Southbank Centre finally gets protected status after decades of arguments about concrete

One of London’s most recognisable slabs of concrete has finally been given official protection, bringing an end to a campaign that’s dragged on longer than most people’s mortgages.

The Southbank Centre has been granted Grade II listed status, meaning the sprawling arts complex can no longer be significantly altered or demolished without strict oversight. For the building’s fans, and there are a lot of them, it’s a massive win after more than three decades of trying to get the place properly recognised.

The fight to protect the site has been rumbling since the early 90s, with heritage groups repeatedly pushing for the government to step in. The Twentieth Century Society and Historic England are said to have backed at least six separate attempts to secure listed status, only to be knocked back time and time again by culture secretaries who clearly weren’t sold on the charm of hulking Brutalist concrete.

This time, though, the tide has turned. The new listing covers the entire Southbank estate, not just individual buildings. That means the Hayward Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and the famously well-used skatepark undercroft are all now protected, alongside the maze of elevated walkways, terraces and staircases that stitch the whole thing together.

Originally opened in 1967, the Hayward Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room were designed by the London County Council’s in-house architects as part of Britain’s post-war cultural reboot. The trio deliberately went in the opposite direction to their smoother, more polished neighbour, the Royal Festival Hall, which leans into a lighter, Scandinavian-inspired look. The newer buildings instead embraced raw concrete, chunky angles and unapologetic Brutalist swagger, a design choice that split opinion from day one.

Love it or hate it, the complex has become a cornerstone of London’s arts scene. Sitting alongside heavy hitters like the National Theatre and BFI Southbank, it houses major performance spaces, galleries and the National Poetry Library, pulling in millions of visitors every year.

For campaigners, the listing isn’t just about saving a few concrete blocks, it’s about recognising a moment in British cultural history that reshaped how public arts spaces looked and worked. For everyone else, it means the Southbank Centre is sticking around exactly as it is, looming proudly over the Thames, ready to keep hosting gigs, exhibitions and the occasional heated argument about whether Brutalism is genius or aggressively grey.

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