Willis is VERY Special

English Heritage has recently Listed as Grade I the Lloyd's Building in London. This is the striking building in Leadenhall Street/ Lime Street which has its lifts on the outside. At the time, a number of newspapers recognised the achievement by placing this distinction in context. It was surprising to see that the Listing of post-war buildings only began in 1987 and the Grade I list is still remarkably small- only nine in fact, of which Willis is one.

The Willis Building (originally Willis Faber) was a highly controversial addition to the Ipswich street scene in the early 1970s, as anything so new and different was bound to be. Today it seems to have been generally accepted - certainly by most Ipswich Society members who have enjoyed the occasional functions the Society has held there. But if we merely take it for granted now, that is to overlook its very special place in the architectural heritage of our country. So here is a reminder of this roll of honour of constructions officially considered by English Heritage to be "exceptionally important". Ipswich should be proud of ours,

• The Severn Bridge, 1961-66, by Freeman, Fox and Partners
• The Royal Festival Hall, London, 1949-51, by Sir Leslie Martin
• The Lovell Telescope, Jodrell Bank, Cheshire, 1957
• St Catherine's College, Oxford, 1960-62, by Arne Jacobsen
• Coventry Cathedral, 1956-62, by Sir Basil Spence
• The Royal College of Physicians, London, 1960-64, by Sir Denys Lasdun
• Kingsgate Bridge, Durham, 1966, by Arup Associates
• Willis Faber Building, Ipswich, 1972-75, by Norman Foster (Lord Foster)
• The Lloyd's Building, City of London, 1978-86, by Richard Rogers Partnership