Hammersmith Town Hall Extension

Now demolished, this extension to the Grade II listed Town Hall was generally held in disregard. The original Town Hall was built between 1938-39 and designed by the Borough Architect E. Barry Webber, described as ‘Swedish Georgian’ by a contemporary critic. The six-storey extension was also designed by the Borough Architect, Dennis Browne to house the administrative offices of the expanded borough. Nothing if not bold, the principal accommodation was elevated from the ground, presumably to allow access through to its interwar counterpart. It is fair to say that the undercroft was gloomy and unwelcoming and did not provide the sort of civic procession that it ought in respect of its predecessor. Nonetheless, the period piece of the 1970s was assertive and its mass had some redeeming qualities in its recessed first floor and the canted zinc clad plant room enclosure atop. Waffles slabs and mosaic tiles galore as well as the pronounced external structural columns gave the extension its own commanding presence, even if history decided its overbearing nature meant that its time was up.