finest examples of Art Deco architecture stand on [[Fleet Street]]: ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' building (1928) and the [[Daily Express Building, London|Daily Express building]].<ref name="Beau Peregoy"/> The façade of the latter is, unusually for the time, composed entirely of glass, [[vitrolite]] and [[chromium]], which stood out boldly amongst the stone and brick architecture of Fleet Street. The use of industrial, sleek materials like these was more common in Deco buildings in New York City than it was in London: Portland stone remained overwhelmingly the material of choice. For example, another media headquarters, the [[BBC]]'s [[Broadcasting House]] on Portland Place, was built in the traditional Portland stone with outstanding figural sculptures by [[Eric Gill]].<ref>{{cite book |title=London Deco |first=Thibaud |last=Hérem |year=2013 |publisher=Nobrow Press|page=1}}</ref> [[Ideal House, London|Ideal House]] (1929), is highly unusual in combining Art Deco with Egyptian motifs, on a façade clad in shiny black granite.<ref>{{cite book |title=London Deco |first=Thibaud |last=Hérem |year=2013 |publisher=Nobrow Press|page=2}}</ref> Another Art Deco/Egyptian synthesis is the [[Carreras Cigarette Factory]] in [[Mornington Crescent, London|Mornington Crescent]].<ref name="Charlie Vernon">{{cite news |url=https://www.senatehouseevents.co.uk/features/exploring-art-deco-architecture-london |title=Exploring Art Deco in London |first=Charlie |last=Vernon |publisher=Senate House Library |date=6 August 2015 |access-date=22 May 2018}}</ref>

The erection of ultra-modern Deco buildings often came at the expense of older architectural gems, some irreplaceable. Along the Embankment two large Deco buildings were constructed which continue to dominate London's riverfront profile. The elegant Neoclassical [[Adelphi, London|Adelphi]] Buildings, designed by [[Robert Adam|Robert]] and [[John Adam (architect)|John Adam]] and built between 1768 and 1771, were demolished to build the New Adelphi office building in the 1930s.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://londonist.com/2014/05/the-adelphi-story |title=The Adelphi Story |first=Robert |last=Clear |publisher=Londonist |date=13 January 2017 |access-date=22 May 2018}}</ref> Adjacent to the Adelphi, the grand [[Hotel Cecil (London)|Hotel Cecil]] (1896) was demolished to make way for [[Shell Mex House]] (1931), a {{convert|190|ft|m|abbr=on}} high Art Deco office building which features London's largest clock.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101236752-shell-mex-house-st-jamess-ward#.WwSbbEpFzIU |title=Shell Mex House |publisher=britishlistedbuildings.co.uk |access-date=22 May 2018}}</ref>

Arguably the most prolific Art Deco architect in London was [[Charles Holden]], who received a large number of commissions by [[Transport for London|London Transport]], including arguably London's first skyscraper [[55 Broadway]] (1929) and several tube stations built in a distinctive modernist/art deco style like [[Southgate tube station]] (1933). His other high rise commission the 19-storey [[Senate House, London|Senate House]], headquarters of the [[University of London]], is the tallest Art Deco structure in London and was one of the tallest buildings in London when finished in 1937.<ref name="Charlie Vernon"/> It elicited, and continues to elicit, much criticism because it stands so tall and obtrusive amongst the modest Georgian squares of Bloomsbury. [[Evelyn Waugh]] described it as a "vast bulk...insulting the autumnal sky", while more recent critics have called it [[Stalin]]esque or reminiscent of the [[Third Reich]].<ref name="Simon Jenkins">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/dec/02/highereducation.uk2 |title=It's time to knock down Hitler's headquarters and start again |first=Simon |last=Jenkins |newspaper=The Guardian |date=1 December 2005 |access-date=22 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Naked and Unashamed: Charles Holden in Bloomsbury |first=Eitan |last=Karol |publisher=The Institute of Historical Research |date=Autumn–Winter 2008 |pages=6–7}}</ref> This association with totalitarian architecture was reinforced by the wartime rumour that [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] wanted the Senate House for his London headquarters upon conquering Britain, and therefore ordered [[Luftwaffe]] bombers to avoid it during [[The Blitz]].<ref name="Simon Jenkins"/>

