Council House and Attached Railings and Piers

The Council House, built between 1935 and 1952, is an important example of civic architecture designed by Vincent Harris. It stands on College Green in Bristol and is accompanied by attached railings and piers. The building is constructed around a concave axial double-depth plan, employing a concrete frame faced with very wide, thin bricks, Portland stone dressings, and a leaded hipped roof. It is designed in a Neo-Georgian style.

The building has two storeys, an attic, and a basement, presenting a 38-window range. The very wide, concave bowed front features a stone plinth, a plat band on the first floor, and moulded coping in front of the recessed attic. Full-height porte-cocheres are located at each end, with a larger two-storey porte-cochere to the central main entrance. The outer porte-cocheres have full-height semicircular arches, while the side ones feature semicircular-arched doorways with two-leaf doors that sweep down to the centre. First-floor windows above these doorways are topped with Corinthian columns leading to pediments on balconies with balustrades. The central porte-cochere is almost detached, boasting an octagonal base supporting an ashlar dome, semicircular arches on three sides, and blind flanking blocks four windows wide. The windows are 6/6-pane sash windows in exposed frames, with alternate three-window groupings on the ground floor featuring moulded stone architraves. The roof is steeply pitched and high, with gilded unicorns adorning the corners of the end blocks. The rear elevation displays two-storey tetrastyle-in-antis loggias at the ends, connected by pilastrades to a central projecting block. This block features a pilastrade below very large 25/25-pane sashes, and flanking towers with sculptures by McFall on top.

The interior is sparsely decorated in a monumental manner and faced with plain ashlar. Notable features include a central axial passage, good lamps in the entrance lobby, which has a marble floor, and complete original fittings throughout, especially those in the Committee Rooms. Other interior elements include a horological clock in the entrance hall, painted ceilings in the Council Room depicting Bristol’s history by John Armstrong, and in the Conference Room depicting molecular and atomic fusion by WT Monnington.

Attached to the building are railings and octagonal piers to the ends, as well as a ramp at the front. The Council House represents a significant work by a celebrated civic architect of the 20th century.