Cambridge 2000: Brooklands Avenue: nuclear bunker
Description: Brooklands Avenue: nuclear bunker |
Date built: 1950s-1960s |
This is located at the southwest corner of the old
government office site.
It is totally brutalist, in keeping with much of the architecture of the
time. Here this style at least had an excuse, given the function of
the building.
The bunker was built in two phases, the first in 1953 and the building
in the photo in 1964. The first phase was built for the Civil Defence
Corps as a headquarters for the eastern region in the event of a war.
The second phase was built to provide some protection against nuclear
fall-out. The bunker was used during the first Gulf War in 1992 as a
communications centre.
The bunker was supposed to be demolished as part of the re-development
of the site, but English Heritage listed it in 2003. Planning permission
was subsequently given to use it as a document store.
Other photographs within 200 m: