Dish domes

Having course to sit in what used to be the general purpose concourse and waiting area at Epsom Hospital the other day, it struck me that in the middle of the last century, there must have been an architect - or an architects' practise - in the area who was keen on shallow concrete domes.

So you had this one at the hospital. The newish Catholic church, Our Lady of Lourdes, along Hampton Court Way, where we once attended a concert given by the Ripieno Choir (reference 1). The newish Anglican church on Howell Hill, where I once passed a full on funeral for a policeman who was killed on duty (reference 2). And then the large dome at Bourne Hall, not as visible as it might be, given the way that the ground floor has been broken up. 

Not a feature which one sees in modern buildings. Show-off atriums in monster office blocks in the City yes, domes no. In part, I suppose, because domes need to have access to the sky to work properly, which is rather greedy of space.

While the hospital also sported a marble floor, a poor relation of that to be found at Buckfast Abbey, last visited last October and noticed at reference 3. Perhaps the architect in question was a church man, trained up on churches and church work.

PS 1: something of a frost this morning. So what with very variable temperatures and the recent lack of rain, gardeners must be having a bad time of it.

PS 2: while on the up side, we can look forward to Mr. Johnson and his (soon to be?) wife, after their retirement from politics, going in for the sort of celebrity refurbishment programmes you can watch in the small hours on obscure channels on television, when you can't sleep for one reason or another. I think it might be just the right niche for them. Or next best, join the team at 'House Doctor'.

Reference 1: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2017/06/lourdes.html.

Reference 2: https://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.com/2010/06/addictions.html.

Reference 3: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/10/buckfast.html.