Carlisle Civic Centre
Carlisle Civic Centre
LocationRickergate, Carlisle
Coordinates54°53′51″N 2°56′05″W / 54.8975°N 2.9347°W / 54.8975; -2.9347
Built1964
Built byJohn Laing & Son
ArchitectCharles B. Pearson and Partners
Architectural style(s)Modernist style
Carlisle Civic Centre is located in Cumbria
Carlisle Civic Centre
Shown in Cumbria

Carlisle Civic Centre is a municipal building in the Rickergate, Carlisle, England. It was the headquarters of Carlisle City Council.

History

Carlisle Civic Centre in the floodwater, December 2015

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]

References

  1. ↑ Historic England. "Old Town Hall, Carlisle (1218104)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  2. ↑ "Carlisle Civic Centre". Skyscrapernews. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  3. ↑ "Carlisle Civic Centre". Emporis. Archived from the original on 5 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  4. ↑ "Tile Gazetteer - Cumbria". Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  5. ↑ "Trewin Copplestone (born 1921)". Katherine House Gallery. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  6. ↑ "Plans to demolish part of Carlisle Civic Centre set to get go-ahead, despite objections". News and Star. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  7. ↑ "Carlisle - Maundy Service, The Queen and Prince Philip in the Royal Car leaving the Civic Centre". Cumbria Archives and Local Studies Department. 23 March 1978. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  8. 1 2 "Carlisle civic centre: Campaigners fight for 'soulless office block'". BBC. 11 September 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  9. ↑ "Carlisle floods mean learning what it is like to be on the front line of climate change". RS21. 9 December 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  10. ↑ "Go-ahead for £3.6m Carlisle Civic Centre transformation project". News and Star. 8 May 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  11. ↑ "Civic Centre works given the go-ahead". Cumbria Crack. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  12. ↑ "Plans to knock down part of Carlisle Civic Centre building given green light". In-Cumbria. 10 April 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  13. ↑ Lanre Bakare (3 January 2020). "Destruction of brutalist architecture in north of England prompts outcry". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  14. ↑ "New Cumbria councils to hold inaugural meetings - cumbriacrack.com".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.