St Crispin's House, Park Lane

Image: © Stephen Richards Taken: 31 Jul 2011

By Richard Seifert & Partners, 1981-83, in the reflective glass so fashionable for a time. This was a relative late comer to the Croydon party. The refurbished office block was being marketed as 69 Park Lane. 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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