==Post-War Modernism and Brutalism (1945–1980)==

[[File:Royal Festival Hall 2011.jpg|thumb|[[Royal Festival Hall]] (1951) by Robert Matthew.]]
[[File:Trellick Tower, Golborne Road - geograph.org.uk - 2774590.jpg|thumb|Trellick Tower by [[Ernő Goldfinger|Erno Goldfinger]] (1972): [[Brutalist architecture|brutalist]] social housing.]]
{{more citations needed section|date=December 2021}}

In [[the Blitz]], London's urban fabric and infrastructure was devastated by continuous aerial bombardment by the ''Luftwaffe'' with almost 20,000 civilians killed and more than a million houses destroyed or damaged.<ref name="Richards 1954, p. 217.">Richards 1954, p. 217.</ref> Hundreds of thousands of citizens had been [[Emergency evacuation|evacuated]] to safer areas, and the reconstruction of a habitable urban environment became a national emergency. The re-housing crisis, aligned with post-War optimism manifested in the [[Welfare State]], afforded an opportunity and a duty for the architectural profession to rebuild the shattered capital. The internationally influential urban planner Sir [[Patrick Abercrombie]] established the 1943 [[County of London Plan]], which set out redevelopment according to [[modernist]] principles of [[zoning]] and de-densification of historic urban areas. Accelerating pre-war trends, overcrowded urban populations were relocated to new suburban developments, allowing inner-city areas to be reconstructed. The [[Golden Lane Estate]], followed by the [[Barbican Estate]] by [[Chamberlin, Powell and Bon]], are regarded as casebook examples of urban reconstruction of the period in the City of London, where just 5,324 local residents had remained by the end of the war.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Billings|first1=Henrietta|title=Brutalist London Map|date=November 2015|publisher=Blue Crow Media|isbn=9780993193453|location=London}}</ref>

The 1951 [[Festival of Britain]], held on London's [[South Bank]], became an important cultural landmark in sharing and disseminating optimism for future progress. The [[Royal Festival Hall]] (built 1948–1951) and the later [[South Bank Centre]] including the [[Hayward Gallery]] (1968), [[Queen Elizabeth Hall]]/[[Purcell Room]] (1967) and the [[Royal National Theatre]] (1976) remain as significant architectural and cultural legacies of the era.

[[File:Euston Tower - geograph.org.uk - 3440144.jpg|thumb|[[Euston Tower]] (1970): a post-war commercial high-rise in the [[International Style]]]]

London had attracted a select group of European modernists, some as refugees from Nazism, and the post-war era presented opportunities for many to express their unique visions for modernism. European architects of the era include [[Berthold Lubetkin]] and [[Ernő Goldfinger]], who employed and trained architects on modernist social housing such as the [[Dorset Estate]] of 1957, [[Alexander Fleming House]] (1962–64), [[Balfron Tower]] of 1963 and [[Trellick Tower]] of 1966, as well as [[Keeling House]] by [[Denys Lasdun]] in 1957.
International [[History of urban planning#Modern urban planning|movements in architecture and urban planning]] were reflected in the new developments with separation of motor transportation and industrial and commercial uses from living areas, according to the prevailing orthodoxies of the [[Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne|CIAM]].<ref>Modern Architecture: A Critical History (1980; revised 1985, 1992 and 2007) Kenneth Frampton</ref> High-rise residential developments of [[council housing]] in London were above all else influenced by [[Le Corbusier]]'s [[Unité d'habitation]] (or ''Cité Radieuse'' ("Radiant City") of 1947–52.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/15/le-corbusier-unite-d-habitation-cite-radieuse-marseille-brutalist-architecture/|title=Brutalist buildings: Unité d'Habitation by Le Corbusier|date=15 September 2014|website=Dezeen}}</ref> The architecture of [[Modern architecture#Postwar modernism in Europe (1945-1975)|post war modernism]] was informed by ideals of technological progress and social progress through egalitarianism; this was expressed by humanistic repetition of forms and use of the modernist material ''par excellence'' – [[Béton brut]]<ref>Raw Concrete: The Beauty of Brutalism, Barnabas Calder</ref> or [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1095022/raw-concrete/ 'raw concrete']. Significant council housing works in London include the [[Brunswick Centre]] (1967–72) by [[Patrick Hodgkinson]] and the [[Alexandra Road Estate]] (1972–78) by [[Neave Brown]] of the [[Camden London Borough Council|Camden Council]] architects department.

