Havering Town Hall

Havering Town Hall, originally Romford Town Hall, was built in 1935 and designed by H R Collins and A E O Geens in the International Moderne style. It was extended to the southwest in 1960 with matching materials and design. A later wing added to the southeast in 1988 is not of special interest. The building is steel-framed, faced with Leicester silver grey bricks and Swanage stone facings and plinth, and has a flat roof. The original plan was L-shaped, although a proposed refreshment hall and assembly hall were never built. It has two storeys, with a partial set-back attic storey to the main front, comprising 14 bays to the main front and 17 bays to the rear wing. The windows are metal-framed casements, with tall, narrow windows on the first floor and shorter, tripartite windows on the ground floor. The projecting full-height entrance hall is a prominent feature, featuring tall central staircase windows and smaller flanking sidelights, accommodating three flagpoles. The entrance hall has a stone architrave over a double oak doorcase with decorative metal grilles in the sidelights and two square stone plinths. A partial attic storey, originally a caretaker's flat, has four windows and a balcony with metal railings. The L-wing is characterized by its tripartite windows, with additional tall staircase windows and a stone surround to the rear entrance. The southwest extension replicates the original brickwork, windows, and stone entrance.

Inside, the Staircase Hall contains a large Imperial staircase with metal handrails and is lined with Bath stone, featuring rusticated courses and columned entrances to the Council Chamber and Committee corridor. The Council Chamber retains an Austrian oak Public Gallery with giant piers, dado panelling, a dais, and a large skylight to the ceiling. Committee Room One retains oak panelling and folding doors, while Committee Room Two has folding doors and likely original panelling beneath later 20th-century panelling. The ground floor former Rates Office features original steps beneath a later floor. Original corridors, staircases, and some small offices remain.