The Apollo Pavilion, Peterlee, featured in ITV TV show Vera

The Apollo Pavilion, also known as the Pasmore Pavilion, stands on the Sunny Blunts estate in Peterlee and is one of the North East’s most distinctive examples of public art and architecture.

Designed by British artist and architect Victor Pasmore, the concrete structure was completed in 1969 as part of the wider vision for Peterlee new town.

Apollo Pavilion (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)

Although it was once controversial and became the focus of local complaints, the pavilion is now a Grade II*-listed structure and remains one of Peterlee’s best-known landmarks.

It also featured prominently in one episode of Vera, starring Brenda Blethyn as DCI Vera Stanhope.

The pavilion appeared in the Season 12 episode Against the Tide, which aired in January 2023, serving as the backdrop to a family home in the drama.

Its appearance amused some local viewers, who spotted what they saw as a classic television geography flaw, with characters shown living beside the pavilion in Peterlee but travelling to Morpeth to do their shopping.

The Apollo Pavilion’s history stretches back to the post-war development of Peterlee.

In 1955, Victor Pasmore was appointed consulting director of architectural design for the Peterlee Development Corporation.

ITV Vera (Image: PA MEDIA)

He chose to design part of the town around a central abstract artwork and pavilion, eventually naming it the Apollo Pavilion in reference to the optimism of the Apollo Space Program.

The structure was completed in the same year as the Moon landing.

Pasmore described the work as “an architecture and sculpture of purely abstract form through which to walk, in which to linger and on which to play.”

He also called it “a free and anonymous monument” which could lift the activity of an urban housing community “on to a universal plane.”

But the pavilion was not universally welcomed or liked.

From the beginning, it attracted criticism from some residents and became the subject of complaints.

When the Peterlee Development Corporation was disbanded, responsibility for maintenance became a problem.

Over time, the concrete began to grey and decay, and the pavilion became increasingly neglected.

Despite the criticism, the Apollo Pavilion gained supporters among artists, heritage campaigners and cultural figures.

A friends group was formed, and by the mid-2000s there were fresh proposals to restore the structure.

In 2009, the pavilion was officially unveiled again after a £400,000 restoration project.

In December 2011, English Heritage granted the Apollo Pavilion Grade II* listed status, recognising its national architectural and historic importance.

Today, the structure remains one of the UK’s rare examples of a large-scale experiment in bringing together abstract art and architecture.