| Carlisle Civic Centre | |
|---|---|
 Carlisle Civic Centre | |
| Location | Rickergate, Carlisle |
| Coordinates | 54°53′51″N2°56′05″W / 54.8975°N 2.9347°W |
| Built | 1964 |
| Built by | John Laing & Son |
| Architect | Charles B. Pearson and Partners |
| Architectural style(s) | Modernist style |
  Shown in Cumbria | |
Carlisle Civic Centre is a municipal building in the Rickergate, Carlisle, England. It was the headquarters of Carlisle City Council.
The civic centre was commissioned to replacing the aging Town Hall in the Market Place. [1] The new building, which was designed by Charles B. Pearson and Partners in the Modernist style and built by John Laing & Son at a cost of £820,000, was completed in March 1964. [2] The design involved a tower, 44 metres (144 ft) high, [3] as well as a separate two-storey octagonal building to accommodate the council chamber. [4] In 1965, a huge back-lit mural depicting local scenes, which had been painted by Trewin Copplestone, was hung in the council chamber. [5] The octagonal building, sometimes referred to as "the rotunda" was commended in the 1966 national Civic Trust Awards. [6]
Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, visited Carlisle Civic Centre in March 1978. [7]
George Ferguson, a former President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, caused controversy when he referred to the civic centre as a "soulless office block" in an article in the Sunday Times in October 2004. [8] The council undertook a consultation on options for developing the site in 2014; the consultation generated a strong response including a petition which demonstrated that there was considerable local opposition to any proposals which involved demolition of the building. [8] The civic centre was damaged when it was completely surrounded by water during the local flooding which badly affected Carlisle and its surrounding areas in December 2015. [9]
In May 2020, the council approved a scheme of works, to be undertaken by local contractor Story Construction, to refurbish the main building at a cost of £3.6 million; the scheme chosen also involved the demolition of the octagonal building which accommodated the council chamber. [10] [11] The works additionally involved the re-configuration of the ground floor of the main building to create a more versatile council chamber, a new customer contact centre and additional meeting space. [12]
In January 2021 The Guardian listed the Civic Centre as one of Britain's Brutalist buildings most at risk of demolition and development. It was included in Brutal North: Post-War Modernist Architecture in the North of England, Simon Phipps's photographic study of Brutalist architecture. [13]
Carlisle City Council was abolished in April 2023, on the formation of the new unitary authority, Cumberland Council, and the Civic Centre serves as a meeting place for the new council. [14]
Birmingham Central Library was the main public library in Birmingham, England, from 1974 until 2013, replacing a library opened in 1865 and rebuilt in 1882. For a time the largest non-national library in Europe, it closed on 29 June 2013 and was replaced by the Library of Birmingham. The building was demolished in 2016, after 41 years, as part of the redevelopment of Paradise Circus by Argent Group. Designed by architect John Madin in the brutalist style, the library was part of an ambitious development project by Birmingham City Council to create a civic centre on its new Inner Ring Road system; however, for economic reasons significant parts of the master plan were not completed, and quality was reduced on materials as an economic measure. Two previous libraries occupied the adjacent site before Madin's library opened in 1974. The previous library, designed by John Henry Chamberlain, opened in 1883 and featured a tall clerestoried reading room. It was demolished in 1974 after the new library had opened.
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the bare building materials and structural elements over decorative design. The style commonly makes use of exposed, unpainted concrete or brick, angular geometric shapes and a predominantly monochrome colour palette; other materials, such as steel, timber, and glass, are also featured.
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