C O N T E X T 1 4 1 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 5 19 The third-floor landing at Norwich City Hall.The balustrade motifs relate to the original occupiers of the floor, with butchers hooks for environmental health, and steps for building control. (Photo: Darren Carter, Morgan Sindall) Delegates visiting Eagle Ward of the 13th-century Great Hospital, following the reception on Thursday evening.The ward was converted from the chancel in the 16th century and its elaborate ceiling is believed to date from 1383. Norwich City Hall: the changing culture and place of local government The walk to the venue from the Maids Head Hotel via the well-conserved streets and buildings of theTombland area of the city set the scene for our arrival at the impressive City Hall of 1936–38 (Grade II*), dominating the adjacent marketplace. This was just the first phase of an intended Civic Centre, never completed. A hint of the Scandinavian (such as StockholmTown Hall) was readily apparent. Built to accommodate the then growing and scattered local government activities of the city (a need anticipated by the council as it commenced land acquisition from 1928), the City Hall design emerged from an RIBA competition. This was won by Charles Holloway James and Stephen Rowland Pierce, neither architect widely known otherwise, to my knowledge. The brief, as explained by Alan Wright, conservation consultant with NPS Property Consultants and Kate Knights, conservation and design officer with Norwich City Council, was to address the city council’s need to make the City Hall ‘appropriate to deliver its civic functions into the 21st century’. At an earlier stage the council had considered its options to reduce outgoings in an era of reduced funding for local government, including conversion of the building to an hotel and moving to an out-of-town business park, or closing outlying offices and moving their functions into City Hall.Wright described it as a very handsome and very exciting building, citing his greatest achievement as ‘persuading the occupiers that it was fit for purpose and retaining the present use’. With the aid of historic and contemporary photos and documents, including a 1938 issue of the Architectural Review, Wright and Knights described the works carried out as part of the improvement scheme. These had avoided compromising the overall character, but involved removing internal partitions to create open-plan areas and break-out spaces, retaining original furniture and fittings (including, impressively, curtains) to the firstfloor meeting rooms and light fittings in the corridors. Windows all around had been replaced with singleglazed Crittal ones of powder-coated appearance and with detailing as before. On the guided tour of the building which followed (after an enjoyable venture out on to the first-floor balcony overlooking the busy marketplace), Wright and Knights pointed out other unique design features such as the railing around a light well, referencing the various functions of the adjacent council departments. Much consideration had given to the positioning of the council’s extensive collection of paintings of city worthies, especially in the council chamber itself.Views differed as to the success of some of the choices. The alterations to the building had clearly been thoroughly considered and very delicately handled, providing the client with the accommodation required. It was an altogether rewarding visit and an excellent example of how adaptable existing buildings can be, with careful expert attention. NicoleTwort
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