LONDON, July 19 (Xinhua) -- A 1980s supermarket in London Friday became the first in England to be officially recognised for its historic and architectural value.

The Sainsbury's supermarket on Camden Road, London joins famous buildings such as Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London as buildings granted listed status by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. (DCMS)

Cultural watchdogs, Historic England (HE), recommended that the supermarket should be a Grade 2 listed building.

It is the first purpose-built supermarket to be added to the National Heritage List for England, the constantly evolving record of the country's most historic and architecturally important places, said HE.

The store is part of the Grand Union Complex built in London in the late 1980s to designs by acclaimed architectural practice Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners. The scheme was commissioned by Sainsbury's to transform a former industrial site in the heart of Camden Town. The development includes a terrace of houses facing the canal which has also been listed at Grade II.

Supermarkets only came into being in the post-war era, and are an important building type which developed at this time; however most are purely functional and architecturally uninspiring. Very few will ever meet the criteria for listing, said HE.

It said: "Both buildings are excellent examples of High Tech architecture, a style which borrows from the worlds of engineering and construction and emerged as a branch of Modernism in the late 1960s".

Minister for Heritage, Rebecca Pow, said: "The National Heritage List is a wonderfully eclectic group of some of the most historically important and interesting buildings around the UK. The Sainsbury's supermarket being listed today is a fine example of architects and their clients working closely with local authorities to create developments which are both functional and appropriate for their surroundings and is a worthy addition to the list." Enditem

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