Poplar Town Hall

Last updated

Poplar Town Hall
Bow Business Centre, Bow Road - geograph.org.uk - 434827.jpg
The building in 2007
LocationBow Road, Poplar
Coordinates 51°31′42″N0°01′11″W / 51.5284°N 0.0198°W / 51.5284; -0.0198
Built1938
ArchitectCulpin and Son
Architectural style(s) Modernist style
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated24 February 2009
Reference no.1393151
Tower Hamlets London UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown in Tower Hamlets

Poplar Town Hall is a municipal building at the corner of Bow Road and Fairfield Road in Poplar, London. It is a Grade II listed building. [1]

History

The building was commissioned to replace the Old Town Hall, located 1.7 miles (2.7 km) due south on Poplar High Street. [2] [3] The site chosen for the new building had been occupied by a 19th century vestry hall. [4]

The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the former mayor, Alderman Charles Key, on 8 May 1937. [5] [6] It was designed by Culpin and Son in the Modernist style in a shape that took the form of a trapezoid. [1] [7] The design involved a rounded frontage at the junction of Bow Road and Fairfield Road; there were layers of continuous stone facing panels above and below a continuous band of glazing on the first, second and third floors. [4] The Builders, a frieze by sculptor David Evans on the face of the building, was unveiled by George Lansbury at the official opening of the building on 10 December 1938. [1] Made of Portland stone panels, it commemorated the trades constructing the town hall and symbolised the borough's relationship with the River Thames and the youth of Poplar. [8] [9] The principal rooms were the council chamber, the mayor's parlour and an assembly hall which benefited from a sprung Canadian maple dance floor. [10] The architect, Edwin Culpin, claimed it was "the first town hall in this country to be erected in the modern style". [11]

The building was proclaimed by the council to be the first town hall to be erected in the modernist style [4] but ceased to function as the local seat of government when the enlarged London Borough of Tower Hamlets was formed in 1965. [12]

After being used as workspace by the council until the mid-1980s, the town hall was sold in the 1990s to a developer who added a roof extension and converted it for commercial use. [10] The complex had included a theatre, with a 35 feet (11 m) proscenium arch, which was demolished by the developer in 2000. [13] The complex was subsequently used as a business centre. [4]

The roof extension containing private homes was damaged by a fire on 23 August 2023. [14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Historic England. "Former Poplar Town Hall (Bow House), 157 Bow Road (1393151)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  2. Historic England. "Old Poplar Town Hall and Council Offices (1260135)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  3. "Old Poplar Town Hall". London Remembers. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Smith, Joanna (1998). "Greater London | Tower Hamlets | Bow Road | Bow House (Formerly Poplar Town Hall) (1993-08-03)". London's Town Halls (PDF) (Report). 93/1998. Historic England. pp. 180–181. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  5. Boardman, David. "Bow House - Former Poplar Town Hall, London". manchesterhistory.net. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  6. "Poplar Town Hall – foundation". London Remembers. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  7. "Poplar Town Hall, Bow Road: under construction". London Picture Archive. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  8. "The Builders: Architect". Public Monuments and Sculpture Association. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2007.
  9. "Carved relief, former Poplar Town Hall, Bow Road, Poplar, London". Historic England. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  10. 1 2 East, John; Rutt, Nicola, eds. (24 March 2012). "The Civic Plunge Revisited" (PDF). The Twentieth Century Society. pp. 27–28. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  11. "Poplar Town Hall – 1930s". London Remembers. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  12. "Local Government Act 1963". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  13. "Bow". Theatres Trust. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  14. "Bow fire: Homes 'severely damaged' in east London blaze". BBC News. Retrieved 17 August 2025.