Buildings to suit odd spaces

Got an awkward gap to fill on your layout? Fancy building something a bit different? George Dent offers some prototype inspiration.

Got an awkward gap to fill on your layout? George Dent offers some prototype inspiration.

One of the great things about our hobby is the facility to indulge plenty of other interests, aside from the trains themselves. Architecture has long been a fascination of mine and, accordingly, creating model buildings can be a real pleasure. Often, unless we’re modelling a flat, modernist urban utopia, with streets set out in a right-angled grid – or ‘block’ – pattern, we’re likely to need a few structures that fit into less orthodox spaces. This is a facet of the real world as much as it is the domain of the space-conscious modeller. In the UK, most villages, towns and cities have developed organically over centuries. Without resorting to mass clearances and reorganisation, such conurbations involve road, rail and waterway routes radiating outwards in uneven patterns, depending on the local topography, with the built environment having to fit in between. Land values have long been at a premium, so space is seldom wasted, especially in urban zones. Accordingly, there is a long-standing precedent for designing buildings to sit within unusual and cramped ‘footprints’. As layout builders, we’re also often left with an awkward corner to fill, or a need to squeeze a structure into a tight space. Here, we present a selection of inspirational images, revealing that there is, indeed, a prototype for everything!