Modern architecture

Architecture on British stamps

Britain's skyline is slowly but surely transforming thanks to a number of spectacular new architectural feats, which adorn our landscape. These new and brave buildings offer innovative and dramatic ways of bending materials to suit our purposes. As works of art, it is fitting that Royal Mail has dedicated this latest issue to some of them.

Previous stamp issues

Previous stamp issues that specifically featured modern architecture were British architects in Europe in 1987, and British Architecture back in 1971. The former featured designs by Richard Rogers who was responsible for the famous Pompidou Museum in Paris, and also the designs of Norman Foster, Designer of the Willis Faber and Dumas building in Ipswich.
Another Foster project was London's Millennium Bridge, which was featured in the Bridges of London issue in 2002. Other London projects that have been featured are the Tate Modern Life in the Life and Earth Issue of April 2000, and the Millennium Bridge in Gateshead, which was featured in the People and Places issue of June 2000.

1st Class – 30 St Mary Axe, London

Completed in 2004, this unique building won the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize in the same year for its design. Crafted in a highly distinctive cone-like shape to reduce wind turbulence, 30 St Mary Axe is at the heart of the City of London, and is one of many modern buildings bringing in a new era of architecture for the nation's capital. The Londoners call this building The Gherkin.

42p – Maggie's Centre, Dundee

Maggie Keswick Jencks, who died of breast cancer in 1995, pioneered the setting up of small cancer caring centers in the UK. The idea behind these centers is that your immediate environment affects your well being. Built on the grounds of Ninewells NHS hospital this is the third Maggie's Center to be built from a list of 10 commissioned from leading-edge architects. Frank Ghery, most famous for the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, waived his fee as he was a close friend of Maggie Jencks.

44p – Selfridges, Birmingham

Designed by innovative architects Future Systems, Selfridges in Birmingham is an original building that introduces a new wave of architecture into Birmingham, the UK's second city. The iconic landmark is clad with over 15,000 spun aluminum discs on a background of Yves Klein Blue, named after the cobalt used by the late French artist in his "blue period" paintings in the 1950s.

50p – Downland Gridshell, Chichester

The Downland Gridshell is an innovative modern timber gridshell structure intended to become the national centre for the conservation and study of traditional timber-frame buildings. It is one of a very small number of gridshell structures in Britain, and its design and method of construction are completely unique. The building won the RIBA Regional Architecture Award for 2002 and was runner-up for the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2003.

64p – An Turas, Isle of Tiree

Opened in 2003, the controversial An Turas Ferry Shelter was commissioned by Tiree Arts Enterprise and sponsored by the Scottish Arts Council. The shelter itself takes the form of a tunnel and has been described both as an "outstanding example of architecture" and "generally useless". It has won both the Royal Institution of British Architects Award and the Royal Scottish Academy Gold Medal for Architecture in 2003.

72p – The Deep, Hull

The £45.5 million Millennium Commission lottery scheme is one of the Terry Farrell and Partners' landmark projects. It comprises two buildings; the visitor attraction, which also comprises the Total Environment Simulator and the University of Hull's research facility, and also the Business Centre. The Deep has been an instant success with over one million visitors in just 14 months, has spearheaded regeneration in the area and has put Hull on the map.

Stamps in detail

Issue: Great Britain, 20 June 2006
Design: Roundel
Stamp size: 35mm x 35mm
Printer: Walsall Security Printers
Print process: Gravure
Perforations: 14.5 x 14.5

More information

Stamps United Kingdom
National Portrait Gallery
Queen Elizabeth's 80th birthday
Brunel
Postage Stamps 2006