Basic Site Details

Name: Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre
City or county: London
Country: England
Parish:  
Status:  
Grid ref:
Notes: Cost £2.5m

'The LCC received 36 entries, including one from Ernö Goldfinger. The competition was won by architects Boissenvain & Osmond for the Willets Group; the LCC apparently were impressed most by the architectural conception for the site. They proposed a giant new type of building, a fully enclosed American style mall over three levels surmounted by an office block. It would be the first of its kind in Europe. The mall would be surrounded by generous landscaped piazzas for public use and include the provision of a new tube station entrance, public house and access from the existing railway station Willets claimed it to be the “largest and most ambitious shopping venture ever to be embarked upon in London. In design planning and vision it represents an entirely new approach to retailing, setting standards for the sixties that will revolutionise shopping concepts throughout Britain'

Building Type Classification

The building is classified under the following categories:
 ClassificationOriginal classification?Notes
Item 1 of 1Shopping centre  

Events

The following date-based events are associated with this building:
 FromToEvent typeNotes
Item 1 of 11965 Build/construction 

People

Design and Construction

The following individuals or organisations have carried out design/construction work. Where architects or practices worked together, matching letters appear beside their names in the Partnership Group column.
 NameRolePartnership GroupFromToNotes
Item 1 of 3Barbara Joan Osmond (Mrs Boissevain) A1965 Ist prize
Item 2 of 3Boissevain & Osmond A1965 Ist prize
Item 3 of 3Paul Boissevain A1965 Ist prize

Clients

The following individuals or organisations have commissioned work on this building/design:
 NameNotes
Item 1 of 1Willetts and Department of the Environment 

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this building:
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 2http://postwarbuildings.com http://postwarbuildings.com/buildings/elephant-and-castle-shopping-centre  Accessed 29/09/2013
Item 2 of 2RIBA1975RIBA Directory of practices