Epping Civic Offices

Epping Civic Offices

This office building was constructed between 1987 and 1992 to designs by Richard Reid for Epping Forest District Council. It is a concrete-framed structure with red-brick walls laid in English bond and reconstituted stone cladding.

The building comprises a rectangular three-storey office block over a basement car park, arranged on a north-east to south-west axis and facing south-east toward High Street. The front elevation is distinguished by an apsidal three-storey council chamber block and a square-plan six-storey tower. At its south-west end, the new offices link to an existing mid-19th-century two-storey house at 323 High Street and a rectangular-plan three-storey 1970s office block to the rear.

Externally, the front elevation facing High Street is composed of red brick in English bond with reconstituted stone cladding. A ground-floor void between the three buildings provides vehicular access to the rear car park, spanned by first and second-floor connecting corridors. To the north-east of the access, a square-plan red-brick tower rises above the building, becoming octagonal at its top two stages beneath a stone cornice and bearing minimalist clocks on all four elevations. North-east of the tower, a large brick-lined arch frames public access to the ground-floor reception and atrium through a glazed porch, and to the first-floor council chamber and second-floor gallery via a stone-clad flight of steps. Above the glazed porch, a steel balcony with a concrete roll-moulded balustrade serves as a 'pulpit' for public announcements. Directly north-east of the steps stands a three-storey apsidal-ended block containing the council chamber, distinguished by reconstituted stone cladding and minimal ground-floor pilasters. North-east of the council chamber are seven bays of red brick with two symmetrically arranged oriel windows at first-floor height. A two-storey four-bay block breaks forward containing the staff canteen (formerly the staff recreation room) on the ground floor and council members' room above, similarly distinguished by reconstituted stone cladding. The north-east corner contains a two-storey projection with the staff IT training room (formerly the staff dining room) at ground level and additional members' rooms above, featuring a purple-brick battered plinth extending around the north-east elevation. The first floor has an open terrace to the members' rooms with plain pilasters supporting a flat roof. The front and side elevations contain a variety of square and rectangular windows with canary yellow, cobalt blue and light grey frames, most of which were replaced with thicker frames in 2015 while retaining the original colour scheme. The rear north-west elevation is three storeys over the basement car park, composed of red brick with pilasters rising to a blind fascia that separate 26 window bays increasing in size with height to maximise views of the countryside beyond. A ramp at the centre provides access to the basement car park, while two flights of steps provide staff access to the ground floor, and a single flight of steps on the side elevation accesses the IT training room.

Internally, the public entrance through the glazed porch leads to a single-storey reception area opening to a narrow three-storey atrium behind the council chamber. The atrium, lit by roof lights, features polychromatic striped walls of red and cream dyed cast-concrete cladding. The reception retains its original semi-circular desk, and both reception and atrium retain original benches and planters with semi-circular profiled mouldings, though the central atrium bench has been replaced with a narrower version lacking a back rest. A segmental balcony from the first-floor council chamber overlooks the atrium, while window openings on the first and second floors provide views from staff corridors. The ground floor north-east of the atrium contains offices for public meetings and at its north-east end a staff canteen and IT training room. The first-floor council chamber is accessed by council members and staff from a corridor north-east of the atrium, while the second-floor public viewing gallery is accessed via the tower south-west of the atrium. The council chamber itself is a double-height horseshoe-shaped drum with fixed seating and desks for 57 councillors on the lower level arranged in three tiers, and space for 65 members of the public and press in one tier on a cantilevered gallery. A structural screen wall runs round the seating edge forming a narrow circulation corridor at the chamber rear, clad in American white ash at ground-floor level and punctuated by square windows angled to deflect acoustic reflections. The curved gallery echoes the lower-level form with paired columns defining each bay and a plain metal balustrade. The council chamber retains its original fixed furniture including extendable desks, hide upholstery, and removable seats for wheelchair users. Committee rooms north-east of the council chamber retain their original partitioned walls to the central corridor. In the north-east corner, the members' room, members' writing room, terrace and chairman's office retain their original layout and a high proportion of original doors and furniture, together with original timber panelling incorporating a semi-circular profiled dado and pronounced cornice concealing uplighting. The second floor comprises large open-plan offices with extensive windows providing countryside views to the north-west. A central corridor runs the entire length of the building at first and second-floor levels, with glazed panels and a sculptural staircase linking the civic offices to the adjacent buildings at first and second-floor levels.