To say that Arlington House and its eighteen storey form dominates not just Margate’s sea front but the entire town would almost be an understatement. Back in 1964 when Arlington House was constructed on the north Kent coast I can’t imagine that Brutalism on this scale was welcomed with open arms. A blue plaque has recently appeared on the structure’s lower level acknowledging Robert Calvert, frontman of Hawkwind who lived here in the late 60s with his parents and siblings. Calvert wrote the lyrics to the hit single Silver Machine as well as the Hawkwind song, inspired by his time in Arlington House, High Rise in which the town’s concrete monolith was branded a “human zoo” and “suicide machine". The blue plaque credits Arlington House as being the “Birthplace of Space Rock” – how cool is that...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdTFeW8FCto
