Last chance to see…

Alan Clawley believes that if buildings have lives they can also have obituaries written about them when they die.

The landmark former CEGB buildings on the corner of Haslucks Green Road and Stratford Road in Shirley will soon be gone.

The landmark former CEGB buildings on the corner of Haslucks Green Road and Stratford Road in Shirley will soon be gone.

The landmark former CEGB buildings on the corner of Haslucks Green Road and Stratford Road in Shirley will soon be gone.

Steve Beauchampé tells me that demolition is expected to start this week. The suite of buildings set in landscaped grounds was designed by John Madin to house the Midlands Region of the publicly-owned Central Electricity Generating Board.

Google Earth imageWhen the building was opened in 1967 it was judged good enough to win a Civic Trust Award.

Its owner the CEGB then proceeded to mutilate the elegant main block by adding two huge ventilating ducts on the outside. The entire suite of buildings has been empty since the CEGB abandoned it many years ago. The weather and vandalism have taken their obvious toll and the planners and ASDA will soon carry out the final sentence.