Swindon Civic Offices

The Civic Offices for the Corporation of Swindon were built between 1937 and 1939 to designs by Bertram, Bertram and Rice, AARIBA. An associated pergola stands in the grounds.

Construction and Materials

The building is constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond, with Bath and Portland stone ashlar dressings and plinth, and cast iron rainwater goods. The floors and roof use Kleine blocks — hollow, rectangular, fireproof blocks made by the Kleine Company. The council chamber and entrance are steel-framed. Principal interiors feature walnut panelling and terrazzo floors. Metal-framed doors and windows were supplied by Henry Hope and Sons of Smethwick. Metalwork was provided by HH Martyn and Sons. Steel balustrades serve the balconies and stairs.

Plan

The building forms a long rectangle, orientated roughly east-west, arranged around two internal courtyards. A central lobby contains the main staircase at the front and centre. The council chamber and committee rooms occupy the centre and rear. Principal offices lie to the east of the lobby, with the Register Office and associated functions to the west. General offices fill the remaining ranges and the first floor. A small extension is attached to the north-west corner.

Exterior

The building presents a Moderne style with symmetrical brick elevations under flat roofs concealed behind moulded stone parapets. It has a high limestone ashlar plinth and raised ground floor. The ground falls away towards the east end, where the plinth rises correspondingly higher. The building extends for 29 bays and is mainly of two storeys and basement, with a three-bay single-storey section at either end.

The raised ground floor is reached by a flight of eight steps with sweeping curves, flanked by moulded plinths holding planters. Windows are multi-paned and metal-framed. Doors are paired, panelled oak with bronze handles.

The main elevation is arranged in a 3:9:1:3:1:9:3 bay rhythm. The central five-bay section breaks forward in two stages. The wide entrance doorway has a moulded limestone surround with a keystone carved with the arms of the Borough, standing beneath a shaped limestone balcony with three full-height windows above, each with a limestone surround and moulded lintel. The balcony has a streamlined metal balustrade featuring stylised bucrania motifs. The oak double doors are panelled. The parapet to this section rises above that of the rest of the building.

The flanking bays in the second stage have moulded limestone window surrounds to both ground and first-floor windows, those at first-floor level featuring shaped balconies and balustrades. Remaining windows have stone sills and brick soldier courses for lintels, with a continuous limestone sill band at ground-floor level.

Towards the ends of the two-storey ranges on either side are secondary entrances with more modest versions of the main entrance treatment for the doors, and shaped balconies and architraves above. The single-storey, three-bay sections project as pavilions beyond the plane of the returns.

The return elevations have similar fenestration treatment to the main elevation, but without the limestone architraves. At the rear of the eastern end, ashlar steps give access to entrances inscribed BOYS and GIRLS on the limestone door lintels, serving the former juvenile employment office. Due to the falling ground, the eastern return of the main range has basement windows within the limestone plinth. At its northern end, a flight of ashlar steps leads to the members' entrance — panelled double doors within a limestone surround.

Attached at the north-west corner by a glazed link is a small, late 20th-century single-storey extension of brick with deep fascias and a flat roof. This extension is not included in the listing.

The rear elevations flanking the council chamber have similar treatment to the returns, except for tall stair lights in the re-entrant angles. The chamber forms a rectangular projection from the rear elevation with a mainly blind rear wall, though the brick wall and plinth break forward slightly to create a wide central panel. A flight of ashlar steps rises to an entrance at raised ground-floor level giving access to the PUBLIC GALLERY, with this legend painted on the sill band alongside the steps. Two small, single-light windows retain their Art Deco-style wavy glazing bars.

Internal Courtyards

The building is constructed around two square internal courtyards with paving, planters and central fountains. The elevations from the offices have windows set under soldier courses, with soldier courses used to create door surrounds for the patio doors giving access to the courtyards. The doors from the offices are metal-framed to match the windows. From the committee rooms, the doors are timber, set within a panel of decorative long-and-short brickwork. Set into the south wall of the western courtyard is a carved limestone plaque depicting industry and nature, with a decorative brick surround.

The central section housing the lobby is top-lit by five large gabled lanterns with metal frames. The council chamber has a similar but larger lantern.

Interior

The principal spaces, including the stairs, have black and cream terrazzo flooring, with cork slab for the remaining corridors and wood block to the offices, many now carpeted. The building retains most of its original clocks by Garrard and Co, and many original light fittings to the principal spaces. The walnut doors to the ground floor have bronze door furniture. The remaining offices have a mixture of original doors and some recent fire doors, within flat-moulded architraves.

The vestibule gives access into the wide central lobby with the principal stair, which rises to a top-lit galleried landing. The balustrade matches that of the external balconies, as do those to all the secondary stairs. Directly ahead, through a later glazed screen, lie the committee rooms and council chamber. The corridor and ante room off which their doors lead are extensively panelled to picture rail height in solid French flame walnut, with high ebonised skirting boards and inlaid ebonised bands. The door surrounds are in darker timber, breaking above the height of the panelling. Timber panelled benches with upholstered seats and streamlined curved ends range along the ante room walls. At the rear of the ante room the panelling breaks upwards to create a broad surround to a large carved Portland stone plaque commemorating the opening of the building, the inscription flanked by panels of naturalistic foliate carving.

The council chamber measures approximately 10.5 metres by 15 metres (35 feet by 50 feet) and has matching walnut panelling. The top-lit room has a multi-paned roof light and a panelled ceiling. The rows of members' benches are set on an arc, each row with inset ebonised marquetry, and each desk with a drawer. The seating rakes to the rear. The public gallery above has an inset balcony with rounded ends.

The committee rooms have matching panelling and walnut doors, moulded cornice and compartmental ceilings with multi-paned roof lights.

The Mayor's Parlour and Town Clerk's office (in 2019 the Chief Executive's office) are panelled to picture rail height in flame walnut, which is also used for integral fireplaces. Each fireplace has green marble inserts and ebonised inlay, with elaborate chimney pieces featuring curved corners and mirrored overmantels. These rooms also have matching timber pelmets to the windows.

The register office interiors have been reordered in the early 21st century with modern finishes, though the structural elements remain. The remaining ground and first-floor offices largely reflect their original layout, with some suites of offices reached by small lobbies giving access to two or three spaces off the main corridors. Some striplighting and suspended ceilings have been introduced. Skirtings and picture rails have largely been retained. The basement is divided with walls of painted brick.

Pergola

To the west of the building, within the gardens laid out by the Borough surveyor Mr JLB Thompson, stands a detached pergola, contemporary with the civic offices, approximately 44 metres long. The paired piers, each about 2.5 metres high, are square in section, built from brick and tile, with projecting tile courses at intervals up their height. The superstructure is formed from timber posts.