| The Forum | |
|---|---|
 The Forum | |
| Location | Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead |
| Coordinates | 51°45′15″N0°28′23″W / 51.7541°N 0.4731°W Coordinates: 51°45′15″N0°28′23″W / 51.7541°N 0.4731°W |
| Built | 2017 |
| Architect | Aukett Swanke |
| Architectural style(s) | Modernist style |
  Shown in Hertfordshire | |
The Forum is a municipal building in Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. The building accommodates the meeting place and offices of Dacorum Borough Council as well as the local library.
The first significant municipal building in Hemel Hempstead was the Old Town Hall which was completed in 1851. [1] The town hall continued to serve as the headquarters of the local municipal borough council for much of the 20th century but ceased to be the local seat of government after a new civic centre, designed by Clifford Culpin and Partners, was erected in Marlowes and completed in 1966. [2] [3] The civic centre became the home of Dacorum Borough Council when it was formed in 1974. [4]
By 2015, the civic centre was in a dilapidated condition and, after being advised that it would cost £5 million to refurbish the old building, the borough council decided to commission a new structure. [5] The site chosen by civic leaders was a vacant area on the corner of Coombe Street and Marlowes, to the south of the old civic centre. It had been occupied by an events venue known as The Pavilion which had also been designed by Clifford Culpin and Partners and completed in 1966. [6] After it ceased to be financially viable as an events venue, [7] the Pavilion closed in June 2002 and was demolished shortly afterwards. [8]
The new building was designed by Aukett Swanke in the Modernist style, built by R. G. Carter Construction in dark red brick at a cost of £15 million and was officially opened by the leader of the council, Councillor Andrew Williams, on 16 January 2017. [9] [10] The design involved an asymmetric main frontage of six bays facing onto Marlowes. The left-hand bay, which was recessed, featured a short flight of steps leading up to a glass entrance with dark red cladding spanning the first and second floors and with prominent overhanging eaves. The borough coat of arms was erected on the wall to the right of the entrance. [11] [12] Internally, the principal areas were the council chamber and offices on the first floor, and a space for the new library, which had previously been based in Coombe Street, on the ground floor. [13]
The old civic centre was demolished in summer 2019, [14] and a new housing development known as "The Gade", involving a series of apartment blocks, was subsequently erected on that site. [15] [16]
Hemel Hempstead is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is 24 miles (39 km) northwest of London, and is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500.
The City and District of St Albans is a local government district with city status in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in St Albans, the largest settlement in the district. The district also includes the town of Harpenden and several villages. The district borders North Hertfordshire, Welwyn Hatfield, Hertsmere, Watford, Three Rivers, Dacorum, and Central Bedfordshire.
Dacorum is a local government district with borough status in Hertfordshire, England. The council is based in Hemel Hempstead. The borough also includes the towns of Berkhamsted and Tring and surrounding villages. The borough had a population of 155,081 in 2021. Dacorum was created in 1974 and is named after the ancient hundred of Dacorum which had covered a similar area. The borough of Dacorum is the westernmost of Hertfordshire's ten districts. It borders St Albans, Three Rivers, Buckinghamshire and Central Bedfordshire.
Three Rivers is a local government district in south-west Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Rickmansworth. The district borders Hertsmere, Watford, St Albans, Dacorum, Buckinghamshire, and the London boroughs of Hillingdon and Harrow.
Nash Mills is a civil parish within Hemel Hempstead and Dacorum Borough Council on the northern side of the Grand Union Canal, formerly the River Gade, and in the southernmost corner of Hemel Hempstead. There is evidence of a mill in this location since the 11th century and the row of 16th century mill cottages still remain. John Dickinson established a number of papermaking mills in the area in the 19th century.
The River Gade is a river running almost entirely through Hertfordshire. It rises from a spring in the chalk of the Chiltern Hills at Dagnall, Buckinghamshire and flows through Hemel Hempstead, Kings Langley, then along the west side of Watford through Cassiobury Park. After passing Croxley Green it reaches Rickmansworth, where it joins the River Colne. For its whole course the Gade is unnavigable.
Boxmoor is part of Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. It is within the district of Dacorum and comprises mainly 19th-century housing and meadowland, with transport links from London to the Midlands. At the 2011 Census, the population of Boxmoor was included in the Dacorum ward of Bovingdon, Flaunden and Chipperfield.
Hemel Hempstead Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974.
The Hemel Hempstead Gazette & Express is a local newspaper in the United Kingdom that covers the towns of Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted and Tring and the surrounding area in Hertfordshire.
Piccotts End is a village in Hertfordshire, England situated on the upper River Gade. While often mistaken for a hamlet, it became a village when its church – All Saints – was dedicated in 1907 and remained a place of worship until the 1970s. It is in the Dacorum Ward of Gadebridge.
Bennetts End is a neighbourhood within Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the southeast of the town and consists almost entirely of public housing built as part of the new town in the 1950s. It was the second neighbourhood to have construction commenced by the New Town corporation, after the nearby Adeyfield.
West Herts College is a college for further education in Watford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The college has campuses in Watford and Hemel Hempstead. As of 2017 the college has 5,900 students on study programmes or apprenticeships.
This article gives brief information on schools that cater for pupils up to the age of 11 in the Dacorum district of Hertfordshire, England. Most are county maintained primary schools, sometimes known as "junior mixed infant" (JMI). A small number are voluntary aided church schools or independent (fee-paying). The Local Education Authority is Hertfordshire County Council.
Warners End is a neighbourhood or district of Hemel Hempstead, a new town in Hertfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census the population of the District was included in the Chaulden and Warner's End ward of Dacorum Council. It was the fourth of the new districts built during the expansion of Hemel Hempstead into a new town with work on its construction commencing in 1953.
Chaulden is a residential district in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England located west of the town centre and bordering on open countryside. It was an early development in the construction of Hemel Hempstead new town, commenced in 1953 and has its own neighbourhood shopping centre.
The Bury is a building of historical significance in Hemel Hempstead in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It was erected in about 1790 by an attorney who worked in the town. It was the residence for the next two centuries of many notable people. It is now owned by the Dacorum Borough Council and is Grade II* listed.
Dacorum Heritage (DH) is a local history advocacy group in the United Kingdom. It collects and records the history of the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, in the south of England, and aims to encourage the appreciation of the heritage of Dacorum.
The Dacorum Pavilion was a theatre and performance venue in Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. The Pavilion closed in June 2002. The site is occupied by The Forum, which houses council offices and a library.
Berkhamsted Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. It is a Grade II listed building.
The Old Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. The town hall, which was the meeting place of Hemel Hempstead Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building.