The Concrete Palace: 60 Years of the National Recreation Centre

The Sports Hall at the National Recreation Centre. Image from RIBApix

The National Recreation Centre in Crystal Palace Park was officially opened on 13th July 1964 by the Duke of Edinburgh (who had his arm in a sling due to a polo accident). The decade earlier, Crystal Palace Park was derelict. It had formerly been the home of Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace, first erected at Hyde Park for the 1851 Great Exhibition, then moved south in 1854, where it stood until it caught fire and collapsed in November 1936. Sir Gerald Barry, who had just overseen the 1951 Festival of Britain, was given the task of coming up with a use for the area. At first an exhibition centre was proposed to fill the site, before the counter idea of a National Sports Centre won out. ​

The burnt out ruins of Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace. Image from RIBApix.

The plan for the centre was developed by Leslie Martin (another Festival of Britain alumni), before London County Council chief architect Hubert Bennett took over in 1957, with Norman Engleback and E.R. Hayes acting as project leaders. Their plan for the site included an athletics stadium, a sports centre with swimming pools, squash courts and a boxing arena, with the possibility of an exhibition centre left open. The plan also included housing and social facilities for athletes, including an eleven storey hexagonal, timber covered tower block and two triangular buildings containing a dining hall and a recreation space. There are also a group of split pitched staff houses, built in dark brick and timber cladding.

A model of the National Recreation Centre. Image from CPSP.

A cross section of the Sports Hall. Image from RIBApix.

The sports centre is the most prominent building, with its central concrete A-frame, fully glazed upper level and large ventilation tower. The building is entered on the upper floor by a walkway which sits above the grounds. Inside, a forest of angled concrete columns support the roof, and form a spine down the centre of the building. This support allows the interior sport areas to be column free, and divides the centre into two halves, a wet area with the pools and a dry area with indoor courts. The ceiling is lined with folded teak, softening the brut of the support structure. The concrete theme is repeated in the pool area with a reinforced concrete diving platform at the north end. The building covers 1.75 acres and has its facilities spread over three floors. 

The main hall with angled concrete columns to support the roof. Image from RIBApix.

The diving board for the main pool. Image from RIBApix.

The stadium was designed to seat 12,000 spectators in a sickle- shaped seating formation, partially covered with a roof. A new stand with a cantilevered roof, named the Jubilee Stand, was added opposite this in 1977. The grounds also originally included a motor racing circuit, tennis courts, netball pitches and areas for practicing hammer throwing and javelin.

The stadium and its stand with a cantilevered roof. Image from RIBApix.

One of the staff houses with a split pitched roof. Image from RIBApix.

Apart from the sports complex there are other parts of the ground worth seeking out. These include the mini-monolithic seating area (aka Stonepenge), which also is home to a giant bust of Joseph Paxton by W.F. Woodington (1869). Nearby in the grounds is a corten steel bandstand, designed by Ian Ritchie in 1997 and nominated for the RIBA Stirling Prize, part of the Crystal Palace Bowl, which has played host to Pink Floyd, Bob Marley and The Beach Boys. For the more wild at heart there is the Guy the Gorilla sculpture by David Wynne (1961) or the dinosaurs (1855) by B.W. Hawkins, both near the lakes. 

Construction of the Crystal Palace Bowl bandstand, Image from Crystal Palace Bowl.

With the abolition of the Greater London Council in 1986, the ownership of the park was passed to Bromley Council. Despite the sports centre being listed in 1997,  over the next 30 years the centre and its ground were underfunded and became run down. A number of proposals were made to redevelop the area, but these were fought off, with both Crystal Palace FC and Chinese consortium, looking to either rebuild or demolish the stadium. But in 2023 London Mayor Sadiq Khan approved a £10 million plan to repair and upgrade the venue. 

The National Recreation Centre is one of many modernist marvels featured in Modernism Beyond Metro-Land, our new guidebook covering the southern and eastern suburbs. Follow the link to sign up for your copy HERE