Faraday Memorial

This stainless steel box contains an electrical substation serving London Underground's Northern and Bakerloo lines. It was originally intended to be entirely glazed, so as to reveal the inner workings of the transformer. Rodney Gordon, who graduated from the Architecturla Association in 1957, designed it in 1959 whilst working for the London County Council. He went on to work for Owen Luder and was the project architect for the Tricorn Centre in Plymouth and the infamous 'Get Carter' car park in Gateshead. Several changes were made to his scheme as it was constructed, said to have weakened the intent of the overall design. The rectangular plan has external steel structural columns. This was an early use of stainless steel as a cladding material in Britain and the building has been said to foreshadow the British high-tech movement.