City Hall, formerly Attenborough House and, before that, the Municipal Buildings, is a municipal building in Charles Street,

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, England. The structure, which currently accommodates the offices of

Leicester City Council Leicester City Council is the local authority for the city of Leicester, in the ceremonial county of Leicestershire, England. Leicester has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1997 the council ...

, is a locally listed building.

History

The building was commissioned to provide additional office accommodation for Leicester City Council which had been operating from

Leicester Town Hall Leicester Town Hall stands at Town Hall Square in the city centre of Leicester, England. The building, which is the meeting place of Leicester City Council, is a Grade II* listed building. History Before the town hall was built, the Guildhall ...

since 1876. The site selected by civic leaders, on the west side of Charles Street, was occupied by a large number of small buildings. The new building was designed by Leonard Barnish and Spencer Silcock in the Art Deco style, built in

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...

, and was officially opened by the Lord Mayor, Councillor Frank Acton, on 7 November 1938. The design involved a five-storey symmetrical main frontage of 21 bays facing onto Charles Street. The central section of seven bays featured three tall openings which spanned the lower two floors. The ground floor accommodated a series of shop fronts, which were protected by a long

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 either side of the openings. On the upper floors, all bays were all fenestrated by rectangular

casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a c ...

s, and the corners onto Rutland Street and Halford Street were canted. The fourth floor was slightly recessed and was surmounted by a prominent

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...

. In addition to accommodating various departments of Leicester Corporation, the building also became the home for its electricity showrooms which later evolved into the showrooms of the East Midlands Electricity Board. In the 1960s, a bunker was constructed under the building to protect the councillors from nuclear attack. At that time the building also accommodated the box office for the sale of concert tickets for

De Montfort Hall De Montfort Hall is the largest music and performance venue in Leicester, England. It is situated adjacent to Victoria Park and is named after the ''Father of Parliament'', Simon de Montfort, the 6th Earl of Leicester. History The hall was b ...

. After the council officers and their departments moved to new offices at the New Walk Centre in 1975, the Charles Street building was re-purposed for commercial use and became known as Attenborough House. One of the tenants was

Willie Thorne William Joseph Thorne (4 March 195417 June 2020) was an English professional snooker player. He won one ranking title, the 1985 Classic. He also reached the final of the 1985 UK Championship, losing 16–14 to Steve Davis after leading 13– ...

's Snooker Club. However, in 2009, it became necessary to vacate the New Walk Centre after it was found to be structurally unsound. A major refurbishment of the Charles Street building, carried out by Willmott Dixon at a cost of £14 million to a design by Franklin Ellis Architects, was completed in 2014. This enabled Leicester City Council to move the council officers and their departments back into the building in Charles Street, which was then renamed City Hall. The principal assembly room in the refurbished building was named the Attenborough Hall. The refurbishment was placed first in the Restoration Award Category in the Civic Society Awards in 2014. The main council offices are at City Hall on Charles Street, but council meetings continue to be held in the town hall in Town Hall Square.

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1938 Buildings and structures in Leicester City and town halls in Leicestershire