Arts Minister Alan Howarth has announced a one month public consultation on English Heritage's recommendation to list two distinctive modern buildings, Christ's Hospital Theatre in Horsham, Sussex and the Rotunda in Birmingham.

The Rotunda, in Birmingham’s New Street is proposed for Grade II listing. The building, designed by James Roberts between1964 and 1965, consists of a podium topped with a central cylinder. Wrapped around the central drum is a 'cement fondu' mural by the local artist John Poole who also worked at Coventry Cathedral, St Paul's and Brentwood Cathedral.

Christ's Hospital Theatre is considered to be one of the most influential modern theatres in Britain. It was built in 1972-4 to the design of Bill Howell of HKPA (Howell, Killick, Partridge and Amis), one of England's leading architecture firms of the 1960s and 1970s. Amongst Bill Howell's other commissions was the design of the Young Vic Theatre in Lambeth, and the re-design of the open air theatre in Regent's Park.

Announcing the start of the consultation, Alan Howarth said today: "Our built heritage includes more than just buildings from centuries past. It is the most influential and forward looking pieces of our modern architecture that we should also look to preserve. The best of our modern architecture merits the recognition and protection that listing brings. English Heritage has recommended that these buildings deserve protected status. Now the public can have their say, and I hope that individuals, amenity societies and local groups will come forward with their views."

Meanwhile in London, the proposal to demolish another famous (or infamous) building has run into opposition. The plan to replace the former GLC Island block, to the rear of County Hall on the South Bank of the Thames, with a 16-storey tower by architects Gensler faces strong opposition from the Twentieth Century Society. The three-storey, concrete building - owned by the developer Frogmore Estates – became notorious as an example of a poor office environment. The building’s automated solar blinds have never worked properly and staff complained of symptoms which would now be labelled sick building syndrome.

Richard Byatt