King Edward Hall

King Edward Hall is a hall and shops built in 1911-12 to the designs of Turner and Higgins of Finchley, with later 20th-century alterations to the shopfronts and interior. The building is constructed of brick with stone dressings and tiled roofs. It is a symmetrical corner building, incorporating a hall on the upper floors and a shopping parade at ground floor level, together with a corner clock tower.

The Regent’s Park Road elevation has 11 windows, while the Hendon Lane elevation has 13. The windows are predominantly casement windows with leaded lights, with some mullioned and transomed windows. The corner has a four-storey circular tower with a clock face and a copper dome topped with a flagstaff. A central section of tall stone parapet rises on both sides, ramped up with the lettering “KING EDWARD HALL” above three tall, splayed bay windows that extend through the first and second floors, connected by elaborate cast iron balustrading. The ground floor features two elaborate doorcases to each elevation; those closest to the corner have flat hoods on brackets, while those furthest away have doorcases with eared architraves, keystones, and swag decoration. The original shopfront fascias, pilasters, and brackets remain on the ground floor, with some shopfronts wholly original.

Inside, King Edward Hall retains its original plastered ribbed ceiling and high relief plasterwork with scroll, shell, and palm frond motifs in the surrounding frieze. The stage was removed later in the 20th century, but the proscenium arch remains. Balcony fronts, pilasters to the sides, and decoration to ancillary rooms were renewed in 1992-3. The well staircases have cast iron balustrading and doors in a period style.

King Edward Hall was originally built as a private banqueting hall and was used as a temporary hospital during the First World War. Original drawings are held by the London Borough of Barnet and early 20th-century photographs are featured in "Finchley and Friern Barnet" by Stewart Gillies and Pamela Taylor, including an interior photograph of the hall during its wartime use as a hospital.