Crouch End: Former Hornsey Town Hall

Image: © Nigel Cox Taken: 26 Sep 2008

The architect Reginald Uren won an award with his design of this building, which was completed in 1935 and is now Grade II* listed. Maybe the interior offers some hidden treasures but the bleak and bland functionalism of the exterior is utterly soulless and unwelcoming. The casual stranger passing by would be forgiven for thinking there was a power station in the centre of Crouch End. Representative of 1930s British municipal architecture it might be, but meritworthy it is not. Give an eight year old a piece of paper, ask him or her to draw a town hall and they could come up with a similar design in two minutes flat. Unsurprisingly one of the plaques on the wall by the entrance records that the Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers awarded a Gold Medal to the building on its completion. The brickwork is very good... Now that the building is surplus to the London Borough of Haringey's requirements the renowned architectural practice of John McAslan + Partners has very recently been appointed to mastermind the building's future. It will be interesting to see what they propose.

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