Enfield Civic Centre
Enfield Civic Centre
LocationEnfield
Coordinates51°39′17″N 0°04′47″W / 51.6547°N 0.0796°W / 51.6547; -0.0796
Built1961
ArchitectEric G Broughton & Associates
Architectural style(s)Postmodern style
Enfield Civic Centre is located in London Borough of Enfield
Enfield Civic Centre
Shown in Enfield

Enfield Civic Centre is a municipal building in Silver Street, Enfield, London. It is the headquarters of Enfield London Borough Council.

History

Bronze statue of a smiling cherub holding a fish
The borough's coat of arms in relief

The civic centre was commissioned to replace the aging former offices of the local board of health in Gentleman's Row.[1] The site selected for the new building, which had previously been occupied by open land,[2] was acquired by the Municipal Borough of Enfield in 1939.[1]

The new building, which was designed by Eric G Broughton & Associates in the postmodern style, was completed in 1961.[1] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with nine bays facing onto Silver Street; there were a series of small square windows amidst blue brickwork with a simple revolving door in the bay furthest north on the ground floor; there were nine larger windows amidst brown brickwork with two flagpoles below the window in the bay furthest north on the first floor.[1] The New River formed a decorative feature as it flowed past the front of the building.[1] Internally, the principal room was the council chamber on the first floor.[1] A mural by Gerald Holtom depicting scenes from local history was installed on the staircase and a bronze statue designed by Richard Bentley Claughton depicting the Enfield Beast was erected on top of a tall pillar in front of the entrance.[1]

The civic centre continued to serve as the local of seat of government when the enlarged London Borough of Enfield was formed in 1965.[3] It was substantially expanded by the addition of a 48.5 metres (159 ft) high,[4] twelve-storey stainless steel tower, designed by the same firm of architects, which was erected by Costain Group[5] at the north end of the original structure.[6] A bridge structure, displaying the borough coat of arms, connected the original structure with the extension: the expanded complex was opened by the Queen Mother on 6 May 1975.[7][8] A plaque was placed on the building to commemorate the occasion.[9]

In December 2014, a bronze statue of a smiling cherub holding a fish, which had been cast at the Singer Art Foundry and had been found abandoned at a local school, was given a new home at the civic centre.[10] An extensive refurbishment of the complex, which included asbestos removal, a change to open plan working and new timber grill ceilings, was completed at a cost of £7 million in 2017.[5][11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "London's Town Halls". Historic England. p. 57. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  2. ↑ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1938. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  3. ↑ "Local Government Act 1963". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  4. ↑ "Enfield Civic Centre". Emporis. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Enfield Council uses a major interior operation to move into letting office space". Architects' Data File. 10 May 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  6. ↑ Baggs, A P; Bolton, Diane K; Scarff, Eileen P; Tyack, G C (1976). "'Enfield: Local government', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5, Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham, ed. T F T Baker and R B Pugh". London: British History Online. pp. 241–243. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  7. ↑ "Grange Park Through the Ages". Grange Park Primary School. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  8. ↑ "Queen Mum". London Screen Archives. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  9. ↑ "Tributes flow for Queen Mother". News Shopper. 3 April 2002. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  10. ↑ "Statue found at school gets new home". Enfield Independent. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  11. ↑ "Bespoke ceilings for Enfield Civic Centre refurbishment". Barbour. 26 September 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
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