High & mighty

EVERY day people walk by them, barely glancing up at their surprising elegance. But new office blocks and other buildings have changed the face of Poole and Bournemouth.

Some say they have added style and richness to the architecture of the county. Others are less sure.

Love them or hate them, now many developments of the past few years have been pictured and praised in a new book, Dorset's Most Beautiful Buildings.

It features the photographs of Wimborne-born Roger Holman together with historical background and descriptions of the buildings by Bill Hoade, who has studied the county's architecture for the past 30 years.

Dorset may not be among the largest or most populous counties of England but the passing centuries have left a remarkable legacy for the present.

Dorset was in the front rank of prehistoric hill forts and, even today, visitors delight in strolls across Badbury Rings, Maiden Castle, Hambledon Hill and such sites.

Since then the passing centuries have added to the charm of the county's gentle countryside with the building of striking castles such as Corfe and fine manor houses.

Dorset may not boast a cathedral but the countryside is speckled with fine churches in countless villages, as well as magnificent gems such as Sherborne Abbey, Christchurch Priory and Wimborne Minster.

Holman's camera has focused on more than 120 aspects of Dorset's buildings from the medieval to the modern.

The ecclesiastical masterpiece of Wimborne Minster and the striking Constable's House at Christchurch mark some of the earliest examples that have survived.

Sherborne's almshouses, the 17th century riding house at Wimborne St Giles, the Georgian faade of Creech Grange and Court Cottage at Pamphill all capture the eye of the photographer and historian, as well as stylish Chettle House, strange Horton Tower, the Old Greyhound Inn at Blandford and many more important edifices.

Few would argue about the attraction of places like Forde Abbey or Athelhampton but the modern examples of beautiful buildings are more likely to stimulate debate.

Holman includes, for example, San Remo Towers flats, the interesting Italianate block of flats in Boscombe built in the 1930s.

It "would be more at home in Los Angeles or some other American city yet here it is in Dorset," writes architecture expert Bill Hoade.

Bournemouth's Abbey Life building of 1976 "resembles the bridge of an ocean liner" and the McCarthy and Stone building, designed in 1987 and looking like a 1930s radio, is "another masterpiece".

The book features the reflecting glass Merck building in Poole as well as Barclays House, dominating Poole with its appearance of a medieval castle and designed as an enormous letter "B".

Two developments, too recent to feature in the book, are already arousing applause.

The Portman Building Society's new headquarters in Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, is certainly striking and the glass cube Study Gallery next to Poole College is being hailed a triumph.

Modern architecture, by definition, however, is at the cutting edge of taste.

Prince Charles has described one example in London (the Lloyds Building) as "a monstrous carbuncle" and few can admire the structures that form the huge retail parks at the gateways to every town and city in the country.

Holgate and Hoade's new book also turns the admiring lens on the curious Zurich office block at the top of Richmond Hill, Bournemouth.

They describe it as "an alien craft that has landed amongst us, lost contact with its mother ship and sits quietly awaiting rescue."

I like the design ... but others may feel that those words could apply equally well to modern architecture as a whole.

* What Dorset and New Forest buildings do you love or hate? Send your replies to Ed Perkins, Daily Echo, Bournemouth, BH2 6HH. Or e-mail: ed.perkins@ bournemouthecho.co.uk

* Dorset's Beautiful Buildings by Roger Holman and Bill Hoade, Dorset Books £19.95

ED PERKINS