The Royal College of Physicians’ building is located, believe it or not, on the outskirts of what used to be prime medieval hunting ground. Regent’s Park has been Crown Estate property since the reign of Henry VIII, who confiscated the land from Barking Abbey during the dissolution of the monasteries. It was an ‘invigorating ride from Whitehall Palace’, and Henry used the land to hunt deer.
Regent’s Park only acquired its smart Regency appearance at the beginning of the 19th century, when the Prince Regent (later King George IV), commissioned architect John Nash to create a master plan of palaces, villas and grand terraces.
The site, now rented from the Crown Estate by the RCP, once belonged to a grand Nash building, Someries House. Severely bomb damaged during the Second World War, this building was demolished, and RCP architect Denys Lasdun embraced the challenge of designing a modern building in its place, that would also harmonise with the surrounding Nash terraces – a strict condition stipulated by the Crown Estate.
Lasdun’s masterpiece is predominantly made of concrete, poured on site into wooden moulds. Steel within the concrete was tightened once the concrete had set and before the moulds were removed, to maximise its strength and help support Lasdun’s large rooms. The rough concrete was then clad in either mosaic tiles and engineering bricks, or left exposed.
A range of old and new building crafts were used, from carpentry for the hardwood doors to stone carving for the curved marble inner handrails of the main staircase. Specialist craft workers and materials of the highest quality were used, from 37 individually designed bricks and porcelain mosaic tiles specially commissioned from Candiolo, near Turin, to white Sicilian marble from Tuscany and the largest panes of glass that could be manufactured at the time.
The contrasting materials used by Lasdun for the RCP building cleverly indicate the functions of different areas of the building, and at the same time help it blend with Nash’s terraces in St Andrews Place. The everyday, functional parts of the building are clad in dark blue engineering bricks, echoing Nash’s slate roofs. The historical and ceremonial areas are covered in off-white porcelain mosaic tiles, matching the original stucco colour of Nash’s terraces.
Construction work began in September 1961, and the physicians finally moved in just before the royal opening on 5 November 1964, attended by the Queen. The building was instantly recognised as a pinnacle of modernist design, which used cutting-edge engineering techniques and the finest quality craftsmanship. Having received Grade I listed status in 1998, the building looks much the same today as it did when it opened in 1964, although you may spot some differences in this photograph of the reception area.
On 29 January 2015 we are celebrating the best of 1960s modernist design, and the final weeks of our exhibition, The anatomy of a building, with a special late night opening of the building, Lasdun Late. There’ll be live music and expert talks, but no deer hunting. Get your tickets now because places are limited!
Sarah Backhouse, exhibition coordinator
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