Context which might be missing is that the buildings shown here are some grade of "listed buildings," where demolition prohibited under law for cultural or hist

Context which might be missing is that the buildings shown here are some grade of "listed buildings," where demolition prohibited under law for cultural or historical reasons. Whilst some of these examples are particularly ugly, it strikes an interesting balance between maintaining the historically important aspects of the building, whilst modernizing it (or at worst, preventing a safety risk). What's fascinating is when the aesthetics of the past don't align with the economics or building regulations today. Large windows and high-ceilings are both energy in-efficient and waste a lot of potential square-metreage.