The Bexley Civic Offices is a municipal facility in Watling Street,

Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in south-east London, England. It had a population of 31,929 as at 2011. Bexleyheath is located south-east of Charing Cross, and forms part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...

, London. It is the headquarters of the

Bexley London Borough Council Bexley London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Bexley in the ceremonial county of Greater London, England. It is one of 32 London borough councils in the county. The council comprises 45 councillors. History Ther ...

History

The new Bexley Urban District Council established offices in an early 19th century building on the south side of the Broadway in Bexleyheath known as Oak House in 1903. After Bexley secured

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

status in 1932, Oak House remained the headquarters of the new

Municipal Borough of Bexley Bexley was a local government district in north west Kent from 1879 to 1965 around the town of Old Bexley. History The parish of Bexley adopted the Local Government Act 1858 in 1879, and a local board of 15 members was formed to govern the are ...

until it was merged with the

Municipal Borough of Erith Erith was a local government district in north west Kent from 1876 to 1965 around the town of Erith. It also included the generally suburban areas of Northumberland Heath, Belvedere, and parts of Barnehurst, Bexleyheath, Crayford and the SE2 Londo ...

to form the

London Borough of Bexley The London Borough of Bexley () is a London boroughs, London borough in south-east London, forming part of Outer London. It has a population of 248,287. The main settlements are Sidcup, Erith, Bexleyheath, Crayford, Welling and Old Bexley. The ...

with its new headquarters at

Erith Town Hall Erith Town hall is a municipal building in Walnut Tree Road, Erith, south east London. It is a locally listed building. History In the late 19th century Erith Urban District Council had been based at council offices in the High Street. After ci ...

in 1965. The new council only used Erith Town Hall briefly as it chose to demolish Oak House in 1979 to make way for purpose-built Civic Offices which opened on the same site on the south side of the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in 1980. The facility at Watling Street, which was designed in the style of a

pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

and built as the head office of the

Woolwich Building Society The Woolwich Equitable Building Society (later Woolwich Building Society or The Woolwich) was founded in Woolwich in 1847 and remained a local institution until after WWI when it began a modest regional expansion. This accelerated after WWII and ...

at a cost of £10.5 million, was officially opened by

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of K ...

in 1989. Following

Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

' acquisition of the building society in 2000 and a subsequent period of integration, the Watling Street building became vacant in 2005. Meanwhile,

was seeking new facilities to replace its aging Civic Offices on the south side of the Broadway. The Watling Street building was refurbished by Mace at a cost of £21.4 million to a design by

Bennetts Associates Bennetts is a specialist insurance broker for motorcycles headquartered in Peterborough, with a contact centre in Coventry, England, owned by Saga plc. On 17 February 2020 it was announced that The Ardonagh Group had agreed to purchase Bennet ...

. The works included alterations to facilitate

open plan Open plan is the generic term used in architectural and interior design for any floor plan that makes use of large, open spaces and minimizes the use of small, enclosed rooms such as private offices. The term can also refer to landscaping of h ...

working and also involved the construction of a new building at the rear of the site to accommodate a council chamber, a council member's area and public galleries. Some 1,300 council staff, who were previously based in four separate locations in the borough, moved into the new Bexley Civic Offices in May 2014. It was officially opened by the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the 1998 Greater London Authority referendum, Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first Directly elected may ...

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

, in October 2014. In January 2021, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the civic offices were used as a site to carry out

COVID-19 testing COVID-19 testing involves analyzing samples to assess the current or past presence of SARS-CoV-2. The two main types of tests detect either the presence of the virus or antibodies produced in response to infection. Molecular tests for viral ...

. Beginning in June, the offices were also used as a clinic to give out

COVID-19 vaccines A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an est ...

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Bexley City and town halls in London Government buildings completed in 1989