John Bancroft | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1928-10-28)28 October 1928 Nottinghamshire |
| Died | 29 August 2011(2011-08-29) (aged 82) UK |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Practice | Greater London Council |
| Buildings | Pimlico School |
John Bancroft (28 October 1928 – 29 August 2011) was a Britisharchitect noted for hisBrutalist designs for theGreater London Council (GLC).
He joined the Architects’ Department of the GLC in 1957 and led the project to buildPimlico School from 1964 to 1970.[1] The building was demolished in 2010 byWestminster City Council.
Bancroft explained the design of the school in a 2008 interview: "I wanted pupils to feel they were part of a community... So I divided the place up into a form of glass screen so you would get views down from the level you were at into the other parts of the school. And also I wanted to make sure that you could from time to time glimpse the outside so that you would know where you were in the great surrounding community that Pimlico is, and the buildings surrounding it"[2]
His other school designs include the Elfrida Rathbone Girls' School in Camden and the Philippa Fawcett Teacher Training College in Streatham.
Bancroft was a staunch defender of the GLC's unpopular Brutalist landmarks. Though he did not design it,[3] he argued that theCounty Hall Island Block, vacant for 20 years, should have beenlisted as an early example ofopen plan office architecture[4] and expressed himself "quite horrified"[5] by the demolition of Pimlico School. Bancroft devoted much of his career to building conservation and was an active member of theTwentieth Century Society, theVictorian Society and a supporter of the charityDocomomo.
