Brent Town Hall, formerly Wembley Town Hall, is a landmark building in

Wembley Park Wembley Park is a district of the London Borough of Brent, England. It is roughly centred on Bridge Road, a mile northeast of Wembley town centre and northwest from Charing Cross. The name Wembley Park refers to the area that, at its broade ...

in the

London Borough of Brent The London Borough of Brent () is a London boroughs, London borough in north-west London. It borders the boroughs of London Borough of Harrow, Harrow to the north-west, London Borough of Barnet, Barnet to the north-east, London Borough of Camden ...

, northwest

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The building is T-shaped, with a long façade on Forty Lane. The building was the seat of

Brent London Borough Council Brent London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Brent in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. It is based at Brent Civic Centre in Engineers Way ...

until 2013 and is now occupied by the

Lycée International de Londres Winston Churchill Lycée International de Londres Winston Churchill, a fully bilingual international school based in Wembley, London, England, opened its doors in September 2015. It welcomes students from 3 to 18 years old and prepares them for the French Bacc ...

. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The building was commissioned by the

Municipal Borough of Wembley Wembley was an urban district and later a municipal borough in Middlesex, England from 1894 to 1965. History Wembley Urban District was created by the Local Government Act 1894 from part of the existing Hendon Rural Sanitary District, and origi ...

to replace their aging council offices in High Road, Wembley. The site selected for the new building was some open land known as "The Paddocks". The foundation stone for the new building was laid by Alderman Herbert Gauntlett on 9 October 1937. The new building was designed by Clifford Strange, a former student of

Thomas S. Tait Thomas Smith Tait (18 June 1882 – 18 July 1954) was a Scottish modernist architect. He designed a number of buildings around the world in Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles, notably St. Andrew's House (the headquarters of the Scottish ...

who had been influenced in his work by the Dutch architect

Willem Marinus Dudok Willem Marinus Dudok (6 July 1884 – 6 April 1974) was a Dutch modernist architect. He was born in Amsterdam. He became City Architect for the town of Hilversum in 1928 where he was best known for the brick Hilversum Town Hall, completed i ...

. The building, which was even fitted with a bomb-proof first-aid post, was opened as Wembley Town Hall in 1940. The main frontage featured a central tower with a doorway and

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

on the ground floor, a tall window on the first and second floors and the borough

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

above. Internally, the principal rooms were the assembly hall and the council chamber, both located on the first floor. In September 1943, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, a ceremony was held at the town hall, attended by the former

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority the elected Hou ...

, Viscount Bennett, to commemorate the borough's fund raising achievements during

Wings for Victory Week Wings for Victory Weeks were British National savings campaigns during the Second World War, with the aim of Royal Air Force aircraft being sponsored by a civil community. The British Army equivalent was Salute the Soldier Week and the Royal Navy ...

. In 1951,

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

described the town hall as "the best of the modern town halls around London, neither fanciful nor drab". It has also been described as "an English interpretation of Modernism", using brick rather than concrete. The building was the headquarters of the Municipal Borough of Wembley for much of the 20th century and it remained the local seat of government as "Brent Town Hall", after Wembley amalgamated with Willesden to form the London Borough of Brent in 1965. In 2009 the council tried unsuccessfully to have the building delisted to facilitate redevelopment of the site. After the council relocated to the new

Brent Civic Centre Brent Civic Centre is the headquarters of Brent London Borough Council, situated on Engineers Way in the Wembley Park area of the London Borough of Brent. It was opened in 2013, replacing the former headquarters at Brent Town Hall located a mil ...

in August 2013, the town hall was sold to The French Education Property Trust which transformed it into an international French school called the

, which opened in September 2015.

References

External links

Detail on Hilversum Raadhuis (mostly in Dutch)

with a list of his buildings.
Lycée International de Londres Winston Churchill
links to the website of the school {{Authority control Government buildings completed in 1940 Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Brent City and town halls in London Politics of the London Borough of Brent