Carlisle Civic Centre is a municipal building in the Rickergate,

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

, England. It is the headquarters of Carlisle City Council.

History

Carlisle Civic Centre amid floodwater (geograph 4761015)

The civic centre was commissioned to replacing the aging

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

in the Market Place. The new building, which was designed by Charles B. Pearson and Partners in the

Modernist style Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...

and built by John Laing & Son at a cost of £820,000, was completed in March 1964. The design involved a tower, high, as well as a separate two-storey

octagon In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...

al building to accommodate the council chamber. In 1965, a huge back-lit mural depicting local scenes, which had been painted by Trewin Copplestone, was hung in the council chamber. The octagonal building, sometimes referred to as "the rotunda" was commended in the 1966 national

Civic Trust Awards The Civic Trust Awards scheme was established in 1959 to recognise outstanding architecture, planning and design in the built environment. As the longest standing built environment awards scheme in Europe, since 1959, more than 7000 projects have ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, accompanied by the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...

, visited Carlisle Civic Centre in March 1978. George Ferguson, a former President of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

, caused controversy when he referred to the civic centre as a "soulless office block" in an article in ''

the Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' in October 2004. The council undertook a consultation on options for developing the site in 2014; the consultation generated a strong response including a petition which demonstrated that there was considerable local opposition to any proposals which involved demolition of the building. The civic centre was damaged when it was completely surrounded by water during the local flooding which badly affected Carlisle and its surrounding areas in December 2015. In May 2020, the council approved a scheme of works, to be undertaken by local contractor Story Construction, to refurbish the main building at a cost of £3.6 million; the scheme chosen also involved the demolition of the octagonal building which accommodated the council chamber. The works additionally involved the re-configuration of the ground floor of the main building to create a more versatile council chamber, a new customer contact centre and additional meeting space. In January 2021 ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' listed the Civic Centre as one of Britain's Brutalist buildings most at risk of demolition and development. It was included in ''Brutal North: Post-War Modernist Architecture in the North of England'', Simon Phipps's photographic study of Brutalist architecture. Carlisle City Council is to be abolished in April 2023 and the Civic Centre will serve as the meeting place for the new

Cumberland Council Cumberland Council is the local authority for Cumberland in England. It is a unitary authority, the structural change order names the new Cumberland Council as only a district council. It will operate as a shadow authority until taking up its pow ...

References

{{reflist City and town halls in Cumbria Buildings and structures in Carlisle, Cumbria Government buildings completed in 1964 Brutalist architecture in England