Cultural South-Essex: I like the look of ADP’s proposed £27m Library and Learning Centre which is set to replace the dilapidated and generally grim Farringdon car park at Southend’s Elmer Square. The project is due to complete in August 2013 and will additionally provide a base for the Focal Point Gallery as well as housing a new café and a lecture theatre. The clean cut planes of the neatly set-out punched geometric forms coupled with the sparkling but neutral colours contrasts well with the run-down garishness of the amusement arcades and teenage-owned neon souped-up cars that parade along Southend’s run-down esplanade. A welcome addition to Southend’s seaside fabric and a point in the right direction of improving the town’s standing in the national conscience.