Congress House is the headquarters of the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances ...

(TUC), a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

organisation that represents most of the UK's

trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

. It is also an events venue, Congress Centre. In 1948, David du Roi Aberdeen won an architectural competition to design the new TUC headquarters building in Great Russell Street,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

.
Staff began to move into the offices in 1956. Congress House was officially opened on 27 March 1958 along with the unveiling of a giant ''

pietà The Pietà (; meaning " pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus after his body was removed from the cross. It is most often found in sculpture. The Pietà is a specific form ...

''-style statue of a woman holding her dead son. Carved in place in the internal courtyard by

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produce ...

, it was intended as a memorial to the dead trade unionists of both world wars. The front of the building is dominated by a bronze sculpture by Bernard Meadows representing the spirit of trade unionism with the strong helping the weak. The main facing material of the façade is polished grey Cornish

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

. Congress House was one of the earliest post-war buildings to be listed at Grade II*, in 1988. In 2015, an

ETFE Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) is a fluorine-based plastic. It was designed to have high corrosion resistance and strength over a wide temperature range. ETFE is a polymer and its source-based name is poly(ethene-co-tetrafluoroethene). It is ...

roof was installed over the internal courtyard which enabled the glass roof of the conference centre below to be reinstated and affords protection to the Epstein statue. In 2018, an extensive redevelopment of the rear of the building was carried out, creating a new entrance, reception, offices and staff facilities. Known as 'The Rookery', the new development includes a public artwork by German artist Eva Berendes inspired by traditional trade union badges.

Gallery

File:Holborn (Bloomsbury) Great Russell Street Congress House (28025736532).jpg, Junction of

Great Russell Street Great Russell Street is a street in Bloomsbury, London, best known for being the location of the British Museum. It runs between Tottenham Court Road (part of the A400 route) in the west, and Southampton Row (part of the A4200 route) in the east ...

and Dyott Street File:Holborn (Bloomsbury) Dyott Street Congress House (27513906634).jpg, Dyott Street side of Congress House File:"The Spirit of Brotherhood", Congress House, Great Russell Street, WC1 (geograph 5470557).jpg, Bernard Meadows' statue 'The Spirit of Brotherhood' File:Interior detail of Congress House, Great Russell Street (1) (geograph 5316360).jpg,

's "Pietà" in the courtyard of Congress House File:TUC Congress Center (243432969).jpg, The original space frame ceiling o
Congress Hall
in the Congress Centre.

References

External links

TUC's webpage with details of the history of the building
{{coords, 51.51744, -0.1285, display=title Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden Office buildings completed in 1958 Trades Union Congress