The Council House is a municipal building in Corporation Street,

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

, England. It is a locally listed building.

History

The facility was commissioned to replace the

Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

in the Market Place. The site chosen for the new building was previously occupied by riverside wharves and industrial premises. Work started on the new building, which was designed by Charles Aslin, in the Neo-Georgian style, in 1938 and the part-built facility was then requisitioned by the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

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 ...

. The original plan had involved an oval council chamber to the south of the main building as well as a clock tower but both these aspects of the proposals were abandoned. Conversely proposals for a large

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

incorporating four Palmyrene columns and a pediment above were retained. The design of the Mayor's Chamber incorporated oak panelling recovered from Derwent Hall before it was demolished to make way for the

Ladybower Reservoir Ladybower Reservoir is a large Y-shaped, artificial reservoir, the lowest of three in the Upper Derwent Valley in Derbyshire, England. The River Ashop flows into the reservoir from the west; the River Derwent flows south, initially through Ho ...

in 1942. The construction work was completed after the war and the building was officially opened by Princess Elizabeth and

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

in 1949. Following a fire in the old Assembly Rooms in 1963, while the facade of the gutted building was dismantled and installed at the

National Tramway Museum The National Tramway Museum (trading as Crich Tramway Village) is a tram museum located at Crich (), Derbyshire, England. The museum contains over 60 (mainly British) trams built between 1873 and 1982 and is set within a recreated period vill ...

Crich Crich is a village in the English county of Derbyshire. The population at the 2001 Census was 2,821, increasing to 2,898 at the 2011 Census (including Fritchley and Whatstandwell). It has the National Tramway Museum inside the Crich Tramway Vil ...

, the

chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...

s were recovered at installed in the mayor's reception suite at the Council House. After Derby was awarded city status on 7 June 1977, the Queen presented a "charter scroll" or "letters patent" to the mayor on the steps of the Council House on 28 July 1977. An extensive refurbishment of the building, to a design by Corstorphine and Wright, and undertaken by

Royal BAM Group Royal BAM Group nv ( nl, Koninklijke BAM Groep nv) is a Dutch construction-services business with headquarters in Bunnik, Netherlands. It is the largest construction company based on revenue in the Netherlands. History The company was founded by ...

at a cost of £34 million, was completed in 2015. The refurbishment involved changing the building to an open plan layout so that 2,000 employees could be accommodated rather than 500 employees as previously. The scheme also involved moving the council chamber to the centre of the building with a new

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

and other public space forming an arc round the council chamber and introduced energy efficiency measures such as a

hydroelectric power plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

and

photo-voltaic Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially u ...

panels. A room in the refurbished civic suite was designated the Jacob Rivers VC Room in memory of Private

Jacob Rivers Private Jacob Rivers VC (17 November 1881 – 12 March 1915) was a British Army soldier and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to ...

who was born at Bridgegate in Derby and was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1949 City and town halls in Derbyshire Buildings and structures in Derby