A showcase of Britain’s most architecturally significant sports and leisure buildings from the twentieth century and beyond. 100 20th Century Sports and Leisure Buildings provides a fascinating insight into the spaces where we play: from swimming pools and skate parks to ice rinks and cricket pavilions.

These structures are not only a deeply evocative part of our shared social heritage but also some of the most architecturally innovative constructions of the past century – as seen here in buildings by architects including Edwin Lutyens, Walter Tapper, John Burnet, and Zaha Hadid.

The twentieth century saw a rapid expansion in public facilities for sports and leisure as workers gained the right to paid holidays, leading to a boom in the construction of municipal lidos, pools, and sports grounds. Later in the century, leisure centres combined facilities for a wide range of sports with an emphasis on family entertainment, merging environmentally controlled environments with impressive engineering and playful pop imagery.

Space-age geodesic domes, diamond-glazed pyramids, castellated forts, brutalist elephants, and Moorish postmodern palaces are just a few highlights of this unique genre showcased here.

Expert essays on specific building types, including Alan Powers on lidos and Simon Inglis on sports stadiums, provide further context for these spaces. Also included is an introduction with a strong campaigning message – with the reduction of local authority budgets forcing the closure of many centres and pools, this is a timely exploration that documents a vital part of our cultural heritage.

Pages: 256, Year of Publication: 0605, Dimensions: 22x22cm