[[File:Brunswick Centre (4136275375).jpg|thumb|The[[Brunswick Centre]] (1972)]]

The British exponents of the internationalist movement were headed by [[Alison and Peter Smithson]], originally as part of [[Team 10]]; they went on to design [[Robin Hood Gardens]] (1972) in [[Bow, London|Bow]] and ''[[The Economist]]'' Building<ref>{{cite web |url=http://postwarbuildings.com/buildings/the-economist-buildings |title=The Economist Buildings |access-date=7 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007061959/http://postwarbuildings.com/buildings/the-economist-buildings |archive-date=7 October 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> (1962–64) in Mayfair, regarded by architects as some of the very finest works of British [[New Brutalism]].Many schools, residential housing and public buildings were built over the period; however the failure of some the modernist ideals, coupled with poor quality of construction and poor maintenance by building owners, has resulted in a negative popular perception of the architecture of the era; this is being transformed and expressed in the enduring value and prestige of refurbished developments such as the Barbican, Trellick Tower and Balfron Tower, regarded by many as architectural "icons" of a distant era of heroic social constructivism and highly sought-after places of residence.
The post-war period saw the appearance of the first commercial skyscrapers in London. These were typically built in the corporate [[International Style (architecture)|International Style]], closely associated with the modernist pioneer [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]], following the simple glass cuboid format of the epochal [[Seagram Building]] (1958). Examples include [[High Commission of New Zealand, London|New Zealand House]] (1960), [[Millbank Tower]] (1963), [[St. Helen's (skyscraper)|St Helen's]] (1970) and [[Euston Tower]] (1970). Two high-rise office buildings built in the period were designed by the architect [[George Marsh (architect)|George Marsh]]: [[Centre Point]] (1966) and [[One Kemble Street]] (1968). Each has a distinctive façade made up of a mosaic of interlocking concrete blocks and large windows, creating an interesting blend of the International Style and [[Brutalist architecture|Brutalism]]. They are both now Grade II listed in recognition of their architectural merit.

==Postmodernism, High-Tech and High-Rise (1980-Present)==
{{See also|List of tallest buildings and structures in London|Postmodern architecture|High-tech architecture}}
{{more citations needed section|date=December 2021}}

=== Postmodern and High Tech ===
[[File:SIS building (26327425611).jpg|thumb|Postmodern architecture of the [[SIS Building|SIS or MI6 Building]] by [[Terry Farrell (architect)|Terry Farrell]] (1996) ]]

The late 1970s is considered to be a stylistic turning point in the history of architecture. Formed in reaction against the austere [[Modern architecture|modernism]] which had dominated architectural design since the end of world war II, [[Postmodern architecture|the postmodern school]] — which first expressed itself in the controversial book [[Learning from Las Vegas]] (1973) by [[Robert Venturi]] — was a movement that rejected minimalism by embracing irony, playfulness, pop culture and quoting historical styles in their buildings.<ref>{{Citation |title=Architecture at the Crossroads - 1. Doubt and Reassessment |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01rk00j/architecture-at-the-crossroads-1-doubt-and-reassessment |access-date=23 March 2020}}</ref> The result was an eccentric new style that could not be in starker contrast to the rigid post war consensus of the international style. London has some postmodern architecture, mostly from the 1990s. Robert Venturi's Salisbury Wing of the National Gallery (1991) is a postmodern historical pastiche, built of Portland stone and ironically imitating the neoclassical style to blend in with the older building. Two of the postmodern movement's most influential architects, [[Terry Farrell (architect)|Terry Farrell]] and [[James Stirling (architect)|James Stirling]], were British and many of their works are in London. Farrell's [[SIS Building|SIS Building or MI6 Building]] (1996) in [[Vauxhall]] is a distinctive pyramidal design influenced by [[Maya architecture|Maya]] and [[Aztec architecture|Aztec]] architecture. James Stirling's [[No 1 Poultry|No.1 Poultry]] (1997) has been commended as a masterpiece of the postmodernist style; it was grade II* listed in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://thespaces.com/postmodern-no-1-poultry-listed/ |title=Postmodern London landmark No 1 Poultry gets listed status |date=29 November 2016 |website=The Spaces |access-date=23 March 2020}}</ref> Its design incorporates a pink terracotta façade with equestrian sculptures and a clock tower resembling a submarine's [[conning tower]]. It replaced a [[Mappin & Webb|neo-gothic building of the 19th century]].

