Apollo Pavilion — Attraction in Peterlee

I'm a native of Peterlee. This is fact based not an aggressive statement. This location has always been a magnet for local drugtakers, vandals and graffiti.

The Pavillion has been an eyesore since its inception and had - at various times - been considered for demolition, due to problems caused to surrounding households, but money talks and a small minority (From outside the area) somehow managed to sway the decision .... elevating it to Grade 2 Listed status. Doubtless because it would cost far more to remove this eyesore than con art-house idiots into publicising it as a work of art. The shallow pond has forever been a dumping ground for rubbish and stray shopping trollies, as well as stray needles dumped by drug abusers.

It once had a well finished outer skin of concrete, but decades of graffiti removal have left it's appearance extremely scruffy and pock-marked. Brutalist? Claptrap!

Passmor may well have designed the Pavillion (It was never known by locals as The Apollo Pavillion) and much if the surrounding new town based upon flat roofed, timber clad Mediterranean housing styles, built using sub-standard porous bricks (For pity sake!?!?!?!!!!), but it's known that most aspects of Peterlee were gerry-built, with financial backhanders filling the pockets of local planning officials. FACT

By all means visit, but Castle Eden Dene and the East Durham Coast are far more worthy of support than the boil on Peterlee's hind-end .... The Pavillion.

Peterlee and surrounding area are flatlining, primarily due to the lack of political and financial interest. The people...

Victor Passmore's Apollo Pavilion is an odd and bleak place surrounded by an odd town, Peterlee. Standing near or on the Apollo Pavilion is an amazing experience, You feel like you've visited an alternative world or at least a time back in the 80s when such structures were common place. Surrounded by Peterlee, The town only adds to the feeling and experience you get by visiting this monument.

Peterlee was built together alongside Apollo Pavilion and the buildings surrounding the monument were laid out by the artist. They originally had flat roofs which complement the brutalist design of the Pavilion, However now most have been converted to have a slope.

Apollo Pavilion and Brutalism might not be considered nice looking but for me its a place I'd recommend, Not all experiences...

We visited Passmore's Apollo Pavillion and after asking directions finally found it, tucked away in Peterlee's Sunny Blunts estate. We parked by the children's play area (free) and it was a short walk to see the pavillion and pond. If you're not moved by late 20th century Brutalist architecture, do not come. We loved it. It's a unique tribute to Victor Passmore and his influence on the building of this area of the new town. There is a pond with a lot of plants (not in the original vision) and we saw ducks and moor hens there. It's Grade 2 listed, so hopefully it will stiĺl be there for others to appreciate for...