Ryland House, Charles Road (2)

Image: © Stephen Richards Taken: Unknown

Built for the Post Office and now British Telecom offices - at one point it housed the telephone exchange (and possibly it still does). In a quasi-Brutalist style with its extensive use of concrete. A plaque outside records its unveiling by Sir William Ryland, Chairman of the Post Office, 7th May 1974. Reputedly it is built on rafts to counteract the dampness of the underlying ground. The architects were Lister Drew & Associates in conjunction with the Property Services Agency. Between the 1950s and the 1970s Croydon experienced a burst of commercial development unparalleled anywhere else in the country. The impetus was provided by the Croydon Corporation Act of 1956 which gave Croydon Council powers to develop land in the borough. A combination of improved roads, government incentives to relocate from, and Croydon's proximity to, central London, and lower rents attracted employers in their droves. By 1970 about six million square feet of office space had been provided in central Croydon. Development has continued since, but at a much slower rate. From a distance the skyline is impressive (the nearest this country comes to Manhattan), but the problem is that few of the buildings are of architectural merit.

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