Culture secretary Matt Hancock has today listed 17 of the country’s finest post-modern buildings from the late 1970s to the 1990s.

Most have been awarded grade II protection, but two have received the highest honour, shared with only 2.5% of the UK’s listed buildings: the National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing and Charles Jencks’ Thematic House in Holland Park.

The announcement puts Venturi, Rauch & Scott Brown’s annexe on level pegging with the main National Gallery building which dates from 1832.

Historic England, whose research and recommendations paved the way for the mass listings, said the honour was in recognition of the exceptional design and the fact that the building is regarded as a career highlight of the founders of post-modernism.