[[File:British Museum Great Court, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|The Great Court of The British Museum (2000), [[high-tech architecture]] by [[Foster and Partners|Fosters and Partners]] ]]

A splinter of the postmodern movement that became prominent in the 1990s is the [[High-tech architecture|high-tech style]] and the similar [[Neo-futurism|neo-futurist]] style. These two styles embrace much of the eccentricity of postmodern style with unusual forms, whilst taking cues from the modernist movement with functionality and utopianism.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Neo-futurism |title=Neo Futurism}}</ref> In terms of construction there is an emphasis on the usage of glass, steel and high-tech production processes, as well as exposing the structural and utilitarian elements of the building as a means of decoration.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.architecture.com/explore-architecture/high-tech |title=High Tech in Architecture}}</ref> A revolutionary example is the [[Lloyd's building]] (1986) by [[Richard Rogers]], an 'inside-out' design in which all the building's utilities – its lifts, ducts and vents – are on the outside, acting as a façade. The building is Grade I listed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/home/rogers-lloyds-becomes-youngest-grade-i-listed-building/8624035.article|title=Rogers' Lloyd's becomes youngest Grade-I listed|date=19 December 2011 }}</ref> The high-tech became associated with [[Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank|Norman Foster]]. Significant high-tech works by Foster include [[Queen Elizabeth II Great Court|The Great Court]] of the British Museum; a distinctive glass dome structure built over the central courtyard of the original 19th-century building, [[City Hall, Southwark|City Hall]] (2002) on the South Bank with its distinctive ovular shape and the iconic skyscraper [[30 St Mary Axe]] (2003), dubbed 'The Gherkin', and winning the [[Stirling Prize]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3750102.stm|title=Building prize for 'icon Gherkin'|date=16 October 2004 }}</ref> and a 2006 poll as the most admired building by the world's leading architects. Many buildings followed suit, such as [[The Shard]] (2012), [[122 Leadenhall Street]] (2014) [[20 Fenchurch Street]] (2015) and [[One Blackfriars|1 Blackfriars]] (2018).

=== Contemporary high rise ===
[[File:30 St Mary Axe from Leadenhall Street.jpg|thumb|[[30 St Mary Axe]] (2003) by [[Foster and Partners]] ('The Gherkin'), an iconic high rise building |302x302px]]
{{more citations needed|date=December 2021}}

The [[Tower 42|NatWest Tower]] (now called Tower 42) was completed in 1980; at {{convert|183|m|ft|abbr=off}} and 42 [[storey]]s, it was considered the first "skyscraper" in the City of London. Its height was controversial, being contrary to the previous height restrictions; it was the tallest building in the United Kingdom at the time and the tallest [[cantilever]] building in the world. [[One Canada Square]] was completed in 1991 at {{convert|235|m|ft|abbr=off}} and formed the centrepiece of the [[Canary Wharf]] development. The development's main tower One Canada Square became the tallest building in the United Kingdom.

With the encouragement of [[Ken Livingstone]], [[Mayor of London]] from 2000 to 2008, a renewed trend for building tall was established. [[8 Canada Square]] and [[25 Canada Square]], both standing at {{convert|200|m|ft|abbr=off}}, were completed at Canary Wharf in 2002. In the City of London, [[Heron Tower]] was completed in 2007 at {{convert|230|m|ft|abbr=off}}, and the [[Broadgate Tower]] in 2008 at {{convert|165|m|ft|abbr=off}}.

