Tower Hamlets Town Hall – ADC

The decision to locate the new Tower Hamlets Town Hall on Whitechapel Road, in the geographic heart of the borough, has been welcomed by its residents and businesses – no longer are councillors holed up in an anonymous, windy backwater of Canary Wharf, in an office block with little connection to its surroundings. Today, they have a truly civic building, more than fit for its purpose, thanks to a creative reworking and expansion of the former Royal London Hospital by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM).

Having redesigned both of their facilities in recent years, Barts NHS Trust and The Royal London put the redundant buildings up for sale. Tower Hamlets’ Mayor, Lutfur Rahman seized this opportunity, persuading his cabinet to complete the purchase, only to disappear from political life under a scandal (and then reappear upon completion). John Biggs was the Mayor during its development. AHMM won the bid to design the town hall in 2015; the project started on site in the spring of 2018 and opened to the public in February this year.

The Grade II-listed former hospital is part of the East End’s social history; it is where nurse Edith Cavell worked, where Joseph Merrick, the ‘Elephant Man’ was given refuge, and where generations of Londoners have been born and cared for. The building’s new incarnation aims to play a similarly vital role in public life. Set in the heart of the multicultural, messy, vibrant community of Whitechapel, its concept was to be open to all. The public ground floor houses a library and facilities for care and housing needs, and the council chamber is visible from the foyer, symbolic of this new transparency.

The architectural team, comprising AHMM and conservationist Richard Griffiths Architects, set to work analysing the existing palimpsest of the building, unveiling its tapestry of elevations, floors and interior spaces. This forensic research, supported by excellent photography, was critical to the design process. Richard Griffiths examined the elevations on all sides, and this analysis guided the final design from an early stage.

The soft strip works revealed the most significant architectural elements – a process akin to an archaeological dig. From this, decisions could be taken and point cloud surveys made for the Revit modelling. The building has three main external elevations and one party wall with the existing hospital. The Whitechapel Road frontage was restored in keeping with the proportions of the rear elevation to the south. The facade has been enclosed and revealed internally, with rooflights highlighting the texture of the brick and articulating some of the building’s history.

Projects as complex as this take time, and as an architect working in the field of historic buildings, it is almost impossible to be precise about the programme. This leaves the remainder of the trio – quality and cost – as the more controllable elements. Hats off to the AHMM team, who valiantly fought each daily battle for quality.

In this case, the installation of services in the existing building presented one of the most significant challenges, as the opportunity for risers and horizontal distribution through beams and structural walls was extremely limited without compromising the aesthetics of the retained spaces. Here, the dexterity and creativity of the architect came to the fore in a way that encapsulates the challenge and can determine the success of many retrofit projects – a good example has been set at Tower Hamlets Town Hall.

A new east and west wing have been added alongside the south elevation, connected by a narrower linking floorplate. At ground level is the new council chamber, whose deep-set concrete waffle ceiling conveys a sense of gravity; it both supports the floors above and appears to exert its own pressure, as if the weight of responsibility has been transcribed into architectural space. Above this are six levels of office accommodation. However, workspace today is not what it was when the project began seven years ago. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way we work, along with demand for densely occupied desk space. AHMM’s design had to adapt to a lower density with more informal areas, and it has done so with remarkable ease thanks to the studio’s breadth of experience. The practice is well-versed in the design of commercial office space, and the team understood the values underpinning these new ways of working as much as the spatial challenge.

The council also required executive offices and meeting rooms, which sat well in the more cellular front building, served by the beautiful old teak-lined staircases. Wonderfully restored matt- finish terrazzo is everywhere in the older parts of the building, as is brick tiling in the wet areas, recalling the historic ward and operating room interiors. The Arts and Crafts operating theatres have been restored as executive offices and breakout spaces, and the former chapel over the porte-cochère entrance is now the staff refectory, with a meeting space at mezzanine level.

Colour is frequently a signature of AHMM’s work, particularly in projects of a civic nature, and the Town Hall is no exception. Here, colour is used to aid orientation, with a palette derived from the existing terrazzo. Earthy shades are employed externally, particularly on the rear, where two new masonry bookends frame a glazed façade towards the new hospital. This animates the public space between the two buildings in a way that is achievable, given that the red line did not include any of this exterior space. The bookends are an interplay of glazed and unglazed brick within the framework provided by lighter stock brick pilasters.

The ground floor café and library allow the building to become infused with its surroundings – the life within and outside on Whitechapel Road is visible via a long shop window under the Grocers Wing. The project has and will continue to regenerate the area, much as the early restoration of its Georgian houses has done. Whitechapel, and Commercial Road to the south, will improve, and over time stronger communities will develop. It is this foresight for which the Mayor should be congratulated. As for the architecture, this is a building of complexity; an urban building, forged of its place and history. It is something to be valued and cherished, as its architects have clearly displayed in their approach to its construction. Just as it wears its history well, I suspect it will be much loved, long into the future.

The building has been extended and adapted since its inception 270 years ago. The first building on the site was designed in a classical style by Bolton Mainwaring and completed in 1757. The Alexandra and Grocer’s Wings designed by Charles Barry (the younger) were added in the mid to late 19th century to provide further ward space. These were swiftly followed by Rowland Plumbe’s portico and chapel in 1890 which employed brickwork and pre-cast concrete in place of stone, to create a bold presence on Whitechapel Road. Plumbe also designed a receiving room, operating theatre and nurses’ accommodation in an Arts and Crafts style, which were added at ground, third and fourth floor levels in 1906.

Further expansion took place to the south of the original building during the mid to late 20th century, though much of this was cleared in 2006 to make way for the PFI-funded Royal London Hospital. Barts and the London Trust vacated the historic building on the new hospital’s completion in 2012. The existing building subsequently fell into disrepair as roof finishes and windows failed, causing damage to many internal spaces. The façades had been extensively modified with piecemeal adaptations to fenestration and the addition of pipework and cabling across each elevation. The interior was in a poor state of repair, with layers of NHS fit-out concealing and obscuring historic features.

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