Reinventing the Town Hall: A handbook

Article

This handbook suggests ways of reinventing town halls as open, animated public spaces. It will be of interest to designers, local councillors and local council officers and anyone interested in architecture and civic life.

Local government works best where it succeeds in involving the public, fostering civic pride and building trust. The appearance and working area of the town hall - the most public face of local government - can play a vital role in achieving these ends. Yet many local councils remain oblivious to the message sent by their town halls and other democratic meetings places.

This handbook draws on national and international examples, including unpublished new designs by a range of leading contemporary designers, to suggest ways of reinventing town halls as open animated public spaces. "I welcome this book. It reminds us that good contemprary design can help restore that civic pride, make government more accessible and help connect people to their elected representatives."

-Julia Barfield, Marks Barfield Architects

Related items

  1. Change you can board: Delivering better, greener buses

    The bus services bill is an opportunity to ensure reform really means thriving, green 21st century local bus networks in England.

  2. Harry Quilter-Pinner on BBC Radio 4 Today discussing political donations

  3. A sign for a polling station next to a block of flats

    Modernising elections: How to get voters back

    Elections are the defining feature of modern democracy. They are the process by which we express a desired future en masse. It is the mass dimension that matters most; it is the mass dimension that is receding.