City Hall, Norwich
Encyclopedia
Norwich City Hall is an Art Deco
building completed in 1938 which houses the city hall
for the city of Norwich
, East Anglia
, in Eastern England
. It is one of the Norwich 12
, a collection of twelve heritage buildings in Norwich deemed of particular historical and cultural importance.
Norwich City Hall was opened in 1938 by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. It had been designed by architects Charles Holloway James
and Stephen Rowland Pierce
, after Robert Atkinson
had prepared a layout for the whole Civic Centre site at the request of Norwich Corporation (now the City Council). A competition took place in 1931 which attracted 143 entries, with Atkinson as the sole judge. After the winning design was chosen the Depression
and a protracted planning process delayed the start of the building, and the foundation stone was not laid until 1936.
The architects designed for Norwich an Art Deco
public building of national significance. It was built to the highest standards, using superior materials and methods of its day. Even the bricks were specially made, each one being two inches longer than usual to better reflect the proportions of the finished building.
Charles Holloway James and Stephen Rowland Pierce engaged Alfred Hardiman
as their consultant sculptor. He contributed the iconic lions which guard the building, and three figures of Recreation, Wisdom and Education for the Council Chamber. His colleague James Woodford
designed the six main bronze
doors, incorporating 18 roundels showing the history and industry of Norwich. Eric Aumonier
carved the city arms above the Regalia Room window on Bethel Street, and Margaret Calkin James
provided textiles for some of the important rooms.
Over the years many Art Deco buildings have lost their hallmark fixtures and fittings, but Norwich retains many of its original features. This is particularly fortunate as the furniture, light fittings and other details throughout the building were designed by the architects themselves.
The materials used include Italian
marble
and English
stone
, Honduras
mahogany
and Australian
walnut
. Seating is upholstered in Moroccan
leather
, and rooms panelled in elm
, oak
, teak
and birch
. The Lord Mayor
’s octagonal
parlour is panelled in sycamore
with French
walnut trim, with the door finished in English walnut. The main frontage of the building is 280 feet long, incorporating a 200ft balcony.
Norwich City Hall was officially opened by the King and Queen on 29 October 1938 and a huge crowd turned out to celebrate. Less than a year later the Second World War broke out and Norwich was extensively bombed, but the building survived intact.
The austerity
that followed the war ensured no project of similar quality could be contemplated. Today, Norwich City Hall stands as an exemplary building of its period, completed to the highest standards of architectural integrity and individual craftsmanship.
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
building completed in 1938 which houses the city hall
City hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...
for the city of Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
, East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
, in Eastern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is one of the Norwich 12
Norwich 12
Norwich 12 is an initiative by Norwich Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust to develop 12 of Norwich's most iconic buildings into an integrated family of heritage attractions which act as an internationally important showcase of English urban and cultural development over the last 1,000...
, a collection of twelve heritage buildings in Norwich deemed of particular historical and cultural importance.
Norwich City Hall was opened in 1938 by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. It had been designed by architects Charles Holloway James
Charles Holloway James
Charles Holloway James R.A., F.R.I.B.A., , architect, specialised in designs for homes and housing projects, but also completed large public works, particularly in collaboration with Stephen Rowland Pierce.James was born in 1893 at Gloucester...
and Stephen Rowland Pierce
Stephen Rowland Pierce
Stephen Rowland Pierce F.R.I.B.A, F.S.A. was an architect and town planning consultant. In partnership with Charles Holloway James he designed several large British public buildings, including Norwich City Hall....
, after Robert Atkinson
Robert Atkinson (architect)
Robert Atkinson, OBE was an English architect primarily working in the Art Deco style.Atkinson was born in Wigton, Cumberland and studied at University College, Nottingham before studying abroad in Paris, Italy and America. He was a talented draughtsman and worked for C.E. Mallows from 1905...
had prepared a layout for the whole Civic Centre site at the request of Norwich Corporation (now the City Council). A competition took place in 1931 which attracted 143 entries, with Atkinson as the sole judge. After the winning design was chosen the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and a protracted planning process delayed the start of the building, and the foundation stone was not laid until 1936.
