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‘The most Corbusier building in Britain’ listed
Source: Architectural Press Archive / RIBA Collections
Saltash Library, completed in 1963 and designed by Royston Summers of Cornwall County Architects’ Department, has been handed a Grade II listing
In an article in the AJ in 1987, Summers (1931-2012) described the library, which is still in use today, as ‘the most Corbusier building in Britain’.
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According to Historic England, the textured concrete structure is ‘a striking and well-articulated example of post-war library design’, drawing reference from famous Modernist architect Le Corbusier’s Palace of Justice at Chandigarh, which began construction in 1951.
Saltash library was one of a series of five new branch libraries to be built by the council in the 1960s. The others were at St Austell, Newquay, Torpoint, and Helston. All of them were designed by the County Architects’ Department under FK Hicklin, who recruited newly-qualified architect