大象传媒

It's official! Leicester is now home to Britain's worst new building.

Opal Court on Lancaster Road Street has won the 2007 Carbuncle Cup for being the worst construction in the UK as awarded by Building Design magazine.

大象传媒 Leicester's Hasan Patel took to the streets of Leicesteshire to find out exactly what YOU thought about some of the buildings...

A local website for university students makes much of Opal Court's position and facilities.

"Opal Court," it says, "is well placed on the doorstep of the main campus of Leicester University and within walking distance of Leicester city centre.

On-site facilities include a launderette, a Subway and Sky TV in the common room."

But it is the appearance of the building that has earned the ire of Building Design magazine's readers.

It was the runaway leader in their online poll.

"It鈥檚 not the brashest, the biggest or even the ugliest building on this year鈥檚 shortlist, but it鈥檚 a textbook example of the insensitive development being allowed to creep across the country," opines the magazine.

"Where to start?" asks voter Liz Palmer in her critique.

"The tiny, token butterfly roof on the top of each core is pathetic, the colours are a grim, post-modern throwback, and in scale, language, materials, form and design, it鈥檚 a lesson in how to ignore context."

Mindless Monocultural Lumps

"It may be unfair to single it out as there are lots of Opal Courts all over the country, and it's a sad reflection on the planning system, and the lamentable standards it allows, that our towns and cities continue to be wrecked by such mindless, monocultural lumps," writes Amanda Baillieu in the magazine.

But does this building听 have any rivals in the city and county?

At least two other constructions spring to mind.

The Loughborough Wharf has come in for some stick locally.

This was built by British Waterways, in partnership with local company William Davis, around the wharf in Loughborough.

The development includes a restructured canal basin, new moorings as well as two new restaurants and 35 apartments.

The controversial 拢14 million project with its bright red and green colours, has been described as looking like it's made out of Lego blocks.

Local people have been split over the new development, with many arguing that the development ruins the traditional character of the area.

Charnwood Borough Council has defended the development of the Wharf saying it is a distinctive piece of modern architecture.

The widely loathed St. George's Tower in the city is undergoing an 拢18m revamp.

The former BT Tower is being converted into a "prestigious" (are there ever revamps which are not prestigious?) mixed-use scheme. We are told that this will bring both employment opportunities and city living apartments to the city.

Certainly, giving the massive block a covering of blue paint has got it talked about. But whether it made looking at the building any more of an aesthetic experience is open to question.

As a prime example of 1960s architecture it has its defenders.

For most, St. George's Tower is yet another architectural carbuncle.