Before Barking became a Borough in 1931, its Town Hall had been a Victorian building in East Street, (later used as a Magistrates’ Court). An up-to-date civic headquarters was required to reflect Barking’s new Borough status. A competition was held, and the winning plans, by architects Herbert Jackson and Reginald Edmonds, were agreed in October 1936.
A swathe of buildings between Barking Broadway and Axe Street were demolished to make way for the new Town Hall, but by the time war broke out in 1939 only its basements had been completed. Building work was then abandoned, but the basements were used as air raid shelters, a decontamination centre and Air Raid Precaution (ARP) headquarters.
Due to the difficulties of post-war reconstruction, work on the Town Hall did not resume until April 1954. It was carried out by the Council’s Direct Works Organization, and at the time was believed to be the largest civic scheme in the country built by a council workforce. The first stage, consisting of the Civic Suite and Municipal Offices, was officially opened in December 1958 and cost £476,000 to build. Its most imposing feature was the four-faced clock tower towards the eastern end.
The Assembly Hall, facing the ancient Curfew Tower at the western end, followed in 1961 at a cost of £154,000. It achieved fame as a concert venue and its excellent acoustics made it a popular recording studio, especially for classical music.
Architectural features
The Town Hall was constructed in small red bricks with red bold roll clay tiles and wooden Georgian-style sash windows. The gates to the main entrance were made using oak salvaged from the 16th century Court House (which had been Barking’s Town Hall until 1894) on its demolition in 1926.
The main foyer area contained Ashburton marble faced columns with the dado in Travertine. The floor was laid out in a pattern of terrazzo tiles. The Council Chamber was panelled with walnut, and the anteroom with figured teak and straight-grained elm. The walls of the Mayor's Parlour were faced in wych elm.
21st century refurbishment
Between 2002-04 the Town Hall was extensively refurbished. Disabled access was improved, and a stunning barrel-vaulted illuminated glass bridge inserted above the foyer area. Designed by the architects Hawkins Brown, it consisted of sheets of glass packed vertically and spanning between steel beams that are profiled to follow the line of the vaults.
The Council Chamber was refurbished and air-conditioned, and councillors provided with a state of the art microphone management and electronic voting system. Audio-visual specialists Brahler UK provided 45 single and 5 dual flush-mounted units at the councillors’ desks, as well as one at the Mayoral position and a public gallery question point on the balcony. The units all housed their own speakers, and utilised smart card technology to give the councillors their microphone and voting privileges. Braille characters were added below each button to assist councillors with visual impairment.
In 2005 a mural 5 metres wide by 3 metres high was placed in the Town Hall foyer. Designed by J.P. Trevor, it was called "Hero Shot” and featured key events, landmarks and architectural features from the Borough’s history.