Brent Town Hall

The following building shall be added:-

TQ 18 NE FORTY LANE 1/12 Brent Town Hall II

Municipal offices, library and assembly hall. Built 1935-40 as Wembley Town Hall by Clifford Strange. Brick - clad steel frame; flat roof. Multi-function and sloping site expressed in T- shaped plan set around central entrance hall with council chamber above and assembly hall to rear, and library to left. Severe Scandinavian style 3-storey front. Tall central staircase tower, slightly recessed behind flanking wings, has tall window set above entrance with flat canopy and steps; 15-bay wing to right has upper windows set in tall recessed bays above continuous ground-floor windows with glazed tile piers to drip mould; bay of some height to left of tower, with similar ground-floor fenestration and large first-floor window; lower 2-storey, 4-bay range to left has similar ground-floor fenestration and tall first-floor windows. Other elevations are similar, with stepped blocks making use of sloping site: entrance with canopy to library on left; assembly hall to rear has continuous strip of low-level fenestration. Interior: marble walls and floors to entrance hall and foyer with Art Deco railings to staircase. Council Suite has 3 committee rooms separated by sliding partitions. Panelled dado to assembly hall. Circular light walls to library. Recommended as a town hall in the Scandinavian style which is an example of simple but effective 1930s municipal, planning, the interiors making much use of borrowed light and internal glazing. Pevsner called Wembley "the best of the modern town halls around London, neither fanciful nor drab".

(Buildings of England: Middlesex, p,170; Architectural Review, January 1940, pp. 7-16).

Listing NGR: TQ1972886684