Architect John Outram has welcomed the listing of his post-modern pumping station on the Isle of Dogs as a “happy birthday present” for his 83^rd birthday.

The building, still in use, has been listed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport at grade II* on the advice of heritage adviser Historic England.

It is the first building to be listed as part of HE’s post-modernism project assessing late 20^th century buildings that are beginning to “come of age”. Buildings must normally be older than 30 years to be considered for protection.

Catherine Croft, director of the Twentieth Century Society, described it as a “turning point” for post-modern architecture, several examples of which have already been destroyed or damaged.

She said: “This is not the first post-modern building to be listed, but it is the first of its genre to be listed purely on its own merits without the presence of a threat.

“In a way it represents the advent of the post-modern style into the architectural canon which is an exciting and important moment.”

The Storm Water Pumping Station was built between 1986-88 for Thames Water as part of the redevelopment of east London’s Docklands.

Outram nicknamed it the Temple of Storms and even the Prince of Wales called it “witty and amusing”.

Outram said: “The oldest architecture I ever visited was the painted caves of 20,000-year old Lascaux. Decoration is the origin and essence of architecture. It can mediate, in the theatre of a built room or a built city, the epiphany of a meaning.

“I was told, in 1955, at the beginning of my life as an architect, that my medium was both to be illiterate and devoid of metaphysical capacity.

“My work has been a rebellion. I refused to live in a city designed by proudly subliterate haptics whose ambition was to reduce it to mere ‘plant’. I aimed to invent that ‘meaning’ and confirm those epiphanic techniques.

“Thanks for this happy birthday present for my 83rd on June 21.”

Roger Bowdler, Historic England’s director of listing, said: “John Outram’s pumping station was one of the most exciting buildings of the 1980s. Outram exulted in the panache and exuberance of classicism, and gave this utterly functional structure an exterior which is unforgettable.”

Further post-modern listings would follow, he said.

But HE’s thematic review of post-modernism came too late for Outram’s Harp Heating HQ in Swanley, said Croft. It was demolished before HE could assess it despite efforts by the society to have it listed at grade II.

“The C20 Society remains concerned that buildings under 30 years old can generally only be considered for listing if they are both ‘outstanding’ and ‘at risk’ and that threat is often seen to mean demolition when less drastic alterations can be extremely damaging,” said Croft.