[[File:Ayuntamiento y Shard, Londres, Inglaterra, 2014-08-11, DD 076.JPG|thumb|(left) [[City Hall, Southwark|City Hall]] (2002) [[Foster and Partners|Fosters and Partners]] and (right) The Shard (2012) Renzo Piano, [[High-tech architecture|high-tech]] and [[Neo-futurism|neo-futurist]] architecture ]]

[[Boris Johnson]], Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016, approved more skyscrapers in London. The Shard, topped out in 2012 at {{convert|309.6|m|ft|abbr=off}},) remains London's tallest building. In 2014, the {{convert|225|m|ft|abbr=off}} 122 Leadenhall Street, nicknamed "the Cheesegrater", was completed in the City of London. In September 2016 a refit was completed of the 1970s 111&nbsp;m King's Reach Tower, with an 11-storey height increase to bring it up to {{convert|150|m|ft|abbr=off}}; it was renamed the [[South Bank Tower]]. One Blackfriars, also on the South Bank, topped out in 2017 at {{convert|163|m|ft|abbr=off}}. [[The Scalpel]], at {{convert|190|m|ft|abbr=off}} was completed in the City of London in 2018; it was designed to protect views of St Paul's Cathedral. [[Newfoundland Quay]], at {{convert|220|m|ft|abbr=off}} and [[Landmark Pinnacle]] at {{convert|233|m|ft|abbr=off}} topped out in Canary Wharf in 2018 and 2019 respectively. [[One Park Drive]] at {{convert|205|m|ft|abbr=off}} and [[South Quay Plaza]] at {{convert|215|m|ft|abbr=off}} both topped out at Canary Wharf in 2019. [[22 Bishopsgate]], at {{convert|278|m|ft|abbr=off}} topped out in the City of London in 2019, after being approved by the current mayor of London, [[Sadiq Khan]], in 2016.

[[1 Undershaft]], at {{convert|290|m|ft|abbr=off}}, approved by Sadiq Khan in 2016, is planned to form the centrepiece of the City of London's skyscraper cluster. It is the tallest skyscraper currently proposed for London and will only be exceeded in height by The Shard. It will be built on the site of the aforementioned 1969 St Helen's building which will be demolished. [[100 Leadenhall]], at {{convert|249|m|ft|abbr=off}}, and already nicknamed the "Cheesegrater 2", is planned for the City of London. [[Spire London]], at {{convert|235|m|ft|abbr=off}} is planned for Canary Wharf. However, construction was halted after concerns that the building only had one escape stairwell for residents on the upper floors. The tallest of the two [[Riverside South (Canary Wharf)|Riverside South]] towers that have been planned for construction at Canary Wharf since 2008 would have exceeded that cluster's tallest building, One Canada Square, by 1 metre in height, but construction has been stalled since 2011. Construction has started on the {{convert|216|m|ft|abbr=off}} tall [[Alpha Square|Consort Place]] (previously called Alpha Square) at Canary Wharf.

Another major skyscraper cluster has emerged in the Vauxhall and [[Nine Elms]] districts south of the river Thames. The first to appear here was the 2014 [[St George Wharf Tower]] at {{convert|181|m|ft|abbr=off}}. The tallest tower planned for this cluster is the {{convert|200|m|ft|abbr=off}} [[One Nine Elms|One Nine Elms City Tower]].

In 2019, Sadiq Khan blocked the construction of the 290 metre tall [[Tulip (tower)|Tulip]] that would have been built in the City of London. However, the developers of the tower have appealed the decision.

== See also ==
* [[List of tallest buildings and structures in London]]
* [[List of demolished buildings and structures in London]]

== References ==
<references />

===Sources===
* Marianne Butler, ''London Architecture'', metropublications, 2006
* Billings, Henrietta, ''Brutalist London Map'', [[Blue crow media|Blue Crow Media]], 2015

== Further reading ==
* {{cite web |last1=Bevan |first1=Robert |title=How Mansion Blocks Filled London With Stacks of Flats |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-11-20/the-design-history-of-london-s-mansion-block-apartment-buildings |website=Bloomberg.com |language=en |date=20 November 2023}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* [http://archiseek.com/category/buildings/england/london-uk-buildings/ Architecture of London] From Archiseek.com
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161002021609/http://www.desarch.co.uk/projects/ Architecture of London Projects] from Design Architecture Limited
* [https://bluecrowmedia.com/products/brutalist-london-map/ Brutalist Architecture in London] from [[Blue crow media]]
* [https://bluecrowmedia.com/collections/architecture-maps/products/art-deco-london-map/ Art Deco Architecture in London] from [[Blue crow media]]

{{Architecture of England}}
{{London landmarks}}

[[Category:Architecture of London| ]]
[[Category:Architecture in the United Kingdom by city|London]]
[[Category:History of the built environment of London]]