The Festival of Britain was a government-sponsored nationwide exhibition celebrating and promoting Britain’s excellence in design, technology, industry, architecture, science and the arts. Read more
Posts filed in: Post-War Architecture
The Story of Welwyn Garden City
Residents first moved in to Welwyn Garden City in December 1920. Here we look at its story from founding to the present day.Read more
How to Recreate an Archive Photograph
Carrie Marks, Imaging Technician Trainee for our John Laing Breaking New Ground project, decided to re-shoot some of the old photographs in the collection to highlight how the buildings have changed (or not) over time.Read more
Fun in the Sun: 20 Amazing Archive Images of Post-war Britain
Breaking New Ground is a pioneering 21-month project to digitise 10,000 images from the John Laing Photographic Collection.Read more
A Brief Introduction to Gasholders
Gasworks once brought light and warmth to homes across England. Hundreds of their most prominent landmarks – gasholders – are now being demolished and lost from the landscape forever. Read more
Ramsgate’s Historic Past in 10 Images
From quiet fishing village to prosperous port and popular seaside resort, here are some of Ramsgate’s architectural highlights.Read more
The Modernist Buildings of Ove Arup
Ove Nyquist Arup is considered to be one of the most important structural engineers of the 20th century. Here’s our guide to his most significant buildings.Read more
County Durham’s Historic Past in 10 Sites
County Durham, situated on the north-east coast, is bursting with stories from its historic past.Read more
Elsecar’s Historic Past in 10 Images
Elsecar is an industrial village in South Yorkshire to the south of Barnsley. The village, its heritage centre and the surrounding landscape has been one of Historic England’s Heritage Action Zones since 2017. Read more
Small Projects, Big Impact: How John Laing Influenced Our Everyday
The John Laing construction company are most famous for their landmark post-war projects such as Coventry Cathedral, the M1 motorway and Berkley Nuclear Power Station.Read more