Radar Training Station

917/0/10010 26-MAR-03

Radar Training Station

GV II

Radar Station. 1961-2 by Lancashire County Council Architect's Department under Roger Booth, designer and architect in charge Eric Morris Hart, Assistant County Architect, Clerk of Works Tom Dennis. It was built for the practical training of masters and crews of coastal craft in the latest radar technology. Reinforced concrete, flat roof. Simple single-storey, oval building set on pilotis above high tide level, with framed timber fenestration, and timber door reached from steps set off the promenade. Interior noted to have timber floors; the equipment does not form part of the listing.

An elegant modern design, this little building forms an attractive group with Decimus Burton's c.1840 lighthouse alongside, the two structures demonstrating the history of communications side by side. Sir Nikolaus Pevsner called it 'a cute little piece'. It was given a Civic Trust Commendation in 1965 as 'a modest yet dramatic little building.' Now operated by the Blackpool and The Fylde College, the building is a rare example of architecture and technology combining together to form a pleasurable as well as useful structure.

Sources Architects' Journal, 5 December 1962, p.1259 Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England, North Lancashire, 1969, p.121 Fleetwood Nautical College, A Fleetwood Celebration - the First Hundred Years 1892 to 1992, p.25.