A victory for Birmingham Council's redevelopment plans after a proposal from English Heritage that the City's central library in Chamberlain Square should be listed have been rejected. This was the 1974 building described by Prince Charles as looking like "a place where books are incinerated not kept… an ill-mannered essay in concrete ‘brutalism’ intended to shock…An insult to the grand civic buildings amongst which it squats.”
Culture Minister Margaret Hodge rejected the recommendation. Good for her. But how bonkers of English Heritage to make it in the first place. There are still concerns about the cost and appearance of the planned replacement however.