County Hall, Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire County Hall is a large municipal building located on the south bank of the River Trent in Nottingham. It is the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Council which is the upper tier local authority and has jurisdiction across the whole of Nottinghamshire except the City of Nottingham which is administered independently by the unitary authority of Nottingham City Council.

As well as providing a functional headquarters for council officers, the County Hall also houses the council chamber, assembly hall and committee rooms.

History

The County Hall was designed in the 1930s by Vincent Harris (who is also credited for designing Leeds Civic Hall, Bristol Council House and Sheffield City Hall) as a new home for the Council which was previously based at the Shire Hall in Central Nottingham. The County Hall was completed in 1954.

The original plans included the construction of a landmark bell tower which would have been three times as tall as the main building. As a result of the outbreak of the Second World War, this part of the plan was mothballed to reduce overall costs.

In the 1960s a concrete prefabricated extension was built as part of the Consortium of Local Authorities Special Programme (CLASP). In 2016, the building was deemed surplus to requirements and unfit for purpose. Due to the high costs associated with potential refurbishment, the building was decommissioned and demolished. A small part of the CLASP building remains, known as the Riveride block located to the rear of the site adjacent to the river.

Future

In March 2019, it was announced that a new landmark building could be built on the site of the former CLASP building site as part of Nottinghamshire County Council's strategy to rationalise its countywide estate portfolio.

Art

The County Hall houses an extensive collection of artifacts, many of which have been gifted to Nottinghamshire by various visiting dignitaries from around the world and are displayed around the hall.

The grand staircase which links the ground and first floors of the building, includes oil paintings depicting historic distinguished members and officers of the Council amongst local scenes such as the riverside and Newstead Abbey.

Architecture

The County Hall has a base made of Portland stone and a roof made of copper. Exposure to precipitation has resulted in the copper roof turning green in colour. The two main entrances around the front and back of the building are flanked by statues of miners depicting the county's mining history. The statues were designed by Robert Kiddey, a local Nottingham artist during the building's construction.

References

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/content/articles/2009/09/11/trent_council_buildings_feature.shtml

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/iconic-offices-could-built-county-2643909

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-33235401

https://artuk.org/visit/venues/nottinghamshire-county-hall-3631#