The building was commissioned to replace the aging facilities in Southwood Lane in Highgate. Hornsey Town Hall was the first major UK building to be constructed in the Modernist style. Designed by New Zealand born architect Reginald Uren for the Municipal Borough of Hornsey, the building shows the influence of Hilversum town hall in the Netherlands and was awarded a bronze medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects. It was opened by the Duke and Duchess of Kent in November 1935. The building was transferred to the London Borough of Haringey in 1965. Although it was no longer the seat of local government, the town hall was used for concerts and even hosted Freddie Mercury before he was famous. In 1981 it became one of the first of the buildings constructed in the 1930s to achieve listed building status.
Redevelopment
After deciding that the town hall was surplus to requirements, the London Borough of Haringey commissioned a generic redevelopment scheme to renovate the town hall and build flats behind it, securing planning permission for that scheme in 2010. In 2011 the London Borough of Haringey agreed to lease the town hall to Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts on a 125-year lease. Early feasibility studies indicated that the cost of renovating and converting the Grade II* listed building would be £19 million. In June 2012 Mountview was awarded £500,000 by the Heritage Lottery Fund for initial development work, a sum which was matched with a further £500,000 from Mountview's own reserves. Following a tender procurement process advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union, Mountview appointed architects Purcell to develop plans for the site to include publicly accessible theatres, acting and dance studios, production arts workshops and student welfare facilities. However, an independent review carried out in 2015 revealed that the cost of developing the site would greater than originally anticipated and beyond the combined affordability of Haringey Council and Mountview. Mountview committed to finding an alternative site for its new home, but after a suitable site could not be identified in Haringey, Mountview announced a partnership with Southwark London Borough Council to create a new purpose-built home on a town centre site in Peckham in south London. In November 2015 the London Borough of Haringey offered the town hall on a 125-year lease to anyone who would take on responsibility to develop residential accommodation on the site and allocate some of the proceeds to restoring the building. A group of local people formed themselves into the Hornsey Town Hall Appreciation Society in the hope of taking the town hall into community ownership and secured 2,501 signatures on a petition to achieve that objective. However the London Borough of Haringey felt unable to sell the property at an undervalue and invited the Hornsey Town Hall Appreciation Society to participate in a commercial bid being organised by an alliance of local community groups known as the Hornsey Town Hall Community Interest Company. The venture was not successful and the Hornsey Town Hall Community Interest Company was dissolved on 6 November 2018. In October 2019, the Far East International Consortium, a developer selected by Haringey Council, began restoration works on the building. The restoration work, which is being carried out to a design by Donald Insall Associates, involves reupholstered leather seating in the council chamber, restored signage, metal balustrading, a parquet and a terrazzo.
Use as film and TV location
The modernist style and Art Deco interior of the Town Hall has proved popular as a location for film and TV productions. This includes regular appearances as the police station in the 2009 gothic crime drama Whitechapel, as well as featuring in the 2011 BBC drama series The Hour and the British TV drama series Killing Eve.
