'Brutal' Preston bus station is an unlikely calendar star

Preston Bus Station will be featured as the August photograph in the Brutalist Calendar 2022 by Of Cabbages and Kings - rubbing concrete with structures from across the world.

The limited edition monthly wall calendar aims to celebrate international influential examples of brutalist architecture, providing "connoisseurs of concrete with twelve months of brutalist bliss".

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council, which owns the bus station, said: "The bus station is an iconic Grade II-listed building which has been part of the fabric of the city for more than 50 years.

"Its' redevelopment three years ago saw it improved and updated for the 21st century, ensuring it remains one of Preston's most important and well known landmarks."

The station was built by Ove Arup and Partners in the Brutalist architectural style between 1968 and 1969, to a design by Keith Ingham and Charles Wilson of Building Design Partnership with E. H. Stazicker.

In the 2000s the building was threatened with demolition as part of the City Council's Tithebarn redevelopment project. After two unsuccessful attempts, it was granted Grade II listed building status in September 2013. It was then refurbished and officially re-opened in 2018.

The Twentieth Century Society have described it as "one of the most significant Brutalist buildings in the UK".

Other buildings and structures featured in the calendar include: Sheats-Goldstein House, Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts, Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports, The Battle of Sutjeska Memorial Monument in the Valley of Heroes, Roger Stevens Building University of Leeds, Studentenhaus und Mensa, Universitat des Saarlandes, Casa del Portuale and Car Park, Bourse du Travail, Conservatoire de Montreuil, Giardino delle Sculpture, Biennale di Venezia and Autosilo Balestra.

They have been captured by leading brutalist photographers including Jason Woods, Roberto Conte, Xiao Yang, Jan Kempenaers, Simon Phipps, Stefano Perego, Nigel Green and Alessandra Chemollo.

For more information on the calendar, visit: http:/www.ofcabbagesandkings.co.uk