Lunar House, Wellesley Road

Image: © Stephen Richards Taken: 31 Jul 2011

A formidable brute of a building, broadly T-shaped with a lower, hexagonal projection. I have a sneaking admiration for its uncompromising formidability, but by no means could this be considered beautiful. Perhaps that is the point, it's meant to oppress, for this is the place to which those aspiring to be British citizens have for many years come to jump through the requisite hoops. Some may have turned tail at their first sight of it. The UK Border Agency has its headquarters here. It was built 1967-70 to the designs of Denis Crump & Partners. A sister building, Apollo House, lies on the other side of Sydenham Road (Image]). 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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