The architects designed for Norwich an Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
public building of national significance. It was built to the highest standards, using superior materials and methods of its day. Even the bricks were specially made, each one being two inches longer than usual to better reflect the proportions of the finished building.
Alfred Frank Hardiman
Alfred Frank Hardiman , sculptor, was born at 17 Orde Hall Street, London, the son of Alfred William Hardiman, silversmith, of Holborn, and his wife, Ada Myhill....
as their consultant sculptor. He contributed the iconic lions which guard the building, and three figures of Recreation, Wisdom and Education for the Council Chamber. His colleague James Woodford
James Woodford
James Woodford was an English sculptor-Life:Woodford was born in Nottingham in 1893. His father was a lace designer. Woodford started studying at the Nottingham School of Art, but his studies were curtailed when he enlisted during the First World War. After the war, he continued his training at...
designed the six main bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
doors, incorporating 18 roundels showing the history and industry of Norwich. Eric Aumonier
Eric Aumonier
-Life:Aumonier was born in Northwood, Middlesex . his family name is Huguenot . Eric's grandfather, William, founded the Aumonier Studios in 1876, an architectural sculpture firm in London, initially located at New Inn Yard off Tottenham Court Road, then at 84 Charlotte Street. His son, also called...
carved the city arms above the Regalia Room window on Bethel Street, and Margaret Calkin James
Margaret Calkin James
Margaret Calkin James , was a calligrapher, graphic designer, textile printer, watercolour painter and printmaker, and is best known for her posters designed for the London Underground and London Transport between 1928 and 1935...
provided textiles for some of the important rooms.
Over the years many Art Deco buildings have lost their hallmark fixtures and fittings, but Norwich retains many of its original features. This is particularly fortunate as the furniture, light fittings and other details throughout the building were designed by the architects themselves.
The materials used include Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
and English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
stone
STONe
is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Sin-Ichi Hiromoto. Kodansha released the two bound volumes of the manga on April 23, 2002 and August 23, 2002, respectively.The manga is licensed for an English-languague released in North America be Tokyopop...
, Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
mahogany
Mahogany
The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
and Australian
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
. Seating is upholstered in Moroccan
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
, and rooms panelled in elm
Elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...
, oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
, teak
Teak
Teak is the common name for the tropical hardwood tree species Tectona grandis and its wood products. Tectona grandis is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma, but is naturalized and cultivated in many countries, including those in Africa and the...
and birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
. The Lord Mayor
Lord Mayor
The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city, with special recognition.-Commonwealth of Nations:* In Australia it is a political position. Australian cities with Lord Mayors: Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta, Perth, Sydney, and Wollongong...
’s octagonal
Octagonal
Octagonal is a retired champion New Zealand-bred, Australian raced Thoroughbred racehorse, also known as 'The Big O' or 'Occy'. He was by the champion sire Zabeel, out of the champion broodmare Eight Carat, who also produced Group One winners Mouawad, Kaapstad, Diamond Lover and Marquise.Trained...
parlour is panelled in sycamore
Sycamore
Sycamore is a name which is applied at various times and places to three very different types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms....
with French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
walnut trim, with the door finished in English walnut. The main frontage of the building is 280 feet long, incorporating a 200ft balcony.
Norwich City Hall was officially opened by the King and Queen on 29 October 1938 and a huge crowd turned out to celebrate. Less than a year later the Second World War broke out and Norwich was extensively bombed, but the building survived intact.
The austerity
Austerity
In economics, austerity is a policy of deficit-cutting, lower spending, and a reduction in the amount of benefits and public services provided. Austerity policies are often used by governments to reduce their deficit spending while sometimes coupled with increases in taxes to pay back creditors to...
that followed the war ensured no project of similar quality could be contemplated. Today, Norwich City Hall stands as an exemplary building of its period, completed to the highest standards of architectural integrity and individual craftsmanship.