Kensington Town Hall, London

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Kensington Town Hall
Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall 2005.jpg
Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall
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Kensington Town Hall
Location within Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
General information
Architectural style Brutalist style
Location Kensington, London
Coordinates 51°30′07″N0°11′43″W / 51.50202°N 0.19515°W / 51.50202; -0.19515
Completed1976
Inaugurated1977
Design and construction
Architect(s) Sir Basil Spence
Main contractor Taylor Woodrow Construction

Kensington Town Hall is a municipal building in Hornton Street, Kensington, London. Opened in May 1977, it is the headquarters of Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council. It is just near High Street Kensington station.

Contents

History

Construction and opening

The building was commissioned to replace the old town halls of Kensington and Chelsea following the amalgamation of the two boroughs to form the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in 1965. [1] After both the old town halls had been rejected as inadequate for the council's needs, civic leaders decided to procure a new facility; the site selected for new building in Hornton Street had previously been occupied by two large residential properties: Niddry Lodge and the Red House. [2] [3] [a] In 1967, a giant redwood tree was planted in what would later be the inner courtyard by Baroness Churchill in memory of her husband, Sir Winston Churchill. [5]

The construction work, which was undertaken by Taylor Woodrow Construction at a cost of £11.6 million, [6] [7] [8] started in 1972. [2] The architect, Sir Basil Spence, who had been commissioned to design the building in the Brutalist style, died just 10 days before the building was completed on 29 November 1976. [9] The building was officially opened by Princess Anne on 31 May 1977. [10]

Operation

An ornamental pool which had been created beneath the council chamber was converted into a small garden planted in memory of Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone and was opened by the Duke of Gloucester on 4 May 1983. [5]

At around 4:35 pm on 16 June 2017, following the Grenfell Tower fire, hundreds of demonstrators, some of whom had lost friends and family in the fire, [11] entered the building in protest and chanted "we want an inquest" and "we want justice". [12] A disturbance broke out when police attempted to escort council staff out, though there were no arrests and police and security escorted the protestors out of the building "after a short period of time". [11] Singer Lily Allen attended the protest. [13]

Architecture and design

The design for the facility, which makes extensive use of red brick, includes a large square building to the north to accommodate council officers and their departments on an open plan basis, as well as a civic suite at the southern end and two octagonal buildings to the south, the western building being a public hall and the eastern building (raised up on concrete columns) being the council chamber. [9] The main square building contains an inner courtyard which preserves several trees, including the giant redwood which architects chose to build around. [5] The design for the main frontage on Hornton Street features glass doors on the left of that elevation which give access to the civic suite on the ground floor; there are tall oriel windows on the first floor which are cantilevered over the pavement. [9]

Works of art in the mayor's parlour include a portrait of the collector Sir Hans Sloane, by Thomas Murray. [14]

Notes

  1. ↑ Niddry Lodge, built in 1831, had been the home of General Sir John Fraser until 1843, the home of the Dowager Countess of Hopetoun until 1854 and then the home of John Francis Campbell until 1885. [4] Meanwhile, the Red House, built in 1835, had been the home of President Herbert Hoover from 1914 to 1917. [4]

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References

  1. ↑ "Watercolour of Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall by the architect Sir Basil Spence". Rbkc.gov.uk. 20 April 2005. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Building site 1972-1975: Kensington Town Hall". RBKC Kensington Central Library. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  3. ↑ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1968. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  4. 1 2 Sheppard, F H W (1973). "'The Phillimore estate', in Survey of London: Volume 37, Northern Kensington". London: British History Online. pp. 58–76. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 "Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall, London". Manchester History. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  6. ↑ Walker, David (2008). "Civic Centres". University of Warwick. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  7. ↑ Altman, John (2016). In the Nick of Time - The Autobiography of John Altman, EastEnders' Nick Cotton. John Blake Publishing. ISBN   978-1786062567.
  8. ↑ "London's Town Halls". Historic England. p. 133. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 Walker, David. "Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall". c20society. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  10. ↑ "The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea". Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  11. 1 2 Worley, Will; Williams, Richard A. L.; Hoddinott, Helen (17 June 2017). "Grenfell Tower protesters storm Kensington Town Hall". The Independent . Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  12. ↑ "Grenfell Tower fire protesters storm Kensington and Chelsea town hall". Sky News . 17 June 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  13. ↑ Powell, Emma (16 June 2017). "Lily Allen joins Grenfell Tower blaze protest at Kensington Town Hall". Evening Standard . Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  14. ↑ Murray, Thomas. "Sir Hans Sloane (1660–1753)". Art UK. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
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